Looks like a decent truck for the price, 2wd though.

This one won’t last long and would be a good flip.


https://abbotsford.craigslist.org/ct...355846552.html

 

Nice?

This one isn't nice.

This one is a crew cab, one ton, dual rear wheel, long bed. manual shift on the floor 4x4, manual transmission ZF-6, traditionally forged rod 2000 7.3L, rust free Southern California flawless paint, rip free Lariat leather, stock head unit, stock amber and fluted lens headlights, stock air filter, stock green colored engine coolant, new Interstate batteried beauty of a beast... with only 110K miles.

This is the exact truck a lot of guys are looking for.

This is the truck no OEM manufacturer will ever build again.

This is a truck that in this condition, in 10 years, with inflation, and against the backdrop of what is available new then, might fetch $60K. In 20 years, $100K.

DFLBMB. IKWIG.

 

You ain't wrong. Nice detailing reveals more than it distracts in this case.

 

My take on it Are you Ready for a Self Driving Bronco or F-150? | Ford-trucks

 

Yeah but sometimes things like this show up. Without digging deeper, Hot Springs Village in western AR might be a rural, depressed area and the people might really need to sell the truck fast. It happens. That being said, I would proceed with caution and do my best to ensure that I didn't buy a ticking time bomb on that.

 

My truck has the northern rust and I am toying with the idea of buying something like that and converting it to 4WD. I do have the parts in the garage to do it, except that the transfer case out there is a manual one. I could do all the work then rob my rust bucket of its transmission and ESOF transfer case as the closing procedure.

 

Good thing I'm not in the market for a truck...

Amazing truck and a far cry from what some other ads show for sale for ridiculous prices. This is the sort of truck other 7.3L owners that are delusional compare their trucks to when listing them. Demanding outrageous prices for a rode hard, hacked up and poor running truck. Those trucks are not worth even $10,000 - $12,000...

Attention to detail does pay off...

 

And that sword cuts both ways...

Take a look...




There are two tiny details evident in this photo that make me cautious about this truck.

Who else sees them?

No, I'm not talking about the OEM air box. That isn't a "tiny" detail.

That is a major and obvious detail.

It is also a primary examination point, that likewise cuts both ways, because on one hand, the compressor wheel could be sandblasted, which is easy to check (although a dusted cylinder 5 isn't so easy to check).

On the other hand, the presence of the OEM filter box, combined with the OEM headlights, etc, often indicates a much older previous owner who simply follows the owner's manual and maintained the truck with factory parts as the manufacturer intended.

So leave the air filter out of this hunt.

Two tiny details in the photo above would make me pay for a full CarFax report.

 

Mismatched batteries and super high coolant level?

Edit: Picture is grainy on my phone but is one of the AC hose’s end hanging loose off the back of the compressor?

 

FordTruckNoticed.

Those details are good observations. Batteries should be replaced in pairs. The overfilling of bright green coolant inspires questions like... why is the coolant such a brilliant bright green? Was it just replaced? What did the dropped coolant look like? Full of oil or fuel? Why hasn't the fresh coolant settled to it's typical level, which isn't usually that high?

FordTruckNotquite.

However, those two details, while astute, were still not the TINY details that would make me question this truck's history.

 

I'll take a shot...

• No door moldings, not sure if these were an option or not in 2000.
• Black line on the vertical portion of the turn signal housing. Might be OEM/normal, but not that I recall.
• Fender emblems accurate? They are different than the tailgate emblem, but that may be OEM/normal, I don't know.
• The 4x4 sticker on the DRW flares, isn't it supposed to say "off road" under the 4x4? Maybe not though...
• Floor mats are in the bed for the picture? Nothing wrong with that, just strange...
• 5th wheel 7 way in the bed, was that an option in 2000?
• Wood trim on the doors but not the dash, that may be OEM, not sure...
• No belt routing sticker on the tool tray. Maybe the OEM ones didn't have that, the one I bought from RiffRaff a few years ago has it.

I probably still missed it though...

