I am going to take a look at a 1997 F250 7.3PS in a couple days, guy is selling it for $2900. It has 230k miles. He works on an oil field in ND and it was a company truck, he bought it fixed up the cosmetic stuff- torn seat, busted window, P/W and locks etc. Not sure if it was use for hauling or not, will find out, but was curious what type of things to look for when take it out for a drive to see if it was just beat to heck or might be in good shape and a good buy. It is also an auto tranny. Not sure of any maint. history which is why I wanted to ask for things to look at and check.

I should also mention that I am not a mechanic by any means, so laymens terms would be good

 

4x4 or 2WD?

 

4x4 with lockout hubs. It has a flatbed with a trap door for the gooseneck hitch but no hitch so dont think it hauled anything too heavy.

 

Have a read threw this thread, it is for the superduty, but most apply to the 94-97 strokes. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...questions.html

 

Check the suspension! Oil field roads are some of the hardest and roughest roads around that I know of! Those roads can take a huge toll of the suspension and body!

 

Thanks for the info, will check the thread.

Also anything specific to look at with suspension to tell if okay, will look for cracks broken thing but anything else?

 

Tie rod ends, which are not expensive, but look for the boots on them being torn, or the grease looking in rough shape. If you can jack up the front axle and check the wheel for any kind of slack by wiggling it from top to bottom, for bad or worn ball joints. You can also tell by it sitting on the ground if the tops of the front wheels tilt in any. If it is a 4wd model, and likely you have that independent front axle (D-50, where the center of the axle pivots), check the bushings on the cross member that hold the center of the axle.

The body bushings where the cab of the truck rest on the chassis, see if they look hammered. Usually there is some wear, but when on those rough oil field roads, they deteriorate pretty quickly. Of course if you take it for a test drive, feel for steering wheel slop, and go over some speed bumps and get a feel for the truck as it does. too much bounce or it feeling too soft is a good indicator the suspension if worn.

My next thought is only my opinion, and I do not want to come off sounding like I am flaming anyone, because I am not, but I am very leery of anything that has been used or owned by any oil field personnel. Most I have encountered do not have either the knowledge to maintain a vehicle properly, or the interest to. They work a lot of hours, have some cash to float, and with that usually drive things until the wheels fall off, and then onto something new. The roads are very rough, they cross a lot of terrain that is not ideal on a very regular basis to get to and from the site, so it is a lot harder on trucks then what we typically put them through. My little daily driver I picked up with less then 60k on it seen these roads when I lived out on a ranch that was used heavily by oil field trucks (small and large). Needless to say when I finally bought my own place closer to the highway, at 90k in miles, it was riding like I had 200+k miles on it. The roads were very hard on it. I have had to replace all of my suspension since to get it back to tip top shape.

 

Great info Chris. Another thing to think about is idle time. These trucks don't have an hr gauge, so it's tough to tell, but I'd guess that truck has idled quite a bit over its life.

 

Is idle time bad in these? Thanks for all the info!!

 

Not "bad" per se, but it means the engine has run longer than what the odometer suggests. Unfortunately, I don't thnk the PCM retains accumulated engine run time.

 

This is what I was getting at, but didn't clarify.