Alright, here's the deal. I have an 86 f-150 that I have done a decent amount of work on, and love the truck...but...the potential for future family "growth" is causing me to start thinking a bit about my next vehicle. Obviously a '86 single cab isn't going to cut it, for many reasons. I am pretty confident that I want a crew cab truck, but am having a tough time with the 5.5' bed, especially on the 97-03 year trucks. I have slowly gained some appreciation for the styling of the 97-03's, but honestly prefer the overall looks(mostly because of the bed/tail lights and interior styling) of the 04+. Enough of the rambling...I am looking for advice/experiences of guys that have owned the 97-03's and/or the 04+ trucks. In particular I am interested in guys that have them as dual purpose rigs, i.e. daily driver/trail rig. Which truck is going to hold up better with a small(4" or less) lift, and has more options for upgraded components to try to combat breakage and the resulting down time and cost? Which truck ends up with better clearances front to rear with said lift? Etc, etc... Kind of looking for the best "bang for your buck" kind of deal. I would prefer to have a separate trail rig than daily driver, but that's a whole other discussion. Thanks for the input guys.

 

I can tell you this about both. The 97-03 models don't have as heavy of frame as the 04-08's. The 97-03 models don't have as much power and are less fuel efficient. The 2 valve engines did not have any spark plug removal, injector problems, or cam phaser issues on the 5.4 engines that plagued early 04-05 3 valve engines. But occassionally the 2 valve engines did spit plugs out. The 04-08 models can tow more. Overall both generations of the F150 are reliable. But the 04-08 version is improved as well it should be if Ford is sincere about beating the competition.

 

I have only owned my 06 but I use it for everything. Daily driver, towing, play, hunting/fishing, vacation mobile, work, and some easy light trail rides (small streams, small to medium size rocks, and fairly wide trails). I have a 3" leveling kit on the front and a 1" block on the rear. The truck has never let me down yet and I have been driving it for 4 years now and just passing 82,000 on the timer. I plan to keep the truck about another 6 years before I part ways and look for something else maybe longer will all depend.


Good luck with your search either way i think you will be happy with your purchase.

 

I had read somewhere about the first gen fx4's(2002-2003 I believe) had a heavier duty frame than the other f150's of the same era. Anybody know about the validity to this? Haven't heard anything about it with the later fx4's though. I am under the impression they just have different shocks, and skid plates, with minor cosmetic changes interior and exterior.

 

I do prefer the 04+, and even more so the 06+ because of some of the fixes they made. They had fixed the cam phaser issue by then, correct? I know you don't get away from the spark plug issues until 08's. The only real reason I am looking at the older trucks is because of price. My budget is preferably around 12-13k. It's tough to find a truck with under 100k on the clock for that price, unfortunately. I feel like it is almost better to find a truck with around 120k+ than 80k+, because a decent amount of serious repairs tend to happen around 90-100k miles.

 

I have owned both generations of Supercrew. I love both. The 02 was so good to me, I occassionally second guess myself for trading it away for this 07 as it was paid for. However, this 07 is awesome to drive and has nicer interior setup, has slightly better gas mileage over the previous generation. I believe the improved driving experience is due to longer wheelbase in the 6.5 bed. The main reason I upgraded for 07 as I wanted a better tow vehicle for long distance trips towing the travel trailer. Off the trail, I miss the 02, as it sits slightly higher and with shorter wheelbase and a nice set of Rancho 9000xl, seems to be easier to drive off road absorbing the uneven trails. Besides that it's older vehicle and I am not as timid into roughing it up compared to my "newer" 07. On the other hand, the newer 07 feels more comfortable as daily driver than the 02. I don't consider either them as my daily driver, but I drive it enough at around 10-12 thousand per year. If the budget is limited, 02 or 03 FX4 would be excellent choice although.

 

Yes for the most part the phaser issue was fixed by 06. I think some early models in the year still had the problem but most had it fixed. The truck you get will really depend on the previous owner and how they took care of it as to what the repairs will be like at 90-100k. If you find an owner who kept it looking nice but dogged the **** out of it you are in for some trouble. But if you find someone who took overall good care of it then you should be good for a long time.

The price range will be tougher to find one as I hear of people still paying 18k for an 04 with low miles. Kept your eyes peeled and look everyday in a radius of 100-150 miles and you should be able to find what you are looking for.

Yes basically the Fx4 models are just some add-ons and minor changes. I don't know anything about the beefier frames on the earlier models. It doesn't sound like something they would do for the Fx4's but i could be wrong. Ask up in the 03 forum and maybe someone would be able to tell you for sure.

 

I have this same thread running in the 97-03 forum as well. Maybe I will add that in when I start getting some responses there. I didn't put one into super duty forum because I didn't want to get chased out of there, haha. I have been able to find some decent offerings around 13k or so with around 100k miles. I also have a chance potentially to purchase an 04 from a buddy who has owned it since new. Has bout 100k miles. Took great care of it, but it will need the spark plugs changed.

I didn't realize that the 97-03's sat a little higher than the 04's. I really wish they didn't put the stupid flare side tail lights on the early crews. I think they are terrible looking. I think I could move passed it, but it's one of the first things I notice on them. I wish I could just chop the back off and put the 6.5' bed's end on. Cos, what is your lowest point of clearance on your truck, if you don't mind my asking? I have always liked the look of your truck.

 

I don't know about the frames on the earlier models, but when I compare my 05 lariat to the same model year Fx4, it has all the same features of the Fx4 (skid plates, center console shifter, etc.) except the shocks and the special gauge cluster.

 

I have been trying to research the frame on the early fx4's, but am having trouble finding any definitive answer. I found something on wikipedia, but I take that with a grain of salt.

 

The lowest point of clearance on my truck I would have top measure as I am not sure to be honest. I do know that any garage that is less then 6'9" I will not enter but that is a different question all together.

I will get out later this morning and measure to see where she stands. I will get the clearance at my differential as I believe that is the lowest, but I will also get my lowest side clearance too for you.

And thanks I have made a lot of changes to my truck over the last two years but she is always getting better in my eyes.

 

This is true the Lariat and the Fx4 are basically the same truck. I looked at both when I bought mine as I could of bought a brand new Lariat for about 7k more but I decided on the 06 to save the extra money. That and the 08 was a deal for only the models they had on the lot and they were both white and that one the one thing my wife asked me is that I not buy a white truck.

 

I do like the interior look of the fx4, although I'm not sure about the center console. I also don't prefer leather, unless of course it's a 2012 and it has heated and cooled seats, haha! My g/f requests no bright color trucks. She's not a fan of the red ones. I want to keep it a light color, as I don't like heat at all in the summer, and a dark truck just makes it worse.

 

The place I am most curious about as far as clearance goes is the front end a-arm/axle, and middle area.