Opinions needed on used 2 Dr

[J-150]

Lurking around for a few weeks trying to learn more about these trucks.

There are 2 I am looking at.

In Canada (just north of Toronto, so Canadian prices)

a 97 with 180 kms
price is $2000 "as is" antilock brakes were going off when pedal fully depressed and slight right pull in alignment on test drive

other is a 2000 also with 180 kms
price is $4500 with certification and emmissions check included.
drove very well. no squeeks, rattles, shimmies, tracked straight. Brakes seemed fine.


Mileage seems reasonable for a Ford truck (meaning I can still get a couple of years more out of these)


Any thoughts or opinions you can offer on price, mileage or common ailments I need to look for?

many thanks

 

[heathmo]

Newer

Honestly, I'd go with the newer of the two. But alot is going to depend on what you'd really want. I think in 97 they still had the OHV engine available. Now in 2000 I believe they may have worked out most of the kinks in the SOHC, which does produce more power, but because of the dual timing chain issue (death rattle) it is less reliable than the OHV. Again some searches on that should clear things up. If money isn't an object here, I'd definitely take less work over fixing things. Alignment isn't too much of an issue and the ABS light might be just a sensor going bad. But of course could be multiple different things. The 5r55e transmission has a tendency to fail around about 100,000 miles. Another thing to check sine you're in the market, depending on your desires for the truck is the gear ratio. If you want bigger tires you would want to look for a higher gear ratio such as 4.10. But Aldive has proven that with stock tires 3.73 is the ideal ratio for gas mileage. Another bummer in the 2nd gens is the rear leaf springs. They installed mono-leafs, but that is easily remedied by getting a set of leaf springs from a donor 4dr. Other than that I can't think of much else to look for, I've heard of blown head gaskets because of the design of the V-6 cooling passages, but it tends to be more with racing it and large power adders (nitrous, forced induction), Good luck.

 

[JoeMahma]

I would go with the newer one as well. Sounds like a pretty fair price.

 

[marragtop]

Run a carfax on them to check out the history. Stay away from ones that have been wrecked or been through multiple auctions. If the seller won't run it for you, give me the vin and I can run it. Also, you didn't state the drive trains in them, but my preference would be a 5.0 with AWD.