Old truck for 2024 & im still here BTW

**CopperHeadAKA** · 05-28-2024, 02:29 AM

Spotted this nice old Ford 1988 4.9 inline six 4x4 with aftermarket Flatbed Kit I feel this will be my most interesting scrap truck yet can't wait to give it a try

**hills** · 05-28-2024, 06:55 AM

I had the 1994 F-150 lightning 4x4 with a 302 / 5.0 liter. They're pretty much the same truck except that the 88 F-250 is probably carbeurated and the suspension is a bit heavier.

It's a hard thing to keep an older truck on the road sometimes. They need an awful lot of maintenance & upkeep. They eventually rust out underneath and then it's a lost cause. You might consider lifting the bed off the truck to get a good idea of what kind of condition the frame is in. It's probably getting awful tender under there.

I was trying to think back on the work i did on mine. The rear spring hangers are notorious for rusting out. I have had to do them on all the Ford trucks i've owned. The back two cross members always rust out. One of them supports the fuel tank so that has to be fixed. Look where the tow hitch bolts on to the frame. That connection point rusts through the frame after awhile. The big bad meanie is where the frame curves down just behind the cab. You get a lot of stress cracks in there. I've seen a few Fords fold up like a jack knife when the frame let go there. Anyhow ... that's a partial list of things to look for.

The running joke at my house was ..... What's Hill's new mailing address ?

Under the truck.

Later edited to add: I was looking at the oil spot under the front of the truck in the first picture. The shaft seals on the steering gear started leaking on mine. It came to a point where it just wouldn't hold the power steering fluid anymore so i had to swap that out with a rebuild. That's not a job you wanna do if you can avoid it. I think it was something like three or four days work from start to finish because all the bolts were so badly rusted in. It fought me every step of the way.

**CopperHeadAKA** · 05-29-2024, 10:10 PM

She's old gonna have to take care & go easy 50 miles a week one or two loads retirement for her
that's all I have time for is one day a week .
I'm back to my original work as a Painter ( love it ) My side ability with understanding As A master scraper I AM
this is the truck i've been waiting 29 years for & she is here

**hills** · 05-30-2024, 05:45 AM

I always ran a pickup truck or a work van for over 35 years. I'm done with them now that i'm retired from the building trades. The last two trucks i've owned have been far more time & trouble than they were worth.

The way i figure it .... a truck has to earn it's keep. It's got to be reliable and it has to be making money for me every day. The 94 F-150 i had was a PITA with all of the time and money i had to sink into it to keep it on the road but it was tolerable because it helped me earn $ 40.00/hr as a self employed carpenter. I could write the money part of it off on my income tax every year.

I used to keep pretty careful business records. Toward the end of it .... i was spending about three grand a year on repair parts and gasoline. I was averaging around 80 - 120 man hours per year to work on it doing repairs & maintenance. ( That's about two or three weeks full time work.)

The funny part is that i live on an island off the coast of Maine. All of my work is within ten miles of the shop. I rarely drive more than 3,000 miles a year.

I dunno ... for all the time & trouble i was putting into that truck ... it just didn't seem like it was worth doing anymore once i started working a regular job. Nowadays it's just a little economy car. I costs hardly anything to run but it's good enough for hauling 400 lbs of copper or brass over to the scrap yard on the mainland every now and then.

To each their own though. Every other vehicle here in Maine is either a truck or SUV. They're really popular here. Nice to own if you can afford it. Too rich for my blood though. I'm just a working man these days.