Crumm said:
How much power are they rated at? I had a six cylinder Isuzu in a 74' Ford crew cab and it was a little underpowered. I like the 300 horse 5.4l in our new F150 but a diesel would be nice. I am guessing that the 4bt ain't no powerhouse.
Rating depends on bunches of different things. There are marine 4bts released at 275 hp. Most of the ones you see on the road are 180 horse models, but they can be turned up for light applications like an F150 (since they originally come out of delivery vans, an F150 is a pretty light application in comparison). Consider that the delivery van is a WFO for probably 25% of it's time on the road, the marine application is at WFO for about 60 to 80% of it's operation time, and an F-150 is going to be at WFO less than 10% of its time (by my best guess). So the F150 is pretty LD for a 4bt.
My research has led me to believe that when I get my 4BT and put it into a Tahoe, that I would be pretty comfortable with it turned up to 200 to 220 horse without losing much sleep. When you consider that the stock 350 small block released in the tahoe was 200 horse (in the first years, it went up in later years) at 5,000 RPM, you can see that a 200 horse at 2,800 RPM 4bt is actually going to scoot along pretty good, since the peak HP would hit much sooner, and while not a race car, the 350-powered tahoes were not slow, either.
You aren't going to build a reliable race truck with a 4bt, but I think you can build a very reasonably powered, 215 horse pickup with one. Oh, BTW, I have no idea wha thte fuel economy would be with one. Also, if 215 horsepower doesn't sound like much to you, consider that the '95 and '96 powerstrokes were released at 215 horse stock, and this is a much heavier truck. I know, more torque, but you get the picture...
A friend on mine is giving the Cummins 4bt a go in the F150. Take a look at it 
.