Is This Toughest US 6-Cylinder?

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I've never met a farmer who didn't absolutely gush about the Ford 300 if you brought it up in conversation. Anyone who has ever owned one has nothing but the highest praise for these engines.

The Ford 300 inline 6, the Chevrolet inline 6, the AMC/Chrysler 4.0 inline 6, and Chrysler slant 6 are 3 engines I have seen just run for decades and hundreds of thousands of miles with just the most basic work. Love them all.

From Leo: I was a Mechanic at a company that ran 19 and 26 passenger commuter vans to the airport. The only modification we did to the Ford 300 ci engine was a small engine oil cooler. Our projected life was 250,000 miles, and they easily made the 250K mile mark. We kept a few older ones as substitutes when the newer ones were scheduled for maintenance. Those substitutes had well over 300,000 miles. The 300 Ford is a very durable engine.

My first truck was a 300 straight 6. You weren't going to accelerate very quick, but it had so much torque and was so dependable.

I've had 4 300 i6s, it's one of my all time favorites. Considering we're still talking about them and they've been out of production for 26 years says something...

My dad had a work truck we called big grey. One of the final years of the big 6, dad drove it to 350k miles snd sold it to a guy that he knew. That guy daily drove it for 2 years until it got t-boned. Only thing it ever needed was spark plugs, oil changed etc. Engine was never opened up. Most we did to it was a clutch and a trans rebuild. This truck had a flatbed, hauled drywall all day.

Although no longer made, the American Motors 232 and 258 straight 6 engines were rock solid as well. Very nice video.

I have had a 300 in my Bronco for nearly 20 years now. It takes me anywhere and everywhere and is fantastic off-road. In 2018 I rebuilt it and it's putting out well over 200hp now. Such a blast to drive, and endlessly reliable. Great engine!!

We have an old 300 in our silage bagger that was made in the very late 70s-early 80s. Sometimes we forgot about the leaky radiator and ran it for days. Still runs to this day with zero problems, not even a misfire

I've owned and daily driven 3 of them. Two were well over 200,000 miles. AC worked great, they cruised at 65-70mph just fine. Pulled everything and were just great engines. I miss having one around honestly!

The 300 is by far the most reliable engine to ever enter the market. I've seen trucks with these engines beat to hell and still work like they were new. This engine is an absolute unit and an amazing investment.

Years ago I had a Ford Falcon with a straight 6, don't know what size it was but it was sure reliable. I remember listening to the car guys, Click and Clack, someone asked them what to look for in a used car. One of them responded, " if you open the hood and can see the ground, buy it". The Falcon was that kind of car.

I had one of these engines in my F-150 and it had over 300,000 miles on it with perfect compression and it didn't burn a drop of oil. It also outlasted the truck because the frame on the truck rusted so badly that it was unsafe to drive and so I sold it for parts. The engine is now in another Ford F-150 and is still on the road. With that being said, having worked on many fleet trucks early on in my career I think that the Ford 300 is matched by the Chevy 292. The 292 is also an extremely tough inline 6. I think maybe the only advantage that the 300 has over the 292 is that it has a gear-driven cam shaft instead of a chain driven one. Regardless, you can't go wrong with either of them as they are both nearly indestructible and they make gobs of low-rpm torque which makes them perfect for trucks. I used to refer to my 300 cubic inch straight 6 as a poor man's diesel because it has the operating characteristics of a diesel truck engine. It only has low RPM Power with no mid-range to high RPM Power to speak of. As a matter of fact, at least in stock configuration, the only thing you do about 3,000 RPM is create needless noise. I know everyone is convinced that they need 450 horsepower to tow their bass boat, but I would take this engine or a Chevy 292 over any new light truck engine on the market today, gas or diesel. Because these engines were only made for one thing, and that was to get work done economically and reliably. It wasn't made to race, or to be fast, it was made to get work done. It was a tractor engine installed in a pickup truck. But that was back in the days when pickup trucks were tools to get work done, not luxury cars with a vestigal 4 ft bed that is almost useless.

Thank you for finally giving this great, old reliable engine the credit & respect it is due. I still have the original 1965 F-100, with the 300 cid, (4.9L) "straight six", waiting to be restored. Dad received this factory new truck 2 months before I was born. Fond memories of learning to drive it on the farm & then to hi- school. 😎 Paul from S. Central Tx.

I put almost 700K on my Ford 300 (4.9L) In-line 6cyl. It was an 82 F150. It was an AMAZING pickup.

absolutely amazing you ended up making a video about this. inline 6 is an absolute masterpiece of engineering..just enough of everything

Great video as always. My grandfather always bought trucks with 300 6's in them. When the news broke that 96 would be the last year, he bought another one. We still use it on the farm. Good old truck.

I've been watching your videos for a long time. I genuinely want to congratulate you on your ever-improving English pronunciation skills. I recall you once apologized for your difficulties with it. I hear nothing but improvements. Well done, sir! Great videos, too!

I read an article years ago in Car Craft about a guy who took a stock high mileage 300 i6, put a hi volume oil pump and SBC double valve springs in it, stuck a big single turbo on it, and went 10s in a Maverick with a c6 trans and 9 inch rear