Spent all my MC money on a new(to me) truck today.

[luvmy40]

I had about $300.00 in petty cash set aside for some upgrades and repairs on The Beast this down season. I used it today for a down payment on a 2007 Ford F150 long box. I really needed a "new" truck. My POS '96 Ford Ranger was on it's last legs. Hell, it'd been life support for the last few years. Besides, getting the Venture in the bed was darn near impossible and it looked really funny when it was.

 

Any Ford folks? I have a couple questions.

 

This is the XL package with the 4.2 L V6, manual 5 speed transmission and no frills. The steering wheel has the cruise control buttons but they do not work. Does the manual version actually have CC or is this a replacement steering wheel?

 

The E Brake does nothing. I think I have found out why in a cursory web search but if anyone here has any insight or words of wisdom, I'd love to hear from you.

 

Not the best pic, but here she is.

 

 

There's some rust over the rear fenders, but not rotted through. There are a few spots on the front corners of the hood that don't have any rust, but the paint is flaking off an the clear coat on the doors, over the windows is peeling. Not bad at all for a 12 year old truck in Ohio. The frame is solid, suspension is good, steering is tight and the engine runs quiet and strong.

 

Looks like a brand new alternator and passenger side lower control arm.

[djh3]

I think those motors are fairly reliable. Not as good as the ole 300 straight six, but what is. I have been looking at the 2011 or newer F 250 and the steering wheels on those I think are the same weather cruise or not. But they may not be wired inside, I think the panels where the buttons go click in. My buttons on my 96 Dodge are intermittent. Sometimes it takes a couple times to get it to work. You should be able to get the switch out and ohm them out. If they check good then you can move on to something else. If you turn it on do you get the light in dash that says cruise or something to let you know its activated?

Edited October 7, 2018 by djh3

[luvmy40]

Nope. Nothing at all when I hit the on/off buttons.

 

I've never owned a manual trans. vehicle that had cruise control, but I see Rostra has a cruise package for manual shift trucks...

[luvmy40]

I forgot to mention that she only has 88,127 miles on the clock. That's extremely low for this vintage in this area.

[Kretz]

Not a Ford but I have a Chevy Silverado 4.3L V6 with Manual Transmission. It's a 2000 with 126,000km (78,000 miles)

It has cruise control. Haven't used the Cruise in a long while but yes it did work last time I did. If I remember correctly (& I may not be) it dropped out if I

a) changed gear

b) braked

A number of friends thought it was most unusual to have cruise on a manual shift truck! But it seemed to work.

Being from the Uk I didn't have any experience of vehicles with auto transmission or cruise so had no idea about it when I bought the truck.

[Sylvester]

Richard, your cruise probably works but need to be wired. I had an 04 company truck with cruise that didn't work. I took it to a Ford mechanic and in about 3 minutes he put a wire in and it worked. Told me that it won't shut off with the override safety system but would manually. Drove it 255,000 miles that way without a problem.

 

[luvmy40]

I got the cruise control figured out. It works, there's just no "On" indicator. I get the green "speedometer" icon when it is on and set but nothing at all when it is on but not set. So, from startup, hit the on button once(no indicator at all), get to speed, hit the set button and the green speedo icon pops on. The coast and set buttons adjust the speed setting and it holds speed properly. Hit the brake or clutch or step on the throttle and the icon goes out and the cruise drops out. Hit the resume and the icon pops back and the cruise reverts to the last setting. It's working right, just no "On" indicator.

 

I bought the E Brake spring and adjuster kit this morning, but I probably won't need it. It sounds like a good cleaning and some anti seize is all that is usually needed to restore the parking brake to operation. I'll be tearing into that and working on the rust spots later today. I'm not going to put the effort into it to make it look new but I want to halt the rust and at least make it look semi decent. A wire wheel, Loctite rust neutralizer, primer and a close match touch up paint should do the trick. I may go so far as to use a little Bondo on the fenders if it's pitted too badly after I scrub it with the wire wheel.

[BlueSky]

The 4.2L V6 is a very good engine. It should last a very long time. The 5.4L V8 was not as reliable if the VCT (variable cam timing) gave problems.

[luvmy40]

My only two criteria for choosing a truck were;

1. Long box bed

2. Not a Triton V8

 

Well, those and a reasonable price tag.

[luvmy40]

Parking brakes are fixed!

 

 

Funny thing is the rotors and pads are brand new and the disc hardware was all new and lubed nicely. Who ever did it did a nice job. I wonder why they left the drum park brakes all discombobulated?

 

I did use the new springs and adjusters. The old ones were pretty bad. It was exactly what I had found described on several forums and a couple youtube videos. The actuator levers were seized up and the cable had come off the lever hook. A few minutes on the wire wheel and a bit of light file work later they work just fine. They may need adjusted but I'll take to a shop with a rack for that. It's tough to get them even on the ground, one wheel at a time.

[BlueSky]

My only two criteria for choosing a truck were;

1. Long box bed

2. Not a Triton V8

 

Well, those and a reasonable price tag.

