Towing Questions

[Red the butcher]

Wow that grenaded!

 

[AClark]

It sure did, I understand it's uncommon for them to fail like mine did, but common for them to fail around the hoses. I was on the freeway in El Paso when that happened. It just shut off, and after managing to wrangle it to the side of the road with no power, I hopped out to a lake of oil under it. Roadside assistance is totally worth the $2 a month I pay or so, I don't even want to know what the tow cost, lol.

 

[Red the butcher]

Thats my luck too. If it can just break a little or completely grenade, it will grenade on me...

 

[AClark]

Same here, anything that goes, goes all at once. Oil cooler was much the same. No warning with residue or oil in the de-gas bottle, came home from getting a trailer and had chocolate milk pouring out of a crack in the de-gas bottle.
Worst part about that is getting the oil cooler back together (used a floor jack and wedged it between our flatbed and the jack) and the flushing process. I still have oil in the bottle, but not much.

 

[misfitmorgan]

We ended up getting a hold of the guy with the 250, and we now own it.

It had new glow plugs put in in September 2016 so those should be good for awhile. Oil change still had 3k miles left on it. The seller was the original owner who bought it new in late 1999 and he used it for hauling boats, mostly on the highway.

The truck has 387K+ miles on it atm but the engine purrs perfectly. DH is a diesel/heavy equipment/tractor mechanic so i should be covered for most any repairs. The truck is the gold and black anniversary edition with tan leather interior and full automatic everything. The owner had a complete folder of receipts of all repairs and replacements since 2012 including oil changes so we know it was well taken car of. It has new brakes, rotors, and calipers all the way around, new upper and lower ball joints on the drivers side, new battery in 2016, etc.

We ended up getting it for 2k and 6 months of insurance in Michigan(don't get me started on it) is $398 for 6 months, Registration/taxes was $178.

Now for the bad.....
Needs a major repair or a replacement of the truck bed, need new rocker panels, corner cabs, and need to repair the bottoms of the front and back doors. Then it will need new paint. It also needs new lockouts as they are starting to not wanna work and DH said we need to put new tie rods ends in. We will also be swapping out the running boards for frame mounted nerf bars as the drivers side is having a real struggle with life atm.

New box we found $300
New lockouts (unsure what spline/dana we need atm) $60-260/pair
New nerf bars $174
Then new panels vary from $32-90

I did find bosch glow plugs on partsgeek for $9 each.

A box swap, some bodywork, a good undercoating and a new paint job and she should work for us for many years to come.

 

[AClark]

Oh wait, I remembered something else stupid and common, if it has automatic door locks, they fail too. You can take them apart and put a piece of tin foil in them and they start functioning again though, keep that one in mind because they are a royal pain to replace and aren't particularly cheap. Those have probably already been done though, but if they start not locking or unlocking, it's a cheap fix to tin foil them.

That is a nice deal on the truck though, I always like when people save receipts for proof of repairs. To quote my mom "chrome won't get you home". Even with 387k miles it should last a good long while yet.
Batteries should last right around 2 years, the 7.3 is pretty hard on them. I suggest against Walmart batteries, as mine came with 1 in it and I've replaced it 6 times under warranty - then bought a big Duracell one and threw the wally world one in my old gas pickup. Batteries should be replaced in pairs.

Since you live somewhere cold, might want to check and make sure the block heater works, you may end up using it on those negative temp winter mornings. I have to use mine when it's cold because my glow plugs are shot, but it is easier on them if the motor is already partially warm.

 

[misfitmorgan]

The passenger side door doesnt unlock with the button or key fob...where exactly does one put this tin foil piece?

The guy only bought the one battery not sure why but it isnt walmart brand so we are good there and it did come with a 3yr warranty. DH said we will need to buy new batteries before hard winter most likely.

The guy had the truck plugged in when we got there...so we could test drive it so we know the heater works. He said unless it is summer he always plugs it in for about 15-20 minutes before going anywhere(he is retired so he has time to sit and wait i guess) I doubt we will keep that routine except when its cold we will be plugging the truck into a timer so it will be warm for going to work in the AM. DH wants me to get a tiny whisper generator to keep in the back of the truck for winter to plug the truck in while i'm at work, i work on an airbase so there is no trees really and a very large flat area beside two lakes.

 

[misfitmorgan]

I forgot to mention it has a programmable chip as well so gas mileage is 17-20mph and with diesel being 1 cent more here then unleaded it beats our trailblazer for mpg hands down.

Best of all....it is MY truck....even though DH keeps trying to take it to work with him

I literally had to drag him up there complaining the entire way to even go see this truck with me because he wanted a little dodge dakota his boss had for sale...i told him on the way there fine then this f250 can be my truck and you can go buy the dodge....he wants my 250 now to him.