I am having weird problems with my new 88 F150. It's a long bed, rwd, 300i6, stick shift. I killed a starter over the summer and replaced it with a new one. Ever since then I have been having random no start, no crank, no click conditions at random times. I have been able to fix this by either swapping the two solenoid relays I carry (one stock ford, one duralast), taking battery contacts on and off, or bridging the solenoid relay.

Some other things that could be involved:
-my front tank does not work. It is full and the truck dies when I switch to the front - I am assuming it's an issue with the sending diaphragm thing or a pump issue
-the truck occasionally wants to stutter and buck at 1500 rpm in second gear. It does it in other gears too but not at noticeably. 1500 rpm is the issue in all gears, if I give it gas it drives fine.
-My radio stopped working- May indicate larger wiring issue

I am wondering if anybody has any tips on the solenoid relay issue. It is weird to me that I can run with one solenoid, have a no start condition and drop in the other solenoid, and the truck starts right up. Is it bad battery cables? Wiring/connections to the relay? Ignition issues? Fuel/air issues? Should I have bought a Chevy?

 

Yes, more than likely.

 

the ignition switch in these trucks is a two piece case. half aluminum and half plastic. over time the two pieces separate and will cause all kinds of ignition/electrical problems.
the switch is located on the top of the steering column, roughly above the brake pedal.
sometimes you can reach up and feel it separated, but i remove the lower dash panels and look in with a flashlight between the dash and column to visually inspect the switch. you will know rite away if it is good or not.
looks like this:

 

 

Interesting idea. So just a short ground cable from one of the mounting bolts to frame?

I'm still chasing very occasional no-start problems on my truck. I've replaced the starter, ground cable, solenoid, and starter switch (as shown above). I was thinking about shorting around the clutch switch if only to eliminate one more potential point of start-up failure.