I'm looking at a 1988 F-800 Ford dump truck with automatic transmission. It has 39,000 miles. It was used as a city snow plow, and has the short bed dump forward and back. Not sure about the engine size or make, other than it is diesel. I am concerned about the automatic transmission. Are these any good? Do they last? Any problems to look out for? Over all, are these trucks good? Any opinions appreciated.
It is more than likely an Allison transmission and they are stout trannys. It would help to get the model number off it. I believe that year truck will have the Ford 6 cylinder diesel which is also a pretty good engine. There would be a "Ford Diesel" emblem on the side of the hood. Other wise it would be a Caterpillar 3208 and I personally wouldn't own a truck with that engine.
Thanks Steve. I'll check out the engine. Good to hear about the transmission.
To me the auto no matter what kind is a strike against it, For a single axle dump a ford is one of the most disirable to me. The ford diesel imo is a fine engine. The other big deal would be you really want air brakes if it don't have them you sould probably keep looking unless this one is a bargain and is in just about new condition. In a perfect world it would have air brakes a ford engine and a 5x2 transmition but if it is not going to be used hard and every day you can get by with almost anything. Hope this helps if i can help with anything else please let me know.
For the same money, there is a 1996 Ford L8000 with a smaller Cummings engine (he says 295 hp -- still more than the Ford 210 hp) and a newer turbo. I don't know about tranny or miles, but says has new radiator so I assume a lot of miles. We are using this on the 90 acres with a lot of dumping and hauling, and snow plowing an hopefully not too much long distance hauling. Is the turbo a lot of extra work/maintenance? I know the turbo adds a lot of power, but is it worth the extra maintenance/reliability?
I have had HORRIBLE luck with rockwell RS series 2 spds that ford put in there medium dutys. The allison is most likely a non lockup 4spd auto, not a bad trans in its day and very serviceable. The diesel could be anything from 130Hp Ford/new holland 6.6L to a 3208 cat, or a fuel pincher (POS detroit) I would take the 175HP ford 6.6L over any of the other diesel options. I dont think the cummins came out in the f-800 till the mid 90's
A turbo adds no real maintenance. All heavy duty diesel truck engines are turbocharged these days. Those old louisvilles are tough trucks, I'd much rather one over a medium duty F series, even though the allison trans is not a downfall by any stretch.