Camacorn

So, I'm a Chevrolet fan at heart, and never thought I'd be purchasing a Ford, until I drove past this one. I had never seen or even heard of the Flareside 9th Generation trucks, I already liked the style side body on the 9th gens even though I was not a Ford fan, but something about this Flareside just made me have to buy it. I did a little research before hand and found out that they seem to be pretty rare trucks, so after inspecting the truck inside and out with an ASE certified master-tech and getting the go ahead, I purchased the truck for $1,500.00 outright. It has power windows, power locks, power lumbar on the bench seat, working ac/heat, tach, and has 155k miles.

The truck was apparently show truck quality, till the owner decided to use it as a shop truck. They eventually stopped using it and parked it outside their shop for sale, where it has sat for the past year. There are no problems with it mechanically whatsoever, it's got the 5.8L 351 V8 engine and runs like a champ. There are some minor cosmetic issues, needed new headliner which I redid yesterday, needs the seat to be reupholstered, some minor dings here and there that I'm going to tap out soon, and definitely needs bigger tires as well as a small lift eventually. It's also got this ridiculous Billet style grille, I'm personally not a fan of them, but I found a standard chrome grille at a junkyard for $30, going to purchase it and slap it on there. Also going to pick up a lund visor as I think they look pretty sick.

The truck also has a roll-pan style rear bumper, I have been searching for a rear step bumper since I purchased the truck, I read somewhere that any 9th generation bumper will work, however after inspecting a Flareside in person that had a step bumper, they appear to be different sizes, does anyone know where I can purchase one?

The reflection of the trees makes the paint look faded, but it isn't, I'm also wet-sanding the headlights to turn them crystal clear again:



Only damage on the exterior is a fiberglass piece broke off the right flare step, but I still have it and I already have the fiberglass material to fix it:



I would prefer a step-bumper, but none the less, still looks good:



Interior is nearly flawless with the exception of a tear in the seat that I will be fixing very soon:



Just redid the headliner myself, $10 of fabric, $10 of adhesive, and 30 minutes later:



Going to wet-sand the headlights with a light grit sandpaper soon to turn them clear again as well, I will post interior as well as more exterior photos when the rain lets up, but let me know what you guys think, as well as any questions, thanks

EDIT: I got tired of waiting for the rain to stop, snapped some pictures of the side and interior in the rain, sorry for the poor interior image quality.

flareside crazy

sucks that the bed is messed up but im sure that you can get that fixed but the one thing you do have that is rare atleast I don't see very much is the single cab swb with a 351 in it, if I was you I would look into making it fast you already have a pretty good setup but just having a flareside isn't really rare man sorry...overall tho looks like you got a nice score I would have to find some different wheels tho because those are driving me nuts

flareside crazy

oh and as far as a back bumper your gonna have look at the junk yard or craigslist as far as I know they don't sell flareside bumpers or maybe on ebay...

Camacorn

There is nothing actually wrong with the bed, there is a piece of fiberglass that broke off of the right side step on the bed, but its behind the bench seat, I already bought a fiberglass repair kit to fix it. Also I am going insane with these wheels as well, luckily everyone in my family is in the automotive business, so I can get hooked up pretty cheaply. The flaresides are pretty rare where I live, everyone around here has the style side :P

redneckfordf2502002

Great looking truck another vote for different wheels. I personally love the billet grille on a 92-96 Ford truck.
Trav

kd3pc

I am told that some of the Flareside trucks had narrower frame rails than the other trucks, the more knowledgeable folks here may show us the real story. The bumpers are the rare thing....they attach differently than the reg F150's and the brackets are different as well. ebay or junk yard.

Mine is a 5.8 and 4x4 with 60K original miles, garage kept. Love it, and get a lot of nice comments, even from the chevy and dodge guys.

I am looking to add a class III hitch and was asked if it was a "narrow" frame rail truck, by the hitch shops in town. 34" is narrow, they say. I have not been out to measure yet.

redneckfordf2502002

I believe the frame on my 88 F150 is 35 1/2 or 36 I can't remember so that may be true. I know the LMC truck book shows a different part number for flareside bumpers then regular bumpers.
To the above poster (KD3PC) I love that truck you posted I may be a bit biased to white though.
Trav

Camacorn

Love your truck kd3pc, I hope to have mine in that condition soon, doesn't need too much to get there, money is the main factor

PS: Uploaded a rear end photo, as well as a photo of the headliner I redid, check main post!

flareside crazy

well im glad you have the piece and the ability to fix it lol and the grill looks good when they are inside the stock grill housing imo but the stock grill will definetly make that truck look better

flareside crazy

and hopefully this truck will make you a ford man