Hey everyone,
I'm new to buying trucks as I am 18, so I'm looking for some helpful advice... I'm looking at buying a 1992 ford f350. Its gas, 4door, long bed, with a camper shell. It has 148,000 miles on it already. I'd have to fix the mastercylinder, altenator, and possibly the shocks. It runs great, not funky noises etc... is this a wise decision? Are there any crazy problems in these trucks?
Thank you in advance!

 

sounds like a decent truck if the price is right. Be forewarned you are going to be spending a lot of money on gas if you drive it any decent amount of miles.

 

There are not any 'normal' 18yo boys on this planet that can afford to drive this truck. It's going to get about 7mpg - and that's if you're driving it extended distances. If you're just planning to drive this around town - back and forth to school, etc - you better get ready to spend $100+ a week on gas.

 

it will gobble up the gas, so you should ask yourself if you really need a truck this big. what will you be using it for ?

this generation of f series had a few little idiosyncracies, but nothing crazy. check the leaf spring hangers for rust

 

+1 on the gas, I have a 92 250 460 5speed 4x4 long bed, and I get 10mpg no matter how I drive it. it is a beast and turns heads and scares hybrid drivers, but it is expensive to drive and ask yourself if you couldn't get by with a 150 or a ranger which will post up better mpg, are easier to park, and cheaper to fix. I have had both and probably would still have my ranger if I didn't pull on a regular basis.

if you do buy it, I would recommend doing all the standards on it. plugs, wires, fluids, check the pads, rotors, and drums, and bump the timing 2 degrees to 14*btdc if I remember correctly.

The altinators on these trucks are low power my 460 has a 80amp alt if I remember right, and they have a habbit of catching fire. the fix is upgrading to a 3g alt, lots of write ups about it.

the two piece rear main seal seams to be a common leak site.

other then that there isn't much I can remember that I found when I first got my truck.

 

I'm a girl thank you (: and I breed pigs and raise cattle so I need a big truck to haul big livestock, I'm prepared to pay the gas and such, I'm just curious if there are any major issues I should look out for...Thank you for all the information(:

 

Is it a 7.5L or a 5.8L engine? If 5.8L it may be wise to walk away and find the big block truck for an F350 cc lb.

 

SamiJo,

Welcome to the board - nice to see someone your age involved in ag these days. You say you're new to buying trucks, but it also sounds like you've been around them for a while.

There are no serious "crazy issues" with these trucks, but this board is an excellent resource for finding/fixing common things that just turn up. Check out the stickies, too.

These trucks have been used for ag work for many years and will serve very well pulling most trailers, hauling feed, etc. As has been mentioned, bigger loads will pull better with the 7.5/460 engine, and it may or may not get less MPG than the 5.8 under your conditions.

Since you're talking about hauling livestock, there's another issue you might see, depending on the truck's prior life. I found tired rear springs on my '97 and replaced them. There are also other options such as air bags. You really won't know until you hook up to a loaded trailer, so if you have that option before buying you might check it out.

The miles you describe aren't high at all for a '92, and the known issues you listed are entirely normal. You might also need to replace the brakes, pack front wheel bearings, and get/do a good lube job.

The other thing you have to be prepared for - unless you personally know the truck's history - is work done by previous owners. You can run into some really weird stuff. But, hey - that's just life with used trucks. You may get lucky and find no tinkering.

You didn't mention the price, but with a couple of pics and a little more detail (engine, trans, 4x2 or 4x4, options) we can also give you an idea about that.

If you're willing to do the research, folks on this board will help you with the truck and tell you how to do it right & safely.

 

It is a 7.5L, fuel injected and it is not a 4x4, um the radiator looks brand new, it has been sitting for a year, but driven twice during that year. (not including my test drive) The guy wants 2,000$ for the truck, but after I looked at it, I told him what needs to be fixed and what not and he is going to fix most of the repairs it needs, such as the brakes, and altenator. We checked the oil and the other fluids, and everything was good, the oil didn't smell like gas. All the (pardon me for not knowing the names) plugs that go in both fuse panels are all stock and none have been changed. That's all I know right now, I can get more information later today though(: Thank you again!

 

Oh and it already has trailer brakes wired into it's system... the front windows and doors are automatic lock and window power, but the back you have to do by hand, which I thought was a little weird.. and I don't know how to post pictures on here, but in my "gallery" is the picture of the truck.

 

That pic you took makes it look like a peach! If you don't need 4x4 and it drives well, scoop it up. Looks rust free, big bonus on these old trucks. Assuming that it's an auto? E4OD trans like to stay cool, so consider a good cooler for that.

 

From the picture in your gallery it looks like a really nice rust free truck for $2,000. And as far as I know these trucks never had an electric sliding rear window, they are all manual.

And to post pictures you will need to upload the the pics to Photo and image hosting, free photo galleries, photo editing and then copy/paste the direct link here using the "insert image" option when you post.

 

Agreed...looks pretty clean from this view...and now I have a crick in my neck

 

I would buy that truck for $2,000 in a heartbeat. I paid $3,600 for my F350 6 months ago and it is only a 90, not the better looking 92 (IMHO). I get anywhere from 7.6 mpg up to 13.3 mpg with my 460 equipped truck. The 13.3 was towing an empty car hauling trailer on the freeway over flat ground, bets recorded highway mileage to date. The 7.6 was city driving, and letting the engine idle while I operate the trailer mounted winch to load/unload a vehicle. BTW, my rear windows, and door locks are also manual and my front doors have power locks and windows.

Jim

 

I would make sure that billet grille is built fairly decent just to be sure. We had a 93 F250 4x4 7.5L extended cab with a cheap billet 15 minutes down the backroads I live on and the billet was ready to fall off.
Personally I don't really look at 2wd trucks that often but if you don't need 4x4 $2k for that truck is pretty decent especially for a OBS crew cab ( I noticed those years out west here everybody wants a fortune)
Check out the bug deflector make sure it isn't causing in cracks in the hood or up against the hood. My personal 1988 F150 had one that caused small cracks in the hood and rust against it. I was able to personally take it off and put a different one on (that was built better) and wire brushed the hood before.
I remember when I lived in Cali the trucks always had to deal with the muffler wanting to fall of so make sure most of that is good (on my dad's 85 chevy van it would sound great even though the tail pipe fell off.
When you get it I would do a good tune up and change all the fluids. If something looks, acts, or even sounds just a bit off don't drive the truck (trust me I found out the hard way not thinking correctly and having my 88 F150 blow up on me.)
The 460 like everybody says is a good puller (I am 18 also and when I used my mom's 93 F250 4x4 standard 460 to pull things it was unbelievable I pulled horse trailers, just about anything while I had my permit then we sold the truck)
I am glad to see yet another person of my age group whom is interested in this era trucks.
Trav