Thinking about buying a high milage truck

[SMOKE24]

Hello,
I,m new to this forum and power strokes!! well im looking at buying a 02
f250 7.3 with the 6spd manual trans . truck looks good but has high miles 233,xxx. my question is is this a good idea?what should i expect fix in the near future etc....?? the price for the truck is $6500
thanks in advace and sorry fo the newbee question

[najaf4life]

well first off and for problems you shouldn't really experiance to much at all with the 7.3L.... and the miles on the truck is kinda low for some people... some guys on this site have had some 7.3L up towards 700,000 with no major problems

[tubular031]

Welcome. the engine will last just about forever! its the rest of the truck you have to worry about things like wheel bearings, suspension parts, steering, shocks, tranny

are you in north texas? I saw an ad on craigslist the other day with something real close to this. i was almost thinking of buying it for parts

[SMOKE24]

Thanks for responding so quickly. Ive read on this forum about up tubes needing to be
replaced? what are up tubes? should i be worried about this?? thanks again

[NoRalPh]

I'd stay away from that kind of mileage.... Sure the engine's got Lots of life still left in it but the rest of the truck????? Shot!

You'd have to be prepared to spend money on it all the time on it because if the previous owner hasn't replaced it, it's almost Gone

Take a look at this Long Island NY guy called "morethantrucks(dot)com" EVERYTHING these guys have has a Buck-and-aHalf on it and up -hehehe I don't know how they do it!

It took a while, but I finally found an '02 F350 with 14K on it (an HONEST 14K!!) The whole drivetrain looks new underneath. It's a work truck with crank-up windows but I'd trade that AnyDay for PS & cruise with 90K on it

Front Axles, Hub Bearings, and Ball alone joints are expensive repairs!

[Lonno]

If its been properly maintenanced its a good buy. The 7.3 will run a LONG time.

[bigwhite7.3stroker]

If its been taken care of you'll have no problems with the 7.3. Yes possibly need to rebuild the tranny and some suspension parts but even if you did that its still cheaper than buying one w/ low miles that costs $$ 15-20,000 Dollars or more.

[bigwhite7.3stroker]

Originally Posted by SMOKE24

Thanks for responding so quickly. Ive read on this forum about up tubes needing to be
replaced? what are up tubes? should i be worried about this?? thanks again

Yes the Up-Pipes could also need replaced the donut gasket in them wears out and causes exhaust leaks. International now makes Bellowed Up-Pipes which eliminates this problem. The UP-PIPES are the 2 pipes that connect the manifolds to the exhaust side of the turbo on the firewall side.

[mschn99]

buying a high milage truck is something you need to put some thought into....

With that kind of price i would probably do it.....

Know that there are a few things that could need to be replaced.......ball joints...tie rods......water pump........and i would give it a very thourough checkout. Take the intake horn off and pull and push on the turbo wheel. A tiny bit of up and down movement is acceptable but any in and out movement is bad......turbo's do wear out so make sure to check that....

if its in good shape.....it sounds like a good deal. Even when the motor is worn out its only about 1200 bucks for a full overhaul kit for it....plus labor. For about 5000 or so you can have practically a brand new motor in it

[stroker27]

that is exactly what i did... bought mine with 222xxx on it or so and for 6500.00. i havnt done much to it except.. change the engine, change the tranny, change the tranny change the tranny, the batteries, starter, glow plug relay, starter solenoid, and alternator. other than that i havnt had any problems with mine. lol... just get a compression check done... i should have done that, if it still has good compression and the tranny shifts solid it should be fine. i didn't do the compression check and as soon as i changed the oil the motor died, im thinkin they used some heavy oil like 90w or something to keep it from smoking till they sold it. in other words... just be careful.