Duke's Dad

Hey Biscut, it sounds like you had to have a lot of work done to your '04 Lariat. Did you do these repairs/replacements out of caution or were you told that this work was needed? Was it expensive?
Thanks.

'08f150stx

That should help some with the spark plug build dates. And some on plug change. That is why I suggested the later model years of 5.4 3v.

BISCUT

No man, I'm a 200k type of guy. Most of my vehicles I usually follow this routine:

Every 4k-5k miles oil change -- Mobil 1 systhetic and quality filter (Looks like MotorCraft of Puralator Gold for the 5.4)

Every 60k plugs, tranny service

Every 30k trans case fluid & fuel filter

Every 75k front and rear differential fluid

I've always changed out radiator fluid every year. Easy and cheap. Never had a radiator go on me yet or a water pump. Been doing this on last 4 vehicles since 1997 Explorer and they all went 200k miles.

But thats just me, because it works for me.

I took these steps because now if I have an issue I know what was done and when. If it helps you, my 5.4 3V was well maintained. My plugs came out with no problem. Took my mechanic 2 hours to do. Charged me $150 and I got the plugs from Ford (friend works there) for $10 and change each.

BISCUT

Check this out here: http://www.truedelta.com/repair_hist...session_code=2

Real people with F-150's reporting whatever repairs they had to make. Gives year of the 150, mileage, and cost of repair.

PJB

Id never finance a truck with over 100k, mainly because I put 17-20k on a vehicle in a year and wouldnt trust it to last until its paid for.

I bought my truck with 48k 2/09 and have since put on over 47k, so its at 95k. I know its going to have high mileage on it when its paid off in just over 3 years but atleast it didnt have high miles to begin with. I just couldnt see buying a truck with over 100k and driving it as much as I drive mine.

I just had the sparkplugs replaced for $408 two weeks ago. 4 of them broke. This week I had to get the rearend rebuilt because it was howling for $800. This morning I ordered tires for $570.

Other than the recent repairs its been a very good truck and I plan on keeping it for a long time.

JP2085

I wouldn't be afraid of a 5.4 over 100k in terms of durability anyway. When I was shopping for a truck, I found several nice FX4's with anywhere from 100k - 140k miles going for more money than the truck I ended up getting. Mine had 52k miles. Yes it's bare bones and simple but I enjoy knowing that I'll have it paid off before I even reach 100k miles.

back*in*black

Bought line with 106k on the clock and she runs champion. Get your pcm updated!!! I updated with the latest update and she drives like a brand new truck now. Slight gear hunting previous to reprogram.

TallyF150

I bought my '05 in January with 101k. Plugs cost me about $400 with 3-4 breaking. My rear diff started shuddering recently. Fortunately fluid change with friction modifier seems to have fixed it. I did that myself. Materials=about $80. Cam phaser issue is definitely worth investigating thoroughly before driving away. People say I have the quietest diesel truck..but it isn't diesel.

If you are getting 4x4 expect gas mileage to be as low as 10-11mpg with a stock set up. People post some crazy figures that I (a) find hard to believe and (b) am jealous of but I drive reasonably around the city getting 12mpg if I'm lucky. I didn't buy it for fuel saving but I hoped for more like 15mpg.

Check out the paint well. Some from around that time had some issue with the primer or something that caused premature peeling. My tailgate had a large area flaking off for no apparent reason.

That's most of the cautionary stuff. Don't get me wrong, I like my truck but its easy to dismiss problems when staring at a nice shiny truck on the lot. This forum is great for future problems/questions/ideas/etc. Good luck!

back*in*black

Forgot about the phaser issue. *fingers crossed*

PJB

My truck gets 16-17 mpg, mostly highway and its a 4x4. Around the city probably about 14.