I'm looking at upgrading from the old 95 to a 2002 F350 4x4 and although I've looked over the threads about what to look for on one of these trucks, I was wanting to get some personal opinions about how well your trucks have served you and how many miles you have put on them. The truck I'm going to look at has 275K miles. It apparently runs well, everything works and the body is in great condition. I have talked to some local folks who have the same truck with comparable or more miles and they love them. I think the price is good, but I don't want to end up with a money pit. What say you?

 

Mine will forever be a money pit, but its a daily driver, and I keep buying mods.

At 275K, you could be looking at some significant maintenance, like transmission rebuild, injectors, turbo rebuild, front end rebuild, HPOP lines, brakes, various sensors, and quite a bit of your time if you're a DIYer like many of us.

Do you have a way of knowing the maintenance history of this truck?

 

I know the transmission was rebuilt, the HPOP is new, the brakes were recently rebuilt, the CPS is recent and it has 2 new injectors. My only concern is that it has an oil cooler leak when it is cold. I do a lot of wrenching myself, and I really don't want to have to spend too much time fighting repairs, but this particular truck with the options is one that would like to hold on to for a long time. It looks almost exactly like the one in your signature. I just completed a rebuild of the front end on my current truck, which I didn't think was too bad.

It will also be my daily driver. The owner said he has the maintenance history and that it has never been modded.

 

Rebuilding the oil cooler is a common DIY project, some good "how to" threads on that here. As usual overall condition is the key. I'd be very curious about which injectors were replaced, and why. And specifically the trans rebuild; just a stock rebuild or a HD unit from Ford or one of the well known builders. They all could use a better trans cooler for towing. Jack up the front and move each tire up and down to see if the ball joints are loose and need replacing. I have a similar truck for about 3 years and 45k and most of the money I spent is voluntary mods. Some towing a 5er and DD. It's a good truck.

 

It does sound like a good one. The quality of the tranny rebuild would be good to know. How do you plan to use the truck?

 

like any truck with these kind of miles will need a fair amount of wrenching,you can cover the weak points before they fail or deal with them as they happen,I prefer to park a new used purchase, & research & due preventive maintenance from bump to bumper,not everybody has this kind of time & patience.

 

I plan on using it as a daily driver and for towing various size trailers when I need to. Im in the construction industry and I never know what I'll need to throw in the truck. My 95 has served me well but I really need an interior upgrade plus the 4wd will be useful to get to the family cabin in the mountains. Im not surprised that a couple of injectors had to be replaced at this mileage. I need at least one and I've done regular maintenance on my truck. Ball joints are no big deal to me. I can do those in an afternoon. How about the t-case or the front axle? The only 4wd I've owned was a 74 landcruiser. It was hard to break.

 

the Transfercase is pretty low maintenance,just change fluids.front axle & drivelines are the most overlooked maint.I like to start out fresh with all new ujoints & carrier bearing on rear driveline,sometimes front driveline can go longer if kept out of deep water,the ujoints on your axle shafts sit pretty low to get a lot of road spray,I like to do a complete service on the front axle from axle shafts out,beings its labor intensive to go in there.