Hi guys,

First post, but as a long time Chevy guy, getting thrust into the world of Ford, this site has been EXTREMELY helpful! I wanted to get your opinion on this truck.

I have a 1992 F-250, 7.5l Gas, the HD GVWR, with the Lariat package, extended cab. I bought it for IIRC for about $400 from a friend of mine probably three years ago. I traded it right away to another friend of mine for some work on one of my rental properties, he got about 3/4 of the work done, with me helping when I wasn't supposed to have to, then never finished due to relocating for a new job. I got the title and keys back from him, and went and recovered it from his grandma's overgrown yard. I figure the work he did do was worth more than what I paid for the truck, so basically a free truck!!!

Since then,
New battery
New tires
New Alternator
New P/S pump, hoses, gearbox, alignment
New water pump
New starter
New radiator/thermostat/heater core
New rear brakes, front is pretty recent
De-smog (thanks for the help!)
Antifreeze/Oil heat exchanger delete (thanks for the help!)

She starts and runs real good and strong, power windows work, could use a new radio. Interior is pretty good, with a few little things here and there. I drive it all the time, use it for work, let my crew drive it.

Here's the issue. The body is starting to get some rust problems. Under the windows of the extended cab, there's rust blisters on the driver side, and it has rusted through enough to stick an ignition key in (haha) on the passenger side. A little surface rust on the hood, and on the rain channels above the doors. It used to have a camper, so a nice rusty ring where it rubbed through the paint around the back window, still just surface rust, although starting to get a little "heavy".

It uses about about a quart of oil every 800, which is concerning because that seems excessive, but then I read the 460 is prone to this and Ford used to not even warranty it unless it was 1 qt/500 miles.

I'm thinking about pulling the bed off, it's pretty beat up inside, and putting a flatbed on, with some toolboxes I already have for storage.

It pretty much gets used for hauling a/c equipment in the bed, and our trash trailer now and then. I let my guys that work for me drive it most of the time. Anything I would do to it would of course be an expense I would write off for tax purposes.

I did some of the work myself, some with a mechanic. Overall, I've got about $1000 in it. Not too bad I think, since the high wear items have all been replaced.

What do you think? Should I just leave the bed on it, let it rust out the rest of the way and scrap it, or should I get the repairs done and get it painted? I'm getting prices around $900-$1200 to fix the rust and paint the whole cab, if I remove the bed myself. It runs good and strong, but it's old and uses oil. Just not sure which way to go with it.

 

If your ultimate plans for it are to just use it as a work truck, save what you would use on paint and use it to keep her running. As I tell the young guys that are my apprentices who all have to run out and buy 40K worth of new truck when they get a cpl years apprenticeship under their belts and start to poke at me about my 93 F150 "Yanno, my truck is paid for,and I ain't riding the paint"

I have towed a few of them up the road when their trucks died... Mine keeps chuggin along.

 

They do that, don't they? Those payments keep coming and coming, even if the phone isn't ringing. I've got a chevy van that I bought new, but it was only the slightest bit more to get a new one than a decent one (nice used 120,000 mile $18k, brand new 12 miles and a warranty $23k). But the moneymaker is a 1999 box truck with 284,000 miles on it. It needs attention on a regular basis, but there's no bank payment due on the 21st of each month like the new one.

I just don't want this truck to rust away on me if it still have quite a bit of life left in her. Plus, it sure looks good when all the trucks match and we all pull up to the jobsite. I could almost write the paint off as advertising, since I'd be willing to vinyl the doors with our logo after making her look so good.

 

Flat bed it and have the cab fixed if ya can get it written off. I, myself would find out where the oil is going.

I took a lay off about a couple weeks ago when the job ended cuz I haven't taken a vacation in years due to working steel mills /schools/colleges (industrial/commercial electrician) and Unemployment covers my bills and I ain't got no truck payment, so I'm chillin...and fixin up my truck on things I been putting off. Told the hall I'd be back down there to catch a call when I was ready.

 

Some of it is coming out around where the dipstick goes in! I had a small puddle under it the other day and I got under there and saw it coming out around there. I wonder how much can actually be lost from splashing around that.

 

I have heard of ppl losing it out where the oil dipstick tube goes in. Get a new dipstick tube and put it in. Might stop'r up.

 

Unfortunately Neil Young was right, rust never sleeps. Stopping rust is probably impossible, and even slowing it down is expensive. So first of all, get over the idea that getting it repainted will do anything helpful. You are looking at significant body work to slow down rust, not a repaint.

Also there is rarely any "surface rust" on body panels (except possibly in desert climates). Almost always if you see any rust it's deep in the metal and the only way you are going to deal with it is cut it out and weld new metal in. But that tends to stress the metal around the weld so it's not uncommon to see rust starting right around the patch panel a couple years later.

That said, I have some significant rust on my '97, and I fully plan to address it (just haven't got the necessary round to-it yet). Nobody's made a truck since 1997 that I'm willing to own, so if I don't want to be driving a truck that's dropping parts everywhere I go I'm going to have to work to stay ahead of the rust. Overall I expect it to be cheaper than getting a new truck every 10 years or so, but probably not a lot cheaper. And it'll also mean that I'm driving an older and older truck, with all of the mechanical issues that will bring with it. So I'm not saying that my plan is good for everyone, just that fixing rust is a big, long-term project, so go into it with your eyes open.

 

My 97 has been painted and so has my Dad's 93, both are used in our business.

Yes it can be costly to repair the rust and get a new paint job, but still far less then buying a new truck. In my opinion it is well worth the expense if you already have a good running truck.
And like you said, it's nice when you pull up to the job site with matching trucks.