looking to buy... what to expect

[nhoffman1987]

I am looking into buying a 99-03 PSD and with the price I am looking to spend looks like I will be getting 1 with 4x4 and most likely 100-120k. Ive been on the forum for a few days now trying to research the truck and ran across the common issues such as the oil pan rusting, probs. with the harness under valve cover etc. I also believe i read something about the head studs not holding up with mods. Is that with the 7.3 or different engine?

I plan on doing a few mods such as: Intake, downpipe/exhaust, turbo housing and wheel, foil delete, SCT

But before any mods the first thing ill be doing to the truck is some preventive stuff like changing out all the fluids (diffs, transfer, tranny, coolant etc), glow plugs if needed (i live in Buffalo), on Rock Auto i found the valve cover gasket kit with new connectors for 64 bucks so i think ill change that to prevent any issues, turbo rebuild.


Basically the questions are would it be worth it to buy a truck of this age and mileage and put all my fun money into it?

Is there any other common problems with the truck i should be aware of?

Are there any mods you recommend to buy or stay away from?

And last do the head studs need to be replaced before moding this 7.3?



Thanks for the answers, advice and input.