my f150 is a 1997 but how do i know if it was built after 7/96, and what are the differences, why are things such as headlights an issue?

 

look on your door jam sticker. it will tell you.

the reason headlights are a issue with the 97's is that ford redesigned them half way through that model year.

 

waiting till next weekend to find out is gonna suck finding out i cant get the blackones i want sucks worse, is there a way to get them to work?

 

put in a header panel from another truck.

 

Yup just go to a junkyard and swap the header panels. You'll have a plethora of headlight options afterwards.

 

thanks for encouraging my habbit of spending too much on my trucks, wanna light my camel? hopefully ill hit one lucky note and shes post 7/96

 

one tell is if the tail pipe is in FRONT of the rear tire from the factory, it's an early build 97. If the tail pipe is BEHIND the rear tire, it's a later build 97.

My 97 has a build date of 3/97 and had the factory tail pipe BEHIND the rear tire...

Mitch

 

**** i saw that when i checked it for rust the piped in front

is there any major recalls i need to look for now, i checked the gas tank straps they were in great condition for an older truck the truck has hardly any rust at all

 

Lots of recalls on a 97.. You should be able to go to any Ford Dealer and they will ring up the VIN and tell you what has or has not been done on your specific rig.

Off the top of my head that I 'recall' getting done myself since I've owned it (2001), there is something with the fuel lines going into the engine compartment... There is the cruise control deal and the fuel tank straps. My fuel lines were fine. They did the CC fix and they replaced my straps.

Mitch

 

yeah my pop said the cruise control wouldn't resume but would set

 

The CC fix was to keep the truck from catching on FIRE! Something with where it is attached to the master cylinder and it overheats and catches the brake fluid on fire. The fix was putting an inline fuse in the connection..

Mitch

 

seems these trucks have had a fire'y past, brake fluid, gas tank straps, firestones lol so no idea why the cruise control doesnt resume?

 

wait so pre july and i need a different head unit for different headlights... i think im august though... i still have the tailpipe ahead of the rear tire though... i know its one of the first month of the 10th gens though.

 

i took the 7/96 number from looking at the LMC catalog

 

Not to argue, but i was under the impression that the only 97's that had tail pipes behind the rear tires had the 5.4 and the 4.2/4.6 had in front of the rear tire. but then in 98 everything had tail pipes behind the tire.