OK, so I'm finally ready to throw down and get a truck. Right now I'm looking at two vehicles.

1. 05 Lariat supercrew 5.5 ft bed, 4x4, moon roof, backup sensors, the works. Its at a ford dealership, single owner trade, 105k miles on it. Looks amazing, its a few hours away so I had my brother drive it, he was very impressed and it did not make cam phaser or exhaust leak noise. $14k plus tax, title, and doc fee.

2. 06 Lariat supercrew 4x4 with 6.5ft bed. Decked out the same as option 1, just a year newer, and has 123k miles on it plus the longer bed. I have a connection at this dealership and can get it for 14k, possibly less.

I am test driving the 06 this weekend, no record of spark plugs being done on either, and the dealers are not interested in throwing that in. I'm not sure if the longer bed will comfortably fit in the garage though, and its got more miles. I average 7500 miles/year, so the difference in miles is nearly 3 years worth of driving. Is it worth it to take the miles hit and buy the newer one, less chance of cam phaser issues? Your thoughts either way would be appreciated. These prices are low/good for my area, trucks here are crazy expensive anytime of the year.

 

I dont know 100 % but I have seen some banter on this forum about 5.4s having some sort of phaser issue. I havent looked to deep into it but I believe I read that this issue might have been corrected in 06 + models. I am sure that someone with actual knowledge on the matter will pipe in.

You didn't mention which motors were in them. But may be worth the extra 20k and the larger bed to have the peace of mind in the engine if thats the case. I have a SC with the 5.5 and have found myself missing my full size bed from my 98 f150 at times.

 

both trucks have the 5.4 triton.

 

The cam phaser issue was supposedly fixed sometime during 07. I had a 08 5.4 and I didn't have any ticks. But with the years you are looking at the plugs and Phasers may give you trouble but the plug issue is so well known about now it's no where's near as expensive to have them done as it used to be. As far as Phasers go I don't know a lot about them but you can heat them no problem if they are noisy. Comparable to a diesel ive heard.

 

I'd say the 05... With my 07 I barely fit in the garage... My front bumper has to touch it wall for me to close the garage down...

Cam Phasers are a hit and miss... To be honest you'll never know about it until oil change time... First oil change I put the mc 5w20 in like recommended.. The first time I went into reverse I got the diesel caming crap.. Happened a few times.. 3000 miles later I look up at my sticker and I have 10w30... That was 10,000 miles ago and a few oil changes... No more issues...

Spark plugs... Have them change it before you buy and produce a receipt for your records.. Problem solved...

 

05 is one of the most problematic years in our trucks

 

I thought 04s were the ones to avoid? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to own an 09+ with the 6spd tranny, but i'm stretched to buy this one. I've got my brother going over it with a fine tooth comb and a list of things to check, including the windows, 4x4, exhaust and phaser/timing chain noise at full operating temp. I checked out the 06 today, and it was a really nice truck, but I can't stand the thought of parking in the driveway instead of the garage. It was 0 degrees here this morning and I didn't buy a house with a 3 car garage to be scraping ice off windshields in the morning. Any other trouble spots I should be concerned with? I pulled a carfax and it was registered to a corporation/business the first 17k miles of its life, and then was owned by a single person until they traded it in last month. No reported service besides oil changes and tire rotations so if work was done it didnt happen at a dealership.

 

Cam phaser issues can be found all the way through the 04-08 series, the advantage with the 08(mine) is the redesigned heads making tune up time easier. The 05's did have some issues with fuel injectors sticking, but with 105k on that truck, it'd have shown itself long before now. If you drove it, got it warmed up, and it runs quietly, then I'd not be afraid of the 05 at all. I'd rather have in your case 3 years driving in mileage less on the vehicle if it were me. Plus, the shorter bed will make it more maneuverable as well.

Having seen neither one, I'd vote for the clean 05!

Good luck in either case!

 

You know not to jack your thread or anything but does anyone have a good comparison from cam phaser noise vs. injector noise? I dont really know if my truck is noisy or not. I have heard thay our injectors can be a bit loud so I dont know which I am hearing. I only notice the noise in drive thrus and its not really that loud then.

 

Injectors are more of a chattering sound, and generally most noticeable at start up. Cam phasers make it sound like a powerstroke diesel at idle once it's warmed up, and is more of a rattling sound. It's pretty noticeable too because injectors are a much "quieter" noise.