Ford truck recommendation

[terry274]

Sometime in the next six months I plan on buying a used pickup truck. I would like a Ford F-150, gas not diesel. Something between 1995 and 2006. My budget is less than $6,000, prefer around $4000. (need money to change the oil and other fluids). It will only be used occasionally, maybe two or three times a month. It will pull a 16' trailer loaded with a 3,000 pound tractor about 3 times a year.
My questions:
Any motor or transmissions to avoid?
Any problems in general to watch out for?
Any constructive statements and advice welcome.
Thanks,
Terry

 

[oggb]

Either 95 or 96 was the last year Ford put the 4.9L straight six engine in the F-150. That's a great engine.

As far as transmissions go I don't hear of many Ford trucks having transmission problems.

 

[Bluestream]

You may want to post your question HERE

 

[Chris142]

96 was the last year for the easy to work on body style. The Heater, AC evaporator, sparkplugs etc are very easy to do. The 97+ calls for 8 hrs to do a heater or evaporator and the spark plugs are a bear to acces.

 

[Smokefan1977]

99.5-03 4.6 PI engine will get the job done. All of the trannys are good in the gassers. you should be able to find one of these in your price range. Keep in mind the 97-early 99 are not Performance improved head engine. They are a bit on the sluggish side

my 4.6 get roughly 16-17mpg mixed driving

plugs are cake on the 99-04 4.6-5.4.
The early 5.4 had plug that would shoot out of the head. Book is 2 hours on a plug swap on these engines I do them in 1.2. Very easy job and they are COP

 

[volk06]

You should be able to find a 92-96, F250 with a 351 or 460 in that price range. Gas mileage wont be the best but you will have the power for pulling that trailer and theyre both reliable engines and easy to work on.

If looking at 97 and newer f150 try and find one with a 5.4, the 4.6 is a good engine but the 5.4 will pull a trailer a little better and get about the same mpg.

 

[Cujet]

I owned a 98 F150 4.6L. I used M1 from new. 255,000 miles later, I gave the truck to my brother, still running great. He's had it 3 years now, still perfect!

Failures:

Trans (infant mortality, happened when new), alternator at 125K, AC compressor at the same time, Radiator at about 150K, heater core too somewhere around 175K.

My brother ended up installing new ball joints.

I installed several sets of brakes. Did a bunch of towing. Even drag raced the truck a few times.

That's a stunningly small list for a 300,000 mile truck. However, I did 5000 mile oil changes, and 4 qts M1 ATF in the trans at most oil changes. I welded on a drain plug to make trans pan drains easy.

 

[01rangerxl]

Condition, condition, condition. It won't matter what engine you get if the truck hasn't been taken care of. All of the engines/transmissions Ford used during those year ranges are pretty good.

With the older trucks in particular, rust is the primary concern. It's the only thing that can completely destroy the truck from bumper to bumper and can't be fixed. You can find replacement engines and transmissions for an F-150 all day, but if rust has set in it's done.

I'd be prepared for minor things, like maybe a bad DPFE sensor, or other minor emissions related repairs, but in general these trucks are really reliable. One of the hardest things with shopping for an older F-150 is finding one that doesn't have a ton of miles on it.

 

[hattaresguy]

Just find one that's in good shape, that's what matters the most. Trucks tend to get beat on, so buy on condition.

 

[Dakota1820]

If it was me I'd search around for the old style with the 300 i6 you can probably find a really nice one for 3or 4000 . It would probably be in better shape than a newer one for the same price. The 300 was indestructible. And will out live you if cared for. Transmissions were all pretty good they are all pretty solid. I personally don't like the newer style 97-up they are more car like and have bad crash safety ratings. But dependable they all are.

 

[wtd]

I would also suggest a pre 97 with the 300 i6 as it is a very tough engine. My ex-neighbor had an 88 he bought new with this engine that he regularly went over 10,000 miles on oil changes with regular oil. It was his work truck and he was not the most maintainence conscience guy. At about 225,000 miles it was starting to knock a little so he pulled the engine out and put new main bearings in it and kept on driving it.

After he moved, I did run into him a few times and he said that the truck finally stopped running. He beat the snot out of that truck.

In the summer of 2010, my fiance bought her 15 year old son a 96 F150 4x4 with the 300 6 and manual tranny with 122,000 miles on it for $3,500. Truck was very straight with no rust. Just to give you an idea on what you can get them for. We gave it a full tuneup along with a new alternator and belt tensioner. It still runs great even though he is not the easiest on it.

Wayne