the kid has his own wheels...

**DakotaRog** · 09-03-2016, 05:58 AM

My younger son had been bugging me nearly everyday this summer about buying a truck by showing me ads on craigslist. We finally pulled the trigger on one around his 16th b-day in early August. Its a 1994 Ford F-150XLT with 115K for miles, a rather particular younger guy (came across that way) had the pu as a secondary vehicle. T was short in his bank account for the full amount so he still owes mom, and then he still owes mom for the $600+ in repair bills for a bunch littler stuff that needed to get fixed to make the rig more road worthy--if I would have known how "secondary" the truck was used, I would have pushed harder for some coin off of the asking price. Anyway, the kid thinks this beast is the best thing since sliced bread, although I suspect most of his part-time job money will go into keeping it running. No better time to learn some of life's needed lessons.

P.S. Dad might have to borrow it a few times to pick up scrap items with it!!

**miked** · 09-03-2016, 06:16 AM

Lucky kid, VERY lucky kid. Great looking tuck. Mike

**DakotaRog** · 09-03-2016, 06:59 AM

He's been working at local pizza chain place since April. Most of his money have gone into saving for a vehicle. He's still in the hole so he'll learn that wheels don't come cheap!!

**miked** · 09-03-2016, 07:15 AM

Let me clarify: Lucky to find a great looking truck, lucky he has been raised by parents that believe you have to work for what you get, lucky there are still jobs for young people to do.

Good job mom and dad, Mike

**Scrappah** · 09-03-2016, 05:50 PM

Nice lookin' truck Rog. Quite a bit better than mine. ( Same year and model w/o the extended cab. )

You wanna keep him safe. First vehicle ... he's not gonna know what to look for. Rust underneath is the big thing. Check the frame just behind the cab where it curls down into the straight. That's a good spot for stress cracks.Check the last six inches of of frame in the very back where everything bolts together. It's about time for the spring hangers to let go if they haven't been replaced already. The cross member that supports the tranny might be getting tender. Check the radiator support. That's kind of important because it supports the front of the truck and ties in with the steering.

You know how it is with the young guys. They often drive em' a little harder. If there's a weak point under there somewhere it's apt to fail under a strain.

I'm spending the labor day weekend under the truck. I drive mine easy but the rear shock mount that attaches the shock to the differential let go this past week. Gonna have to weld in a new one tomorrow. All the other stuff that was mentioned is stuff that's been done on mine over the last few years. You kinda have to be attentive to em' and stay ahead of the rust when they get over twenty years old.

**DakotaRog** · 09-04-2016, 05:15 PM

miked- Thanks for the kind words! I probably haven't worked them as hard as I should have but they've worked more than some of their contemporaries. Keeping all aspects of a vehicle (yes, he'll be paying for the insurance renewal come April!!) makes one understand cash flow fairly quickly!!

Thanks for the tips Scrappah!!! I've never owned a vehicle with quite so much rust! One of the repairs in the $600+ post-buy shop call was to replace very rusty back brake lines. I don't have an under vehicle crawler anymore so will probably have to lay out some cardboard to lay on, don some goggles, and check out some of those spots you mentioned. Hopefully before the snow flies!!