I've been lurking around here for months, reading, watching, waiting, plotting I've been driving my 97 f150 supercab, stepside since about 1999 and she's been good to me over all those years but i'm ready to move on. This Saturday, I'll make the drive from Fort Myers, over to West Palm beach to Headquarter Trucks (HeadquarterTrucks.com) to see whats what. Chatted with a guy named Brian over there who seems to know his stuff about the 6.0's and he's got about 50 trucks within my target which is 2005 to 2007 f250/f350, Lariat/King Ranch, Crew Cab, long or short bed, < 140k miles,

 

Must be a limit on how much text you can post. Sorry but that was only about half the text i wrote.
In short, Welcome any advice or suggestions walk-around inspections.
John

 

headquarter trucks..aka..hammerhead trucks.. aka.. woodbridge trucks.. aka only used trucks.. lots of complaints online.. I would avoid especially since you are driving across the state. get something local and do alot of research.

 

I would suggest buying a some OBDII gauges to take on test drives to monitor vitals. To name a few, Scan Gauge II, Torque Pro, Dashboss, Forescan.

The other thing to go into buying a 6.0 is that maintenance is key to longevity and reliability. These things are often overlooked or neglected due to cost/laziness. You don't want to end up with one of these trucks so be VERY patient while looking.

I would recommend looking for a one owner STOCK truck. It will be worth the extra time and money you invest buying a truck.

Start a savings fund for any maintenance, repairs, upgrades etc... Be careful because it is an addiction and to my knowledge there there is no known cure!

 

Exactly what Shaneb75 said. And get a professional pair of external snap-ring pliers

 

Bought a 06 crew 4wd Lariat long bed. 97k, completely stock. super clean all around, one owner. Lots of service receipts and super clean carfax. Runs/starts perfect. Checked for all the usual stuff. Put about 250mi on so far no issues.
Happy so far but far from being out of the woods.
The previous owner was an older guy who owned a A/C shop in Lakeworth FL who recently passed away.
I am now looking to upgrade/install all the preventitive measures I can find.
First thing i did was put a new coolant cap on. I think the next thing i'll do is install a coolant pressure gauge and install a coolant filter.
Then plan to delete the EGR (plug) and install new oil cooler.

 

you want to delete the EGR cooler and keep the EGR valve plugged in so the fan operates correctly.

The coolant cap is set to 16psi, no need for a gauge unless it's blowing coolant out the cap.

Spend that money on a Scan Gauge 2 or the Torque Pro app for Android and an OBD2 blue tooth devise to get some good live base data on the new truck... congratulations!

 

No need to spend money on a new oil cooler unless you confirm it needs one after you get a gauge to see the oil and coolant temps being more than 15* apart. Should also plan on doing a coolant flush (assume one has never been done with the current mileage on the truck). Next should be new oil (5/40 T6) and new Motorcraft oil and fuel filters.
Check out the tech folder if you haven't been there and do some reading on getting a new to you truck.

 

I'd flush with distilled water only and go back with EC-1 rated coolant. Chemical flush will kill the oil cooler and reverse flushing is a waste of time.