 

In 2007 the 4.6L triton V8 was a 2 valve engine and it is quite good. It is infamous for blowing out spark plugs due to the few threads in the heads but if torqued properly, they don't blow out. My 2000 F150 5.4L V8 2V engine didn't blow out a spark plug in 170k miles when I lost track of it. My current 2002 F150 5.4L V8 2V engine hasn't blown a spark plug in 151k miles. (knock on wood!) And it isn't that hard to repair with a timesert if a plug blows out. In 2004 thru 2010 the 5.4L engine was a 3V with VCT and that can cause serious issues if oil changes aren't frequent.

[SpencerPJ]

I got the cruise control figured out. It works, there's just no "On" indicator. I get the green "speedometer" icon when it is on and set but nothing at all when it is on but not set.

 

That's exactly how my Yukon works. I like it, I never turn cruise off. Whenever i want it, press the button and works, with a green indicator that my cruise control is active.

[luvmy40]

Well, the rust on the fenders is worse than I'd hoped at first glance.

 

After flaking of the loosest paint,

 

 

And after hitting it with the wire wheel,

 

 

This is going to take more than a bit of bondo to smooth out!

 

Ah well, what's that old line about plans, mice and men?

[Kybigmac]

I work part time at an auto auction and we get a lot of vehicles from up north,and the ones from Ohio seem to be the worst! I’ve often wondered if they spread salt 24/7 365 days a year.😎

[slowrollwv]

Looks like it has had some work in that area before. Best way to fix it is with replacement panels. If you were closer to me I would do it for you.

[Freebird]

I agree that Ohio vehicles seem to fare worse than a lot of other states. That's why I typically won't take the bike out after the first salting of the season and until after the first few rains in the spring. It is also hard to avoid rust if you are buying a used vehicle here. I'm not surprised that the rust was worse than it appeared. That seems to be the case most of the time. If you can actually see it, what you can't see behind it is typically worse.

 

It looks like you did OK with the purchase though. I've looked at used trucks over the past few months and am always shocked at what people think they are worse. I see trucks with close to and over 200,000 miles on them and "very little rust" advertised and they some folks want $15,000 and UP for them. If I can see rust, it's NOT worth that kind of money regardless of the miles.

[djh3]

My experience with the rust, all be it limited here in Fla is if you can see it popping out its probably 2 to 3 times worse under where you cant. Figure the water/salt/mud cakes on inside of fenders and lays there. When I lived in Oklahoma the mid 80's Chevy trucks where bad about the rears loading up and rusting thru.

[luvmy40]

...It looks like you did OK with the purchase though. I've looked at used trucks over the past few months and am always shocked at what people think they are worse. I see trucks with close to and over 200,000 miles on them and "very little rust" advertised and they some folks want $15,000 and UP for them. If I can see rust, it's NOT worth that kind of money regardless of the miles.

 

 

I found that out last spring when I first started looking to replace the Purple People Eater('96 Ranger Splash in Grape). 10-15 year old trucks with little if any bed sides left, 150K-200K mi. and price tags over 8 grand. I had to laugh at most of them.

 

I had just missed out on an '02 Silverado 1500 in nearly mint condition for $5000.00 then I found this one at a local dealership and got it for $5300.00 More than I really wanted to spend, but it is fairly low mileage and other than the rust, it's in really good condition.

[XV1100SE]

My only two criteria for choosing a truck were;

1. Long box bed

2. Not a Triton V8

 

Well, those and a reasonable price tag.

 

The 2007 Mustang GT I had was a Triton V8...Terrible design on the spark plugs. When I replaced them 4 broke off even after spraying cleaner into the plug area. Had to get a plug removal tool (which worked well - at least there is a tool to remove them since it is such a common issue with the OEM 2 peice design of the plugs). Put in one piece aftermarket plugs (at $20 a plug) before I sold it. Was going thru coils (at $80 a plug).

 

For putting the Venture in the truck bed...think it is @EtRider (Ed) that has a neat system in his bed that lifts the Venture up and into the bed. Don't know the manufacturer of it but it is very neat way to lift the bike. Hopefully he can post a link to it.

[EtRider]

Sorry, wasnt me with the lift a ma jig. I have seen lifts like that advertised many places. One is

[h=1]Rampage power Lift Motorcycle loader.[/h]

As far as your rust, where the inner and outer fender skins meet in the wheel well, Ford never sealed the gap with anything so salt , dirt and anything else could accumulate there. That is why they rust out so bad in that area. My old 2008 F150 did same thing before I traded it. (not that bad thou).

 

Ed

[XV1100SE]

Must have been Gary N. with the truck system.

 

Found it http://www.mountainmaster.net/motorcycleloadingsystem.html

Edited October 9, 2018 by XV1100SE

[luvmy40]

Petty cool system, but I've never had a problem ramping up into a truck. Sometimes coasting them back off can be a challenge!

 

The ranger bed was so short I had to land cater-cornered with a saddle bag removed to get enough rear wheel on the bed to strap her down.