After years of driving Toyotas, F150's, C10's and finally trying to get by with a Suburban, I bit the bullet and got an F350. 1997, 4wd, crew, 351 auto, long box. No rust to speak of, which is rare up here in northern NY. Interior is great except for the cracked dash. It will be used here on my farm for hauling feed, lumber, wood, occasional trailering of livestock under 100 miles in relatively flat land. I understand that this combo isn't the most powerful rig on the road and that the tranny could use a larger, better aftermarket cooler if I'm going to be doing much towing. I did not want, nor could I afford, a diesel. Too big a leap for this old man. Previous owner reports mileage about 10mpg which is what I got with the Burb. Needs AC recharged, a drivers side mirror and the dash covered. The shifter bushings are worn bad and that's going to bug me. I wasn't looking for a soft ride or great gas economy, I was looking for something big enough to hold 5-6 people, tow 50 sheep to the sale barn or to haul 3 ton of wood pellets or cement. IOW- a work truck. This was a major purchase for me since I haven't had a car payment since 1995 or paid more than $1400.00 for my last 4 trucks. Got this for $4k with a GEM contractors cap, tool box, a mess of spare parts and there's a plow frame on the truck. The old belly is still doing flip flops at the thought of spending that money, but SWMBO is happy with me, so maybe that bodes well.

I've been reading the posts in this section for a couple days. Nice place, lots of good help. Good on all of you. And thanks in advance!

 

Some ones gotta ask it so.... Where are the pics??? Lol We love pics around here. Sounds like a nice truck. It should serve you well.

 

Ummmmm......pics.....yeah, well, I'm what my kids refer to as "technically challenged". IE- posting pics is not my thing, but I'll try.

Any idea where I can find and owners manual on line from a RELIABLE and SAFE source? I found some of those "free download" sites but I'm more than a bit wary.

 

How about Ford............

Go to here: https://www.motorcraftservice.com/ then select Owner Guides, input your model year and model using the drop downs.

100% free

 

Thanks RLA! I tried some older links that were dead. I'll try that one.


Pics.....maybe- nope, I thought I knew how to post a pic on a V-bulletin type forum, but I;m lost on this one.


Okay, if you click on the "garage" I managed to get 2 pics in there. Not sure how you get them to a post.

 

 

Your Garage is an album. Click on each pic, you should see links below labeled "Picture URL" AND "BB Code". You want the BB code, copy then paste it into your post. It will being with [IMG]then end with [bracket] IMG.

 

Good looking truck you have there. You'll get the hang of posting pics. You can never post to many.

 

Sweet looking truck!

Jim

 

Thanks to all. I got the manual downloaded and thanks for the pics help.