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k-rico
Super Nomad
Posts: 2079
Registered: 7-10-2008
Location: Playas de Tijuana
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"My experience with the Ford truck products from mid 80's on is that they will run 200K and beyond given reasonable maintenance and
treatment."
I'm going to buy a 2003 5.4 liter F-250 with 120,000 miles this week. Single owner truck and well maintained. The high mileage is worrisome but it
runs well and I won't be putting more than 5000 miles a year on it.
Good to hear the 200K number, anyone else have a high mileage Ford V-8?
My 1991 F-150 5.0 liter has an odometer reading of ~28,000 miles. Don't know if there should be a "1" or "2" in front of the 28,000. Probably a "2"
but it still runs good, so maybe a "1".
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mojo_norte
Senior Nomad
Posts: 725
Registered: 2-14-2006
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Go for it ! Have the tranny checked out .
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k-rico
Super Nomad
Posts: 2079
Registered: 7-10-2008
Location: Playas de Tijuana
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| Quote: | Originally posted by mojo_norte
Go for it ! Have the tranny checked out . |
You bet, already have that set-up. I'll be loading it up with a 8 foot cabover and heading into baja with it so the transmission is my biggest
concern. I was glad to see that the instruments include a transmission oil temperature gauge.
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tripledigitken
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4848
Registered: 9-27-2006
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K-Rico,
Put a trans temp guage on it, if it gets to 200 degees put an auxillary cooler on it.
Ken
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mojo_norte
Senior Nomad
Posts: 725
Registered: 2-14-2006
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by k-rico
"My experience with the Ford truck products from mid 80's on is that they will run 200K and beyond given reasonable maintenance and
treatment."
I'm going to buy a 2003 5.4 liter F-250 with 120,000 miles this week. Single owner truck and well maintained. The high mileage is worrisome but it
runs well and I won't be putting more than 5000 miles a year on it.
Good to hear the 200K number, anyone else have a high mileage Ford V-8?
My 1991 F-150 5.0 liter has an odometer reading of ~28,000 miles. Don't know if there should be a "1" or "2" in front of the 28,000. Probably a "2"
but it still runs good, so maybe a "1". |
I always try and buy used from responsible appearing original owners.
My F150 5.0 V8 only has 169K but runs like new. The finish and interior have held up well also - I'm amazed. I get 13 MPG carrying a light overhead
camper 17 - 19 w/o.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64606
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by mojo_norte
| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
It is a shame that most American brand vehicles cannot compare to the quality and reliablility of Japanese makes! The other thing I liked about Subaru
as that it came with everything I wanted included, not a ton of add-on options to jack up the price, like American brands have. The two worse made
vehicles I owned were my Jeep Cherokee Chief and my Plymoth Grand Voyager van... unbelievably poorly made... and both American brands.
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I think this is an incorrect generalization. Granted, the 70's Chrysler ( Cherokee Chiefs) were POC's and I don't doubt that the Grand Voyageurs were
'poorly made' but is this 2 car sampling sufficient to make the general statement that 'most American brand vehicles cannot compare to the quality and
reliability of Japanese makes'. |
Just because facts are important to me, my 1975.5 Jeep was made by American Motors who bought the Kaiser-Jeep Corporation (formerly Willys Motors) in
1970. The Jeep Cherokee was introduced in the 1974 year model and replaced the Jeep Commando (formerly called the Jeepster).
The Cherokee was named 'Four Wheeler of the Year'. The mid year 1975 new Jeep 'Cherokee Chief' used the axles from the J10 Jeep Truck to give it a
wider track and had larger wheel wells to seperate it from the standard Cherokee which was basically a 2 door Wagoneer.
This was the third Jeep in our family. The first was a 1965 Wagoneer and the second was a 1970.. The first took us all over Baja in the 1960's and the
second was junk. My dad dumped it and got a 1972 4WD Chevy Suburban... while he liked the big size, the motor was flawed, but Chevy (GM) refused to
warantee their poor work. He got a 1973 Ford LTD wagon and that was his last car... took us to Loreto before the highway was finished... great car
with a 460 cid Lincoln engine!
