Good Morning!
I have been looking at a 1998 f150 Supercab, with the Triton 5.4. The truck has had 2 owners, according to Carfax: the first was registered as 'commercial use', and they went about 26k miles in about 2 years. Then, it was sold, to someone who owned it until recently.
According to the pictures, the truck looks to be in very nice shape (going out tomorrow to look in person, because it is a distance from me). The truck has 74k miles on it. Body looks very nice, with no noticeable rust. Body panels seem to be free of noticeable dents or anything. Interior, while not detailed, seems nice with no rips, headliner sagging, etc.
The asking price is 4,000 dollars. According to KBB and NADA, this is still a good price for it.

My question, for the experts here: What are your thoughts (I know its sight-unseen, but humor me...)? Obviously I will climb underneath it to get a better look at the frame, the panels, etc. I doubt he will let me remove the bedliner to look for rust, but I'll poke around as much as I can. What should I be on the lookout for? What about long term reliability? Should I be concerned about the age, the miles, etc? If I buy, I will immediately drive it more than 100 miles to get it home, so of course that is a slight concern, too.

Again, I defer to you formum members for your input. Thank you!

 

Those are very good engines with only one flaw. They have a tendency to spit out spark plugs. If it happens, can be repaired with an insert. If you use the correct repair, such as Timesert, it's a permanent fix. If it has a drop in bed liner, those can rub off paint in the bed and even rub holes in the bed. Those are solid trucks, just look for problems.

 

At 74k, it probably still has the factory spark plugs. To prevent blowout, change them, use Motorcraft plugs with NO antiseize, and torque them to 28 ft/lb.

 

Sounds like a great deal! Just look it over well. The 97 -03 V8 F150s and 99 - 03 V6 F150s may be as reliable as any truck ever built.

 

Thanks for all of your input. I will definitely be crawling around as much as I can. I doubt he will let me remove the bedliner when I am there - but I will poke around as much as I can. I will have to wait till I get it home for a more in depth look at the area under the bedliner.

Thanks for the suggestion about the plugs. I was definitely thinking I may do that. I was actually thinking about bringing it to the local Ford shop for this, so that I can hopefully get a quick once-over, and more importantly, maybe get a good look from underneath.

I have done plenty of engine work on other (older) cars, but nothing quite this new. I will likely pick up a Chiltons or Haynes manual for it - but until I do - how hard is a plug swap in this machine? And, some forums mentioned a 'special tool' to do these plugs. Any truth to that?

 

The special tool is for removal of broken plugs and applies to 2004-Early 2008 5.4 engines. No worry for you, the swap is pretty straight forward. If someone other than yourself does the plugs, just make sure they don't use antisieze, change the boots, and torque them to 28 ft lbs. This is very Important, and many mechanics still try to follow Ford's specs.

 

Chilton and Haynes suck. With a little searching and maybe a PM, you can get a PDF service manual.

Make sure the previous owner has been using 5w-20 or 5w-30 and a GOOD filter with a silicone anti drain back valve. Thicker oils cause the timing chain tensioners to not do their job and that can lead to catastrophic failure. I always scan every vehicle I buy for codes to make sure OBDII reports ready or it's a big red flag. As far as domestic trucks go, it's on the top of the list for reliability - last I checked anyway.

 

Freebie manual for you:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B52...ew?usp=sharing

 

My truck has twice that mileage and I wouldn't sell for $4,000.
Maybe in another ten years.

 

Check the rocker panels for rust.

 

My truck has thrice that mileage - 214k now, but I'm on my 3rd engine, 3rd set of ball joints, 3rd starter, 3rd set of coils and second transmission which it didn't actually need. It was just the solenoid pack. 2nd engine was my fault, first one hydro locked at 148k because of a stuck injector.

 

Unless one of the PO beat the crap out of it that truck is barely broke in. You could easily put 200 thousand more miles on it. Sounds like a good deal to me