I have noticed these two years are often skipped over in parts catalogs, even here '97 seems thrown in as an afterthought. I usually see 1987-1996 then a jump to 1999. Is my '97 the ugly stepsister of the F-series? or is it just a mash-up of the old and new that no one makes specific parts for??

 

What model do you have F150 or F250/350.

Look at this forumʻs title description, it includes the exceptions.

The body style is a big clue on what parts you should be looking for.

 

I have an F-250. I don't intend to do any upgrades for a while. I was just curious why the '97 & '98 model years seem to be black sheep

 

They are not, you just have to know what you are looking for.

The OBS F250s and F350s are still sought after, especially the PSDs. There are many OBS fans on FTE.

There is plenty of information on these trucks here, I am sure they seem to be black sheep because of the generation

change. Nothing else.

 

Ford held over the OBS HD trucks through '96 and '97 until the new SuperDuty was introduced in '98 so your truck is identical to a '94-96 50-state F250(Cali had some unique stuff) and that is what you should order parts for if and when you need them.

 

If yours is a 97 F250HD, with the old body style. I find it avoids a lot a confusion if you just tell people it's a 96 when ordering parts. That's what I do

 

1992-1996 f150/f250(all are HD)/f350/f350c&c/f450* = same style trucks.9th generation f-series.commonly referred to as the Old Body Style.

1997 f250HD (like all 92-96 f250's) f350/f350c&c/f450* = same style truck as above.9th generation f-series.commonly referred to as the Old Body Style.

1997 f150/F250LD = a new designed body style.the 10th generation of the f-series pickups. - either of these are the misplaced odd balled red headed step children lol.especially that cruel f250.ford had previous dropped the LD version of the f250 back in the 80's but brought it back for one more year.the last of it as far as i know,but i don't follow modern trucks so it could have returned since.no clue,but i don't think so.since '99 "the super duty" all the f250's are the f350 platform again,last i knew.'97 was screwy year just due to these two trucks right here.if it wasn't for these,we'd all just say 92-97 and be done with it lol.


* = also known as the F-super duty (commercial hd cab n chassis 2wd.an f-450 equivalent.)


as far as the 1998 year goes.we'll this was a year when ford sold the OBS and the NBS (super duty) these new body styles (which really ticked a lot of us fans off,as it was a direct copy of the dodge styling.why follow dodge? who made them leader? still dislike the SD style today.they progressively just get worse in fact imho.) all known as '99's now so nothing comes up nor is known for being a 1998.it's as if ford didn't sell trucks this year if you didn't know any better,but of course they did.
so fords drastic restyle and following dodge (who ford thought was the leader of truck styling obviously) is the blame of 1998...or lack thereof.

with the exception of course of the '98 f150 however would simply just be the '97 f150 continuation 10th gen.
ford stopped making the f150 truck the same body style of the hd's (another **** poor decision imho too.) this 10th gen style of the f150 went over about as well as the 8th gen style f-series....not well received.

 

This is true most of the time. Althought I did run into trouble ordering parts for my 1996 f150 (built August 1995) by asking for parts for a '95 truck. I was used to asking for parts for a '95 because my previous truck was a 1995 truck (built March 1995), but When I was at the Ford dealership looking for parts for the evap system, we couldn't find the part. After mentioning that it was a '96 they switched diagrams and were able to find my part.

Looking back, this makes sense, since the '96 truck is MAF/OBDII while the '95 was MAP/OBDI. Almost everything is the same on your truck as a 94-96, model and it may be easier to ask for parts for them most of the time, but it's worth noting that there may be minor differences between years. I guess my point is that I would always recommend being as specific as possible when looking for parts

 

Thank you all for the responses, That all clears a lot up.

 

You are correct that the '96 F150 is another one of Fords orphaned stepchildren with unique 1 year only parts, but my reply specifically referenced HD trucks only.

 

Ford has had a light duty 3/4 ton ever since they brought it back in '97. They just started badging it as an F-150. The heaviest F-150s have had a GVWR a little over 7000 lbs and a 7 lug axle ever since the light duty F-250 disappeared.

 

oh is that right Bob? the sterling 10.25 semi floater with slighter larger brakes front and rear over the reg f150? did they get badged as an f150hd or any other designation? well making them a hd f150 was a good idea rather than a ld 250.still i think the gap between the trucks isn't enough to justify building a devoted truck.ford obviously thinks there is though.well i'll be darned.

 

The F250 LD was later re-named the F150 7700.

 

Ford F-150 7700 Pictures

 

I, in no way, thought your post was including anything other than HD trucks as your language is very clear in that post (as it usually is). I was only using my illustration using the 1/2 ton to make a point. That point being that it may be possible to run into problems ordering parts using 94-97 as a general rule.

That being said, I do understand that these trucks were virtually unchanged after 94, but it may be worth noting that a 94 diesel may have different fuel injection parts than a later truck, since it was mid '94 that they moved away from IDI.

Again, all I'm saying is, why not be more specific when ordering parts?