Chrysler bought American Motors-Jeep in 1986 (I think), primarily to get the Jeep brand. American Motors cars were relabled as Eagle brand (named
after the 4WD/AWD passenger cars called Eagle by AMC) and were sold at Jeep-Eagle dealers... eventually the Eagle half was dropped.
I really like the Jeep brand and hope one day they will be built as well as Toyota so that I could consider buying one, again! 
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mojo_norte
Senior Nomad
Posts: 725
Registered: 2-14-2006
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
| Quote: | Originally posted by mojo_norte
| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
It is a shame that most American brand vehicles cannot compare to the quality and reliablility of Japanese makes! The other thing I liked about Subaru
as that it came with everything I wanted included, not a ton of add-on options to jack up the price, like American brands have. The two worse made
vehicles I owned were my Jeep Cherokee Chief and my Plymoth Grand Voyager van... unbelievably poorly made... and both American brands.
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I think this is an incorrect generalization. Granted, the 70's Chrysler ( Cherokee Chiefs) were POC's and I don't doubt that the Grand Voyageurs were
'poorly made' but is this 2 car sampling sufficient to make the general statement that 'most American brand vehicles cannot compare to the quality and
reliability of Japanese makes'. |
Just because facts are important to me, my 1975.5 Jeep was made by American Motors who bought the Kaiser-Jeep Corporation (formerly Willys Motors) in
1970. The Jeep Cherokee was introduced in the 1974 year model and replaced the Jeep Commando (formerly called the Jeepster).
The Cherokee was named 'Four Wheeler of the Year'. The mid year 1975 new Jeep 'Cherokee Chief' used the axles from the J10 Jeep Truck to give it a
wider track and had larger wheel wells to seperate it from the standard Cherokee which was basically a 2 door Wagoneer.
This was the third Jeep in our family. The first was a 1965 Wagoneer and the second was a 1970.. The first took us all over Baja in the 1960's and the
second was junk. My dad dumped it and got a 1972 4WD Chevy Suburban... while he liked the big size, the motor was flawed, but Chevy (GM) refused to
warantee their poor work. He got a 1973 Ford LTD wagon and that was his last car... took us to Loreto before the highway was finished... great car
with a 460 cid Lincoln engine!
Chrysler bought American Motors-Jeep in 1986 (I think), primarily to get the Jeep brand. American Motors cars were relabled as Eagle brand (named
after the 4WD/AWD passenger cars called Eagle by AMC) and were sold at Jeep-Eagle dealers... eventually the Eagle half was dropped.
I really like the Jeep brand and hope one day they will be built as well as Toyota so that I could consider buying one, again! |
Perhaps you might base your assumptions on a Jeep vehicle made in the last quarter century 
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64606
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Well, they say live and learn... and fool me once shame on you... fool me twice, shame on me!
I see how often Ken and other Jeep owners are not driving their Jeeps. Jeep owners have to have other cars for the times the Jeep is down.
My truck is for work and play... my only vehicle, and the Toyotas have never broken down in over 245,000 combined miles and 10 years!
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Timo1
Senior Nomad
Posts: 736
Registered: 11-2-2007
Location: Homeless
Member Is Offline
Mood: Lovin every minute of it
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My first Ford diesel was a '75 6.9litre
It finally blew a head gasket at 565,000 km
my current '90 diesel 7.3 liter has 265,000 km
my bronco 2 '88 has 262,000 km
Am I happy with Ford product ??
Darn tootin !!
Biggest repair yet is a little front end work to the bronco and a clutch
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64606
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Yup, as I said above... the '73 Ford wagon was great, as was the '65 Wagoneer... My mom had a '66 Mustang (289 V8) bought new and had it the rest of
her life. The only good American brand cars in my years have been the Kaiser Jeep and the Fords!
