A little back ground on the truck. I have a 99 F150 scab. Its got the fab tech lt kit with stock spindles and a body lift, on 315/75/16 tires. It has some hanneman offroad fenders and tubed bumpers, for the prerunner look, and because of this it has no tailgate. I would need a new bed to even get a tailgate to work because the guy I bought it from cut the tabs and welded plates over the spots where the tailgate would go (Im not sure if that makes sense?)

I love the truck, the only real problem I have had with it is a leaking bulk head connector on my tranny that was causing a short, and a P0401 code. I am currently working on P0401 right now and the short is now taken care of. now I know the motor and tranny are real strong, the guy I bought it from said it been lifted from day one as he was the original owner. the odo says 176xxx but the speedo is off 20 percent, so if the guy i bought it from is telling the truth its about 142xxx miles give or take.

now this is where I would like some advice, I own my own business, I drive on average about 200-300 miles a day. I always have stuff in the bed and its a pain to tie everything down because of the not having a tailgate. the truck gets around 11 mpg no matter what I do. I am only 20 but like i said using this as my work truck is just too much work and the mpg isnt the best, even though i know its a truck I shouldnt expect car mpg.
I have been tossing around the idea of bringing it back to stock, but it would take way to long and a ton of work. or my second idea was to get rid of this and buy a stock truck, but i am afraid of doing this because I dont know what I getting as I do know the history of my truck. Am I worrying too much about what I would be getting on a newer truck?
sorry for the long post, but Im really trying to not make a bad decision.

thanks in advance

 

Sell it. Buy a truck that hasnt been molested.

 

it wasn't molested, its a prerunner. not made to be a work truck. but i do have to agree. Sell it to someone who wants a prerunner just to have fun in it.unless that is what what you wanted, work and play mixed together. you can mod up a tube style tailgate to hold stuff in, maybe even with a tire gate. can we get a picture of what he did to the tailgate?

but there isnt much more MPG you can get out of it. if/when you fix the DTC it should help somewhat, considering what created that DTC.

Look here
https://www.f150online.com/forums/v8...ally-mean.html

when you say new truck do you mean 2009 and up? or another truck in general?

one more question, how long have you had the truck and experienced these problems?

just trying to help you approach every angle of the situation

 

Yeah I didn't intend for it to be a work truck. I got it 4 years ago when I got my license so I did not expect to use it as a work truck. If I could go back and do it again I would buy a stock truck, I was young and it was "cool"
I can get a picture in a little bit.
And I don't mean 09 and up. If I get another 97-03 150 I'd be more than happy.
but I would also love an 04 and up 150
The bulk head was about a year ago. The 401 has been about 3-4 months. I have replaced all the lines behind the battery to behind the dash, and I just got a new dpfe sensor today. Also I cleaned all the ports in the throttle body?

Thanks for all the advice!

 

no problem man. if you've had it for that long i don't see the trouble in getting a new truck.

i mean i had trouble with my 2wd and needed something to drive around, so i got a 4x4 and i still have my other one, trying to make it look like yours actually. figured i have DD now, so lets build a prerunner.

don't mean to sound too responsible, but if you can afford it, want it, and IT WOULD MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER, i would go for it. those 04-08 models are nice. they can take coilovers too. you can probably find one with a mild lift if you like the big truck look. or go stock with a smaller engine and save on gas. depending on what you haul around. if you carry a heavy load every day i would still get a 4.6L so it doesn't put too much stress on the engine and you have some power behind the pedal.

 

Haha yeah I planned on caging it out and having another truck to haul it to the desert an what not but I have no time or desire to do that anymore. Motocross is where it's at for me when I get a day off.
I think you're right, it's just time I guess. I don't haul much at one time but I do occasionally, I mean I could use a ranger if I wanted to but it's too small for how much I travel, it wouldn't be comfortable. The 4.6 power is just Perfect for me I think.

Idk if I should be asking here or not but is there anything to look out for with a 04+ model?

 

I would stay away from the 5.4 3v engine. 4.6's are very reliable albeit not as powerful..

 

I'm a hot shot driver for my own business, drive over 200miles/day hauling freight (up to 2000lbs at times), with a 4x4 truck (not lifted, actually lowered) and i get a constant 17.5-18.5 mpg with my 4.6 with 273k miles.

So I say sell what you got and get a 01+ 4.6 and that should help you out a lot. Good luck!

 

If you're not having a lot of problems you could keep it. Sounds like your main problem is hauling. Have you tried a tailgate net?

You could also get a cap like this:

I have seen better ones- this was the first one that came up when I googled it.

Also get someone to build you a custom tailgate- I think it would look good if done right and shouldn't be too expensive.

With mpgs- the next truck could be worse. I hear the 4.2 and 4.6 get about the same. It really depends if you can break even selling it. If you can get enough to buy another truck that you like do it.

I would probably sell it or make it a project vehicle if it were me.

Try parting it out. might make a bit more doing it that way???

 

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned it yet, but where are you getting your mpg numbers from? If your speedo is off, then you're not going to get an accurate calculation on this.

 

I'm not too worried about MPG. It's a truck and it's not going to get car MPG. Easy as that.
Yes my main problem is hauling, I have tried a net before but it ripped and kept talking down so I tossed it.
If I can get better MPG then that's just a bonus, I would really just like a stock truck to make things easier right now too. I have thought about parting it but I don't have time to do so right now or anytime soon.
And I use a GPS. I record all my miles in my mileage log and use GPS miles. I top it off and then drive to where ever I have to for work.
Once I get to about empty I fill it up to where i did on the previous fill up and record how many gallons I used.
My speedo is off 20% and for tax purposes I'm really hard on my miles. So the GPS is the only way to go.

 

Also your bed should have slots in it behind the wheel well that will accept 2x4 or 2x6 to divide up the bed. Like this:



Might help you short term? Sounds like your mind is made up though.

Buxton- Good catch. I totally blanked on that lol.

 

Sell it..
IF you run a respectable business, that is not the truck for you. Spend some time shopping and find yourself something clean and reliable. With that lift, those tires and putting miles on it like you are... parts are bound to need replaced quite often. Plus, like jethat said, which I agree.. it has been molested. Which brings us to the next not so good part.. value. You will have a tough time getting what it is worth being it has been hacked up, lifted and what not. (Not being bias.. being I own a lifted truck) but everyone that mods their trucks knows that you never get what they are worth. If anything it has lowered the value and potential buyers down.

Again, if it were me and it sounds like you are level headed and on your way owning your own business. Being you bought the truck before you started all that. It is time to part ways with it and get something respectable that suites your driving needs for your business.

 

great idea for a temporary solution. make sure they wedge in real nice so they dont pop out if you try it.

 

Wilderthing- that's a good idea! for now that will be a good thing to know Thanks for the tip.
And toyz - Thanks for the advice. Yes wear and tear is is expensive, tires are killing me at the moment with how much the rubber is these days. the upkeep on it is pretty expensive as well with front end parts.
I understand completely that I won't be getting every penny I put into it, same with my bikes. It's just the way it goes.
The good news is I just got a offer for 5000, I'm not getting my hopes up yet as I know that stuff happens and people can change their mind... or they are just playing with me who knows Hahah.
Anyways Thanks for all the advice.
Hopefully I can get rid of this and get something a little bit easier on me.