Best Truck engine you have ever driven or owned???

I've had a few trucks but the best engines I'd have to say that I have owned
1.ford straight 6 - 300 -------- bulletproof as they come ... not sure why ford they quit making this bad boy maybe it was just too good of an engine
2.ford 5.0 302 ---- very strong engine and sounded even better
3.22r .... not a fan of toyota trucks only cars but not matter what i did to that truck it didn't faze it one bit ....

heard that the short block chevy engine it another good one but i have yet to own a chevy truck ....

dodge 318 hands down. But I might be biast. :-)

Mine would be my first f150. It was a 1979 f150 ranger xlt with a 351M. Way back when a ranger was an option package and not a little truck. Second would be the 300 six that was in a 1987 full size Bronco(wife bought brand new). Third would be the straight six in a 1997 Toyota land cruiser (smooth, quiet and strong).

Ford 300, when I had my 78 f100, that thing would just not die. Hell, when I drove it 4 miles to the junkyard to scrap it, I took the radiator out so it was running real hot. The scrap yard owner then started it back up and drove it to the back lot.

There is no good gas motor for pulling trailers.
Cummins diesel. Best motor ever made. And there is no desputing that.

Best gas is the 300 Ford I have never killed one even with holes in the block I have always made it where I was going favorite diesel is the IH dt 466 and the idi 6.9 or 7.3 for light duty trucks

Sbc hands down

Ford 300 straight 6...i have one now and just as everyone else says you CAN NOT kill them. Mine has almost 200k miles and it still kicking.

Originally Posted by joef1812

You won't like the 302 in a truck they make allot of noise but that's about it no torque to pull anything if you want more power there is a Ford inline 6 forum lots of tips on getting the most from a 300 I have never had a 300 run out of power they aren't for drag racing our at least not stock we did have a heavily modified one in a Torino and it was very respectable

The 300 had something like 300LBs of torque at 1800rpm. Outpulled a Chevy 350 chained bumper to bumper. Of course I had the granny gear 1st.

I also had no issue loading a ton and a half on the back and driving it to the scrap yard.

Again, that's because a 300 6 is a torque monster. The SBC not so much. I still love and would take a SBC hands down over anything.

Reliability wise I will say the ford and jeep inline/straight six will run forever

I do have a Jeep with the 4.0 inline 6, and you're right it's a beast.

Hmmm, pickup trucks?
a 63 Chevy Fleetside stick shift, 327 4 bbl, which I changed to a 2 bbl so as to punch it without draining the tank
73 E300 one ton with C6(strong) tranny(later switched to C4 when a C6 wasn't available), 300ci, later replaced with a 78 300ci
80 Chevy LUV, 4 on the floor(awesome mileage) later swapped to a 3speed auto, Isuzu 4 banger
87 Ranger 4 banger, no power in overdrive but great lil truck
93 Ranger 4.0 6cyl 5spd stick 4x4 w/low gear, also a great little 3/4ton truck
Didn't own, but drove an early 90s Nissan w/6cyl for about a year doing hotshot delivery of truck parts, incredible acknowledgement of that gas pedal, uphill, loaded, whatever, it went!
Just for engines I knew well in cars, 64 283 Chevy Impala, early Dodge Dart w/slant 6, 70 Olds 98 w/455(monster), 77 Delta w Chevy 350
My memory's failing me, that's all I easily recall, although I know there were a couple straight 6 Chevy's in there somewhere, both the 230, and the 235
All great vehicles and motors, maybe cause I did my own work
Case in point, you can have the best engineered vehicles and engines in the world, but if it is not well maintained, it won't be worth a ****(dime)haha!
Proper, adequate, and well educated preventive maintenance is the best safeguard against a sorry experience with(most) any vehicle

as far as tractor trucks goes, with cats, or cummins, I can't count the number of those I've driven, and worked on, at least a thousand, most likely more, but that was only as a mechanic, not really a driver of those