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bigboy
Nomad
Posts: 239
Registered: 12-28-2003
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Combined mileage of my Ford trucks and cars over the years..........million miles+, no major problems! I'll continue with Ford Motor Company!
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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
Member Is Offline
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This is an interesting thread. When I was getting ready to purchase my wifes new car in 1991 I asked several people I knew and my fellow workers that
had cars three years or less old how they liked them. The thing that stood out about the Toyota was that everyone who had a Toyota said they loved it.
No one else ever used that comment about their car. Not Ford, chevy, Nissan, honda, dodge etc. I liked it so I purchased a new 91 Camry. We had the
car 8 years and the only problem we had was a recall to change a resistor in the radio. In 1997 we gave the car to our daughter when she graduated
from college. She kept it until 2005 when she purchased a new Lincoln Navigator. She was making the big bucks in nursing and I guess Toyota was not
high class enough. Oh well.
I paid around $17000+ for it and my daughter sold it in 05 for $3,500.
[Edited on 5-14-2010 by TW]
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
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My '97 Camry had it's tranny blow up at 65K while driving down a city street---------$3300 out the window in a flash!!! The Toy folks said, "my,
that's unusual", but since it was 6 weeks or so out of warrantee I paid the whole bill out of pocket.
Other than that, it's been a dream------105K on it now, and counting. I do love it------
-------but, I also love my '94 Ford F-250 and NOTHING has ever gone wrong with it mechanically except I had to recharge the AC three years ago. It
does have some structural problems, tho, which I had to beef up, plus beef up the suspension, and now all is ok.
My Nissan X-terra is now 3 years old and NOTHING has ever gone wrong with it, and----------I LOVE IT!!!!! But I had to beef up it's suspension to the
tune of about $1000, and now it is perfect.
Barry
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k-rico
Super Nomad
Posts: 2079
Registered: 7-10-2008
Location: Playas de Tijuana
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Barry A.
-------but, I also love my '94 Ford F-250 and NOTHING has ever gone wrong with it mechanically except I had to recharge the AC three years ago. It
does have some structural problems, tho, which I had to beef up, plus beef up the suspension, and now all is ok.
Barry |
How many miles on the Ford? Are the structural problems with the sides of the bed? I remember someone once posted about beefing up the sides of Ford
beds to hold a heavy camper shell.
I have a cabover Callen shell, the kind with the barn doors, that I'll be putting on the 2003 F-250 I'm buying. I'm assuming Callen shells are heavier
than most since they are bigger and steel framed.
[Edited on 5-14-2010 by k-rico]
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
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| Quote: | Originally posted by k-rico
| Quote: | Originally posted by Barry A.
-------but, I also love my '94 Ford F-250 and NOTHING has ever gone wrong with it mechanically except I had to recharge the AC three years ago. It
does have some structural problems, tho, which I had to beef up, plus beef up the suspension, and now all is ok.
Barry |
How many miles on the Ford? Are the structural problems with the sides of the bed? I remember someone once posted about beefing up the sides of Ford
beds to hold a heavy camper shell.
I have a cabover Callen shell, the kind with the barn doors, that I'll be putting on the 2003 F-250 I'm buying. I'm assuming Callen shells are heavier
than most since they are bigger and are steel framed. |
K-rico-------you may be referring to my previous posts several years ago. I have a custom made CALLEN CAMPER shell cab-over that weighs in at 800
lbs.-----and yes, on the Baja bad roads and old off-road race tracks where the truck was torqued this way and that in the whoops, the sides of the
beds which support the camper collasped up front near the cab and down the sides partially---only the rear part of the bed survived intact-----front
of bed crushed down about 3 inches on both sides & front. After getting home I had to remove the camper, then remove the bed-box, and have the
bed box totally reinforced with structural steel by a professional welder and trailer-maker inside and out, and then put everything back together
again-------that was about 10 years ago and I have had no problems since, and I have been over some terrible roads since then. The truck only has 67K
on it as I use it only for vacations. This same camper was on a 1969 Ford 1/2 ton for years with no problems----much stronger truck in every respect.