 

I know!! It’s a champagne-colored truck. Everyone knows the champagne-colored trucks are questionable. *looks at @Sous *

 

fair enough. ☺️. If I was in the market it would be all over it. Been passively searching for that quasi-unicorn for a while... didn’t expect to find it. And figured I would share. I probably would if I didn’t have to move and buy/sell a house in next month...🤦‍♂️

ugh. To make it even worse my wife just read my post and she agreed she would have been ok with the change. 🥲

 

Belt Routing Label:

In 2000, the belt routing sticker was adhered to the metal rad support cross bar, not the rubber tool tray. It is found on the driver's side part of the exposed metal, and thus is not visible in the craigslist photo referenced.

A quick image search found a "champagne" colored truck with the belt routing label adhered where most typically were in this vintage.


Wood Trim on Dash

The only 1999-2004 Ford Super Duty that one could order from Ford with any burl wood grain trim on the instrument panel was the F-650 SuperCrewZer. On that truck, the darker color bezel surrounding the instrument cluster, radio, and HVAC controls was pulled off and sent to a supplier to be dipped. So it wasn't just an applique, the entire cluster cover was dunked.

I still recall pointing out to one of the decision makers on that choice all of the reasons why I believed their having that dash dipped was a bad idea, as if my thoughts would make a difference or mean anything. (Neither was the case, of course.)

The dipping itself looked beautiful, especially for the tastes of the target market, comprised of an older generation of that time period. No issues there, except maybe for the younger generation in that time period, which is the middle aged generation of today, who find wood grain abhorrent.

That wasn't the issue. The problem was a practical one... the sun's reflections from the ultra high gloss surface finish of that process, and the fact that since the entire cluster cover was dipped, the reflective surfaces were not just vertical facing the driver, they were also horizontal facing the windshield... and furthermore included all possible angles in-between horizontal and vertical, since the cluster cover shape was curved and rounded over. As the angle of incidence of light is equal to the angle of reflection, there was no escape from the reflected light of the sun pouring through the windshield, although the external "LE" style sunvisor that came standard on the SuperCrewZer helped. A lot. That's probably the only reason why Ford allowed it.

The same dash dipping was done on some Classic Travelers (which were not equipped with "LE" style external sun visors) and IMHO, the result was unsafe. Not recall worthy. Just not smart.

One of Ford's better ideas was to make the Super Duty instrument panel cluster cover darker, muted, and textured... all physical attributes that work in concert together to eliminate errant reflections into the driver's eyes.

"4x4 OFF ROAD" vs "4x4" only label:

In model year 2000, the DRW trucks were available with the full "4x4 Off Road" package, but unlike the SRW trucks that had "OFF ROAD" in the text of the bed decal, the DRW's only said "4x4" alone, likely due to the placement of the label on the dual rear wheel fender, as opposed to the bed itself. The height of the DRW wheel fender is less between the body contour above the wheel opening and the top of the fender, as opposed to the height available on the SRW bed between the upper and lower body contours. I'm guessing that Ford felt the two line label would be crowded on the DRW fender, but there is no guesswork regarding the two line label not being available on the DRW. Ford specifically called this distinction out in the Source Book for that year.

Fender Emblems vs Tailgate Emblems:

The craigslist truck is period correct as far as the difference between fender and tailgate emblems. There has always been that difference, where the tailgate emblem had an open notch at the base of the "F", and did not reveal the trim level... as opposed to the fender emblem being a fully filled rectangle, identifying the trim level. The tailgate to my 2000 is custom made for the upfit bed, so I remember having to choose between styles of emblems to buy for the tailgate in order to further support the oem factory appearance of the non factory bed. I ended up choosing the fender emblem to mount on the tailgate, because there is no "tailgate" emblem for an F-550.

Door Moldings, or lack thereof:

As best as I can recall, the DRW's did not come equipped with side molding. Over the years, a lot of owners have added side molding. Likewise, a lot of Excursion owners have removed side cladding.


Back to the fun at hand...

FordTruckNuthertry is close, in discussing the "champagne" (Harvest Gold in 2000, Prairie Tan in 1999) color. But I'm not questioning the color itself. I'm questioning one location that is painted that color, that otherwise might not be.

Remember, only the underhood photo of the listing is being referenced. The two tiny details I'm wondering about are not observable in the other photos.

 

I spy a painted headlight housing...