I am looking to buy a new to me truck to replace my tired old 96 F150..Doing some research on the internet has almost scared me off buying a ford altogether!..Most of the trucks I am looking at in my price range are 97-2006ish..Seems the earlier trucks only had issues with the spark plugs blowing out while the later ones also have cam phaser issues as well on the 5.4s..Any advice as to which ones to steer clear of and which ones to seek out?..Are there any major improvements on the 04-08s over the older generation?

 

04-08 have more power and better fuel economy, I much more prefer the 04+ interior. Cam phaser is kinda a hit an miss deal, most of the time it doesnt really bother the truck unless it gets really bad other wise its a slight tick

 

I do have to agree the 04 and up interior looks much more modern..Cloth seats seem to stain very bad though.

 

Love my '06 and have had relitively little trouble out of it. However, based on the thousands of posts I have read, and specifically the spark plug fix in '07, I would recommend '07 or later.