so the plans for this truck was to use it as a beater work truck, home depot runner, etc. the bed was rusted out, so i removed it shortly after i bought it, and plans were to put a cheap flat bed on it to use it as said work truck/home depot runner. (original "build" thread: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ork-truck.html)

the bad about the truck, no factory a/c (not very fun in florida...), has some cancer (the doors, rocker panels, cab corners, and the old bed). the frame is pretty good, mainly surface rust. i got new rust free doors for cheap that i was going to put on, haven't done that yet, but if i sell i will give them to the new owner. they are already the same factory silver paint so its a super easy swap. the cab corners and rocker panels can be replaced fairly easy from what i see in other threads.

other than that, it ran decent, 140k miles (5.4L), but a few months ago the power steering went completely out. haven't gotten it fixed yet nor looked at, but shortly after that, the brakes stopped working. i think the power steering pump may be bad, and i read that on these trucks, the PS assists with the brakes some how (hydro boost or something?)

here's my CL ad, i didn't really put a price, as i think i'd rather just trade for a 16' or so dual axle trailer. i'm sure i'm gonna take a loss on it, especially if i don't fix the PS and brakes. tomorrow i think im gonna put the new doors on so at least that rust is taken care of.


1999 f250 super duty trade for trailer

basically i guess i want to hear thoughts from you guys, should i keep this, fix the PS/brakes/new doors, eventually fix the rockers/cab corners, and build a cheap wood flatbed and use it as a beater? or sell/trade it?

keep in mind i do have an excursion (don't want to dirty the interior, its more for pleasure driving, although i don't mind towing with it as that won't dirty the truck itself up. i also just purchased an 04 f350 crew cab dually, so i have a long bed truck to use, but a flatbed/trailer with a flat deck over the axles is always nice if getting pallets of stuff, etc.

the f350 i also don't want to trash and use as simply a work truck, but i bought it to have a nice reliable heavy duty truck to use and tow with when needed.

if for whatever reason a lot of time passes and i haven't gotten any trade offers on it, or cash offers (so far i've gotten 500 and 750 and i declined both, even though realistically AS IS, that's probably what its worth lol) ill just keep it and use it as described above.

 

A lot of what you are saying I had to make the decision a few weeks ago. We had a 93 f350 7.3 stick shift. It ran pretty good BUT it needed a ton of parts to be road safe. I didn't want to dump a lot of money into it and finally tried to sell it but no takers. As last resort took it to the scrap yard and got $350 as is.
We have another truck the red one which is 11 years old with 200K on the clock. So that truck is now our farm truck to get parts and anything else needed for the farm and our new truck became our fifth wheel hauler.

In the end you'll have to,sit down and see what you have and what your willing to put into the old truck to make it road safe. I hate lawsuits. Or sell it to scrapyard if no takers.
Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

well other than fixing the recent issues with the PS and brakes, it was road safe, and should be easy to get that fixed (i'd have a mechanic buddy do it for me).

i was just looking at a few wood flatbed build threads, and it looks like it'd be pretty cheap to build what im thinking about. about 4 8ft 4x4's and some 2x6's (or 8's) for the subfloor/subdeck, then however many planks are needed for the actual deck. plus bolts and screws.

 

Our truck had very bad rust from our roads even the passenger door rusted so bad I couldn't open it. Yours sounds much better. Keep and put a few parts into it. Ours was going to be many K to fix.

 

yea you can see in my original thread that it isn't too too bad. definitely fixable. the frame seems to be just surface rust which is good it's not completely rusted through.

just did some quick measuring and drawing in sketchup, and lumber wise it'll be about 150 bux with tax included for a 7ft wide by 8ft long flatbed. all i'd need on top of that $150 is the 1/2" or whatever size bolts to hold the subframe down to the frame, and thick deck screws to screw the deck boards down. probably gonna start that tomorrow, i figure regardless, with a flatbed and the new front doors on it, and probably just gonna fix the PS and brakes, and then it'll look alot better to a buyer to purchase it or trade me a trailer for it. but if months go by and its just sitting, i guess i might as well put it to use. lol

 

well i just spent $70 and got some PT 4x4's and 2 PT 2x8's along with some 2.5" deck screws. gonna build the frame for the flat bed when it stops raining here, then once it's built im gonna figure out which factory holes in the frame i want to use so i can measure and count how many 1/2" grade 8 bolts i need to attach it to the frame. then 16x 5/4" deck boards and its done! It's a win-win weather i keep it or sell it, someone should like that it has a flatbed already on it. ill post pics in this thread.

 

You may have been able to get another cab, (from a dry climate), for not too much money.

 

Wished I had seen that... I could have used it as a parts truck

 

Not very much good left on her. Engine, trans and rear end was very good. Frame bad, body very bad. But did have a 5 year old fuel tank and send unit. Never thought to say anything on here.

 

81" 4x4s, a 2x8 is gonna go on each side, making the total width 7'

 

Your body looks very good.. Now onto the building.

 

Yea the chicks say i have a good body. Lol.

 

Don't forget the upward tire travel-especially if you have a load on it to begin with. Wet wood is heavy to begin with... A friend did the same thing and found since he put the decking on, flat all the way across the bed, the top of the tires would easily hit.