Hi guys, In short I've been saving this past year or so for a 94 1/2 through 97 F350 Powerstroke Dually. The plan had been to start searching towards the end of this month (April). However, a recent family crisis has ate a sizable chunk of my saving so now I'm forced to look at the bottom end of the market.

This means a high-miler or maybe something requiring work so my question is, how many miles are too many on something with say average maintenance?

Thanks

 

Well just because the engines can go 500k with proper maintain, does NOT mean the truck itself will not be worn out

 

Yeah I'm just trying to narrow down what I should be looking out for at this end of the market. Kind of sucks but thats life.

 

Higher mile trucks can be a huge pain in the dick, or a blessing.

Expect problems...injectors, hpop, Trans. Going into an old 7.3 without those expectations wouldn't be responsible. You have these expectations, but hope for the best.

That said, the overall condition of the truck matters most. Find one that has been taken care of, minimal or no rust with clean interior. If you find one that has had quality injector/hpop/Trans replacements in the recent past that's a plus. But, without quality replacements....those replacements don't mean much.

 

Yeah went to see a couple but really were nothing more than parts or projects trucks. Ha, spent this week laying on my back welding on the damned minivan, that's all the projects I want to do right now. So thinking I'd be better off just holding back until later in the year when I've had the opportunity to save some more.

 

I had bought mine relatively cheap ($500). Its a 1997 F350 Crew Cab Long bed Dually with 150,000 miles on it. It was clean in and out. Garaged most of its life. You just need to look on craigslist and then look for original driver. Hopefully they'll give you a brake. I looked at mine in person and then offered a price and they just wanted to get rid of it. The only "major work" I had done was convert it to 4x4 with a 5-speed.

 

Damn thats a good looking truck and a sweet deal. The first I went to see was just way too much work. Bed, suspension tires, paint. Though the second I'm waiting to go see. The guy's on vacation down in Florida so I've only seen the photos he's sent me.

From what I've seen I'm thinking its a project but I may go see it when he returns.

 

Yea, that is a sweet truck.

 

Thanks. It still needs some work. Stage 1, electric fuel, intercooler kit, big mirrors, lund window visor, custom headache rack, hydroboost conversion, disc brake conversion, and gear splitter from gear vendor. I might do water-meth and propane. Im going to put on 315/75r16 tires on it. Then maybe leather seats and then be finished with my build.

I still have all my old parts from the 2wd auto to 4x4 conversion. Im leaving that with my donor truck. I might sell it, i might not. Maybe make a pre runner out of it.

Take your time, theres no rush. I spent 2 years looking for another truck before I had bought the dually. I was fine with doing a conversion sense I had 95% all the parts.

 

That was a SMOKING deal for a 2wd crewcab dually since book value is over $5,000.

That is like saying you can find a 69 boss 429 for $25,000

 

I hope you can post some photos as you progress, it would be cool to see how it all turns out.

Unfortunately circumstances have completely op-ended my year. The plan had been to begin my search this month and hopefully find something by mid summer. Been watching Craigslist, Carsforsale.com etc so I know they're out there. So just got to figure this **** out. hahaha

Though my plan is to do a few upgrades.

The usual TS 6 position chip. I was looking at the Wicked Wheel 2 but came across this from pure turbo. Pure Turbo Billet Wheel. Or maybe even one of their Big Bag Ford stage 1 turbos. Intercooler, MBRP (or similar exhaust). I'm not wanting to get into injectors and all that at this stage but its something I'd like to look at later down the line.

The Gear Vendor is a good idea. I've used them on a couple of old Jags I built a few years ago and they worked really well. Although rather than going the hydroboost rout I've been looking at these electric brake systems which incorporate ABS.

So with the disk brakes, are you able to bolt something up from a later model or are you going to have to fab it up yourself?

Mirrors; I'd like to go with something modern but most of the conversions I've seen guys doing involves replacing the quarter glass with steel and going with a late model super duty mirror, but I'd like to try and retain the quart glass.

Obviously, I've been giving this a lot of thought. hahaha

 

Why the TS 6 tuner? I have the hydra chip and its amazing.

For my exhaust I hast have a 3" turbo downpipe. Keeps the engine really cool.

There is a way to do a disc brake conversion but you'd have to get a van style rear brakes not a super duty. I found a kit for $1000 or so for a dually and $800 for SRW. All new parts. This process is going to be a long time till I finish with all that stuff. Redo the brakes when they go out not when they are still functional.

I want a gear splitter for extra gears for towing and such.