I bought my truck ('88 F-150 4X4) back in May of this year. I got it for a good price and it runs like a top, so all is good right? Not so fast, it seemed like I was working on this thing in every spare minute I had. I pondered on selling it, not wanting to be the proud owner of a money pit. But I stuck with it a little longer and am pleased with the results.

After all of the normal items: plugs, wires, fuel filter, radiator cap and so on, I found all the other things wrong with it. The block and radiator were full of mud, not rust scale but good old Ga. red clay. Never could get it all out, so a new heavy duty radiator was put in after flushing the block out. The valve cover gaskets leaked like a sieve, so replacing them was on the list. That turned into a two day affair, along with replacing the plenum gasket which was shot. The T-case shift fork went out, so I dropped it and found the oil pump was broken too. It had a annoying coolant leak from day one, finally found it between the timing cover and the block and fixed it. Along with numerous other odd and end problems that I fixed along the way, I feel like I have crawled all over this thing.

Lastly I was going to have the ball joints replaced and new tires put on. I took it to the shop fully expecting to have to pay for the entire front end to be rebuilt, given what I had experienced with the rest of the truck. I was pleasantly surprised when I got the call it was ready and that all it needed was 2 ball joints (I had them replace all 4 anyway) and axle pivot bushings.Then the new tires and an alignment, now she's good to go!

Now I have exactly what I wanted, and nothing else to wrench on. It's not gonna win any show trophys, but it takes me anywhere I want to go and that's what I wanted. I still plan to replace the fuse block with one from Painless Wiring, and I really want to put an electric fan on it (any suggestions on aftermarket or J/Y parts is appreciated). Many thanks to all of you who have helped me along the way!

 

Good stuff man. I wish I had the coin to fix everything at once. I thought I had bad ball joints, but when I jacked my truck up and checked, they were all fine. Looks like all my front end needs is a new drag link and possibly pivot bushings. Someday I'll do a SAS lol.

Right now I need:

F-150: drag link, pivot bushings, front/rear axle oil change, 4 tires, brake rotors need turned, rear brakes adjusted, brake fluid needs changed, should probably replace all radiator hoses for good measure, and misc little things like finishing my headliner replacement.

Ranger (not driving right now): mystery slow coolant leak, driver's side mirror needs replaced, tires, interior needs re-done. A Mexican owned it, and I get the feeling it used to be a "pimped out" type of truck. Poor Ranger.

I'll feel better when I'm where you're at repair-wise and can say at least my F-150 is all fixed and up to date.

 

I feel ya man! I didn't do mine all at once, it's took me five months to get here. If it wasn't for a two grand bonus at work I'd still be wrenching on it. Patience pays off in the long run.