I'm looking at a '96 F150 at a local dealer. The truck is an XLT with 4x4, Automatic, A/C, reg cab, long bed, 5.0 V-8, dual fuel tanks, HD front springs, HD radiator, and cruise. Miles are 100K. Other than the aftermarket manual hubs, nothing appears modified and the truck is real clean. It even has the original owner's manual and window sticker in the glove box, and was originally sold new by the dealer who has it now.

I drove it and all seems ok, save for a slight miss at idle (serious?). The trans shifts smoothly, as does the T-case (even in and out of 4-Low), and the A/C is cold. The cruise works fine. I don't think it ever towed anything heavy; it doesn't have a receiver hitch.

Is there anything specical I should check? I was considering asking the dealer to do a compression check. FWIW, I don't plan to use it as a daily driver, just for a hunting/skiing truck and to go to the Home Depot. It will live in the garge.

Also, can anyone tell me what trans and T-case this would have?

Thanks,
Rollei

 

The T-case is a Borg Warner 13-56, strong unit. We would need the code off the door jam to know what tranny it is.

 

Last fall I bought a 95' f-250. It seemed like it was in ok shape and i knew about the front end work that had to be done. What really surprised me was how rusted out everything was! If you live in wintery climate and that is where the truck has been, don't buy it unless you plan on replacing all the brake lines, tranny lines and power steering lines! If you live in a more mild climate you probably would be alright. Oh and make sure the dipstick sheath isn't rusted away. good luck--jon

 

These trucks have one of the worst, I said WORST! designed bodies for rust.

I have yet to come across a 87-96 that isn't rusting along the rear wheels, despite how well you wash them.

It's sad to see a 6 year old truck with as much rust a 25 year old truck.

 

Yeah I noticed the other day my wheel well was starting. And I have a nice ugly spot starting to bubble on the bottom edge of the supercab on the drivers side.

 

Look at the pics in my gallery and you'll see a '95 with no rust around the rear wheels, or anywhere else for that matter.

 

Lucky. Mine was a NH truck.

 

Thanks for the replies.

This is a Michigan (salt belt) truck, so I was expecting to find some rust on the body but couldn't find much when I crawled underneath. I even pulled back the fender liners around the rear wheel wells and all I could feel was smooth metal. Maybe I'm lucky. Even the springs look pretty clean under the 'chassis black' that the detailer sprayed on.

I'll go back and check the the brake, trans, and power steering lines and the dipstick sheath.

 

Give it some time, if you live in a rust prone area, no matter how well you wash it, it WILL rust. I've had mine since new, and i'm very particular on how i wash it. It was 10 ten years old before I noticed a spot. Yeah, it's small compared to others I see, and I firmly believe washing often does help, it'll eventually rust.

I've seen it a million times on these trucks. I've seen rust on 99+ superduties already.

 

Have front end checked,it has lifetime lubed joints that may or may not last that long.Can cost big bucks to relplace.

 

Pastmaster, check out my gallery. It's a 95' and not a thing has been done to prevent rust except keeping it clean. I have not noticed any rust on the body at all. Of course I know that location and maintenance play a roll in this factor. Better than a 3 year old chevy with all the paint peeling off.

 

I can probably count on one hand the times I've washed the painted surfaces of my truck since the day I bought it (~13 years ago), but I can't even guess how many times I've rinsed off the UNDERSIDE. That to me is MUCH more important. Since it's NOT painted, there's very little protection under there, so I keep it clean enough that it has virtually no rust. I think that's all it takes, even for vehicles driven on salted roads, to prevent underbody rust.

 

I can't speak for the Bronco's, but the design itself is the problem. Like I said above, I can vouch for the washing slowing down rust, but my point is it will not completely STOP rust if you live in an area that uses salt in the winter. The under carriage of both of my trucks are spotless, practically no rust once-so-ever, and the underneath of the wheel wells have no rust, but between that wheel well and the bedside, there is a space that will trap salt and crud, and it's practically impossible to wash out completely. In a nut-shell it's a time bomb.


My truck only has about a pinky-finger size of rust on teh 10 o'clock position of the passenger side wheel well. I've cleaned the paint off, used a bit of POR-15, and put touch-up paint on it, it still rusts through. The other side has zero rust, and I've made sure to get every bit of crap out I can, and it shows.


i'm just waiting for the day it shows up.

 

The tops of the rear wheelwells are steel, and they catch stuff & hold it at the seams. To clean it, pull the plastic wheelwells and blast everything out from on top. When it's dry, cover it with undercoating. That's what I did to the bottoms of my doors & tailgate (inside).

 

After reading all that, I don't feel so left out now!

Regards, Robert.