If that’s the goal, I’d look for a clean 1995 f150 with a 5.0 and 4r70w. Quite possibly the most well sorted drivetrain ford ever put in a half ton pickup. With regular fluid changes that thing will take care of you for at least 250,000 trouble free miles.

all the newer stuff is more likely to have issues just by their very nature. Rams have the same issues with manifolds and lifters. GM - do they make a truck?

 

I'd take a '95 with any of the then-available motors! But, I live in Rust-Landia. I may be forced to drive to someplace like NC to buy a truck.

Yes...modern RAMs seem to be worse than the Fords.

You bet...GM makes a truck...what do you think mechanics spend their days doing? Maybe...diagnosing GM electrical problems?

Roy

 

Metal doesn’t degrade with age, but everything else does. My ‘04 turned 20 years old this month, and it feels every bit of it. The powertrain is every bit as strong as the day it was built, but the rest is slowly falling apart. The doors rattle, plastic trim tabs have broken, and I have to slowly replace rubber bits that are failing. The steering is less precise because every rubber suspension bushing is wearing out.

The engine and transmission could outlast the cockroaches after the apocalypse, but plastic and rubber will cause its demise long before. It’s already getting hard to find some parts for my ‘04. Nope…trying to rely on a 30-year-old truck seems like an exercise in frustration.

 

True about the rubber and plastic bits. But, it is also true that there is variance.

My small truck, sitting in my driveway, being 100%-solid, is a 1996 Tacoma. Mostly, original plastic and rubber.

 

That unfortunately doesn’t surprise me. I think Ford has done a decent job with powertrains over the last few decades with some notable exceptions, but their overall build quality doesn’t hold up as well as the import brands. I had an ‘06 Prius that sold with 176K and drove like the day it rolled off the lot. My Expedition has 35K less and feels the exact opposite. I’d trust it to take me anywhere, but it’s got a never-ending list of things that could be fixed.