Ford F150... Need some truck help - Page 2

Sorry for the double post.

Was thinking .......... These older trucks need a lot of repair and upkeep. It's not so bad if you have a shop and all of the tools you need.



The repairs eat up a lot of time but the cost is limited to buying parts.

If you have pay someone to do the work for you it can get pretty expensive. Most of the brick and mortar shops have to be billing 50.00 - 75.00 $/hr for skilled labor these days just to stay in business.

Would it work better for you to set your sights on a truck that's less than 12 years old ?

but its a ford

Thanks Scrappah! I should specify a bit more of what I WANT out of the truck. I already have a daily driving car that gets 26+mpg. The truck will only be used when hauling scrap around, the boat to the lake, and the ice tent onto the lakes.

If the gas tank cost more than $150 to fix I wouldn't, if the A/C cost more than $150 to fix I wouldn't, etc, etc. Both trucks are currently in decent driving condition. I want to buy the one that will last me the longest with the least amount of repairs, and I don't expect that duration to be more than a few years. In my mind im looking to pay 1,00 per year it lives with a minimum of a couple years of life left. I figure I buy a 2,000 one and have it last 2 years, or possibly put 1,000 into it over that time and have it last another year.

It's a toughie .... i couldn't recommend anything without looking it over in person.

Memory is vague but i think my repair cost (for parts ) has been averaging somewhere between 800.00 to 1,200.00 per year to keep an older Ford truck on the road. I would have to look it up.

Right around the twenty year old mark they start to run into electrical problems that are uncommonly difficult to track down & fix. One of them shut down my last truck and it took me over a week to find the problem. Even then it would still randomly shut down when i was going down the road.

I was just curious about the "95". By any chance is it one of the lightning models ? The reason i asked is that the lightning was built more as a racing truck. It had a wicked top end. Maybe .... not so good as a work truck.

Originally Posted by Scrappah

It's a toughie .... i couldn't recommend anything without looking it over in person.
I was just curious about the "95". By any chance is it one of the lightning models ? The reason i asked is that the lightning was built more as a racing truck. It had a wicked top end. Maybe .... not so good as a work truck.

Its a "Waldoch" custom model. My main concern is which engine is going to hold together and haul the best for the next couple years. The body is pretty on the 95, but I will be scrapping and driving it rough =P so that wont last long regardless. Contemplating if its a good thing that the 99 has nearly all original parts... it means it all still works, but once one piece goes im sure I will be in for a downhill slide. The 95 clearly has some updates, but that also may mean parts are already going. Im going to give both buyers another day to worry and then decide tmr after running both for another ride.

Originally Posted by hunterandscrapper

but its a ford

Don't knock it till you rock it , those super duty trucks have some serious parts , they are made very well . Currently I'm driving a 03 ford shortbed . The 99 will get a little less mpg but if I were armstrt8 I would be partying like its 1999 .

If the motor is the major concern, do a compression test. That will give you an idea of what is going on inside. Everything else is easy fixes.

sorry i hate fords

It's all good Bro ...

I hate workin' on em'.

Last year was seriously considering changing my mailing address to: Under The Truck

I ended up buying the Green 95 a few days back. Have driven it for a couple days now and so far so good ^.^ I ended up bartering it down from $2,650 to $1,900. Thanks again for all of the help everyone!!
I made the decision mostly for the healthier engine. After driving the 99 for a half hour or so I had 2 VERY rough shifts (jutted in-between gears) and also had the ABS light come on and stay on twice until the vehicle was restarted... not to mention no AC!