When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Back in February, I purchased a 1997 F350 4x4 Crew Cab and thought I should start to document this journey
To start things off, I owned another 1997 F350 Crew Cab truck a few years back. In the end, she was a pretty nice rig and I had regretted selling it ever since...
I looked around for awhile to find a clean one. Most of the low mileage rigs I looked at were pretty trashed, then I looked at a couple higher mileage rigs and chose this 1997 with 286,000 miles on it. The truck is pretty clean for the mileage, but after I drove away, I found a few more issues. Nothing real major (that I know of yet), but still things that need addressed before too long.
There are a few issues that need attention. Someone tried to steal the truck at some point and trashed the ignition lock cylinder and some wires under the dash for the alarm system. I also think the previous owner either swapped or "borrowed" some parts from the steering column, because the horn and cruise control do not work because there's parts missing. The front tank just reads empty, regardless of the fact that it is full...
The engine oil pressure gauge was sweeping and vibrating like crazy, was a little worried about that one. I located the sending unit and moved the connection a little and the gauge was rock steady at that point.
I started tearing the dash apart to figure out some wiring issues, man what a mess.
The aftermarket stereo would not work. It would light up sometimes, but not others and no sound ever came out of the speakers.I happened to have the factory tape deck out of a mid 90's mustang and it happened to have the same connections as the truck. I plugged it in and it fired right up, sweet tunes.
It had a nasty chirping coming from under the hood. I ordered the TB-50 Super Duty tensioner/idler and the Motorcraft belt just because. I pulled the old belt to see if I could find the bad pulley or idler and they all sounded ok. I swapped the TB-50 and new belt on this morning and the chirping went away. Sweet, one for the home team
I ordered a matching set of door and ignition lock cylinders off of eBay and installed those yesterday, I can actually lock my doors now. We'll accept for the back doors. The power locks don't work back there, nor can I force them to lock. Hopefully I'll have time to look at that tomorrow.
I had the old winter tires left over from my last 97 350, so I decided to see if they'd fit. They are a little oversized, but they fit! They are old bias ply tires and I do not remember them being that squirrelly on the road, but at 45mph, you better be paying attention... we'll see what 65mph feels like in the morning, as I need to drive to town.
While changing the tires today, I noticed the left upper ball joint was bad, that could be part of the driving excitement.
I've been to the wrecking yard 3 times in the last week. I scored some replacement dash / trim parts, drivers side power window/lock bezel, complete steering column w/ all the cruise control parts I need (I think...)
Well, before I headed back to work, I decided to check the price of having my ball joints replaced.
I had a bit of price shock. I was quoted $1000 - $1100, plus still needing to get an alignment.
Here is the thread I started to discuss the ball joints.
I can order the ball joints and press online, then give it a go on my own.
I also dig into the rear doors yesterday to find out why the power door locks don't work. Man, there is NO room to work in the rear doors. Everything and I mean everything about the rear doors looks like it'll be a pain in the rear...
You couldn't even manually lock & unlock the doors. I think the actuators are seized. For now, I just unhooked them so I can at least lock my truck.
The power windows are extremely slow, labored and the windows seem to rock in tracks a bit. I didn't have time to dig into that yet.
It's been a long time since I've had an old Ford with power windows and locks.
I'm having an issue with the drivers door lock. When you hit the unlock button it acts like it is having a spasm and can't make up its mind if it's going to lock, unlock, or how many times. It just goes crazy.
Now I'm away from the truck for another three weeks, so I can't check anything. Just checking to see if any of you guys ever had an issue like this?
I purchased and installed a new ignition tumbler, door locks, power door lock actuators, a used steering column, a "Tymar" type air intake and fixed the contacts on the drivers door lock switch.
I purchased the ball joints, ball joint press, but I have not had the time to install them yet, hopefully some time next month.
She is cold blooded and even as nice as the weather has been around here, she still needs to be plugged in for an hour or so before the first start of the day. Dreaded white smoke out the exhaust and does not fire up.
I have the new Motorcraft Glow Plugs, but I am thinking about converting to the Super Duty valve cover gaskets and associated wiring at the same time.
I sold my old faithful Buckshot Mudders, good tires, bit time for something newer.
I tried redoing the pics, hopefully they work. Oddly enough, all the old pictures worked on my computer.
The gauge bezel is still off, as well as 3 of the 4 door panels because of chasing wiring and disconnecting a remote start/alarm that was not working.
It's pretty funny, with those things off, everyone is surprised when I start and drive it. They all think it's broken
They did, but this time they are smaller. The photos in your original post were there, but have now been reduced in size. Follow-on photos are also now tiny, relatively speaking.
Are you uploading them directly from your machine? Or are you using a hosting service (like Flickr, which I recommend over photogarbage and imgur)?
They did, but this time they are smaller. The photos in your original post were there, but have now been reduced in size. Follow-on photos are also now tiny, relatively speaking.
Are you uploading them directly from your machine? Or are you using a hosting service (like Flickr, which I recommend over photogarbage and imgur)?
From my machine. I have had bad luck with hosting sites, because when they change something, all your links are no longer valid.
I was trying to not make them too large and suck up bandwidth for the site. I'll figure it out eventually...
what bbrand flare are them, they look good. not to fond of the topper otherwise looks pretty nice.
Not too sure on the fender flares, and I tend to agree on the topper.. I might see if it comes in handy this summer for going fishing with my son, or anything else for that matter. If not, I'll be selling it.
It is a pretty clean truck, not perfect, but not rallied either.
05-14-2018, 07:02 PM