I love my camper, but I would recommend having the bed reinforced on your truck before you put it on as it is pretty easy to do with no camper on it.
The bed is very easy to remove, and then they can really do a good job on it. After repairing the existing bed, we used multiple 2x2 square steel
tubing as cross members welded to the existing cross members which are only pressed metal, and extended them out from the pressed metal supports
several inches on each side, but still under the skin of the bed so they don't show but provide good support to the sides----and then we sandwiched
the front of the bed between two pieces of 3/8th aircraft aluminum using big rivets all over-------strong, strong!!! Last summer I torqued the truck
so badly on a horrible road in Capitol Reef Natl. Park that it totally tore the boot between the cab and the camper apart, but zero structural damage
to either the camper or the bed superstructure, so our beef-up job really worked, but was still flexible.
Good luck--------you are going to love that CALLEN CAMPER, I predict.
Barry
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k-rico
Super Nomad
Posts: 2079
Registered: 7-10-2008
Location: Playas de Tijuana
Member Is Offline
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Barry,
I have the camper on my '91 Ford and will be putting it on the 2003. As you know the back of the camper frame sits on the bed itself, I can see where
the front could use some support that transfers the load off the sides/front of the bed to the floor. I'll do that.
And you're right, these things make great campers! This photo is from our mainland trip last year.
BTW, the '91 is for sale. I haven't priced it yet.
[Edited on 5-14-2010 by k-rico]
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
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K-rico--------
I drive my truck into some really horrible places, and it is a 4x4 with a 3 inch lift, and big tires and suspension. Even so, for several years I had
no problems, and with use on normal dirt roads without big torques of the truck by going over big rocks, or the horrible whoops on the Baja roads used
by the racers, you might do just fine for years and years without the beef-up job.
I also have the full top cargo carrier built by CALLEN of the same heavy material used in the shells------that had to contribute at least a 100 + more
pounds .
Barry
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k-rico
Super Nomad
Posts: 2079
Registered: 7-10-2008
Location: Playas de Tijuana
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I had the top cargo carrier on mine and took it off, never used it. It is heavy and I thought raised the center of gravity too much, especially on the
lightly sprung F-150. Plus I was burning gas carrying it around.
[Edited on 5-14-2010 by k-rico]
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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Mood: optimistic
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I use my Cargo carrier all the time-----every trip------either for my Gregor boat, carry firewood, canoes, kayaks, etc. whatever I need to take in the
way of toys that I don't want to get in the way inside my camper. Friends have even slept up there (I have a permanent ladder on the side) if we stop
for the night and find lots of bugs, snakes, wild coyotes, cougers, etc. and the folks get spooked.  I find my Cargo rack invaluable, both in Baja and in North America. I have never had a high center of gravity
issue that I know of, but yes, it is really heavy, and I am sure has high wind-resistance. My truck gets 10 mpg no matter how it is loaded, with or
without the camper------ALWAYS 10 mpg except in Wyoming and Colorado where I consistantly get up to 13 mpg----(different formulation????---high
altitude???). I have the big 460 Cubic inch engine with 5-speed manual tranny and 355 rear end gears.
Barry
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9006
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inquisitive
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I have a 2000 F350 with the 7.3 diesel. It only has 166k on it. I have had a few nagging issues with it. In almost all cases, internet research showed
the problems to be approaching common. They are:
-replaced water pump at 100k (common when using the anticavitation radiator additive
-lost an injector at 150k (that is not common)
-front wheel bearing assembly (sealed, non greaseable) going at 140k. (fairly common)
-front ball joints shot at about 150k (common)
-capacitors that actuate the power door locks are failing (common)
Not trouble free, that's for sure.
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