David Bockman

(God help me) I need your advice.

My much loved 1999 F-150 (Class III Tow, 5.4 V8, Supercab, 4wd) appears to be at that unfortunate point where it'll take more to repair it than it's worth. I'll explain, then ask you what you would do in order to get the most out of its sale.

It runs like a champ and has brand new heater core, however a month or so ago I put my foot to the floor while trying to brake. Managed to not kill anyone and made it home, saw fluid leahing from behind the driver's side front wheel. It could be anything? Split break line, bad master brake cylinder, or something else? Anyway, I WOULD have it looked into and potentially fixed, however there is something wrong which will keep it from passing its (due soon) emissions inspection, that being a worn out and 'crumbly' (in the words of the garage owner) catalytic converter. Apparently catalytic converters are no longer available for this year except as custom one-offs for some insane amount, plus the installation.

Given its age, it has really low miles (just over 100K) and is pretty solid all around. Looking for advice.

white89gt

Buy a universal converter and have it installed. I suggest Magnaflow for high performance, and Eastern for a factory replacement. Pretty sure Eastern DOES make a direct fit for it too, but it will run you more.

Which converter is it?

01-7700

If that's all that's wrong with it - well worth fixing. I had to tie my bed sides together to keep them and the tailgate from falling off. Rust is the real killer.

mbb

A brake leak and a cat aren't worth fixing?

Your truck must be a real POS.

For a truck in good condition, it's almost always more economical to fix than to get another vehicle. If you like and want to keep the truck.

2.5 years ago I spent about $7,000 on mine. it's not the value of the vehicle that's concern, it's what it cost to replace it with an equivalent newer. Way cheaper to repair as long as you are content to keep driving it.

News flash, older vehicles require repairs. I used to say plan about $1,000 a year of repairs on a vehicle over five six years old. Is that cheaper than a $5,000-8000 a year car note? Probably.

But as many find out if you're going to own an older high mileage vehicle you should have the money escrow to be able to pay for repairs to it. It's really not a great option for high school kids if something goes wrong.

Granthol

Universal cats are about $100-125 each. I’d try a muffler shop not a mechanic.

Jbrew

How do you know the converters are bad ? Shouldn't be at those miles...not normally anyway. If you drove the truck without fixing a misfire, yea that would smoke a converter.

This thread is a little on the strange side, leaky brake line and it's doom and gloom for your ride. That's a little goofy IMO. Perhaps you should sell, there's plenty of folks out there not afraid to turn a wrench or hell, - just look to see exactly what part of the brake system is leaking.

mbb

I used to work with a woman who had some kind of Dodge car that needed a brake job and it was going to be $450. This was about 20 years ago. so she traded the car in.

I'm sure it made her feel good but it wasn't the most economical decision she thought.

Another co-worker of mine had some kind of Dodge Van that had composite brake drums that had to be replaced and was extremely expensive to have done, did the same thing, traded it to avoid $800 repair. Both of these instances were vehicles that were only 3 years old or so

Even some newer cars have very high maintenance costs. After paying 3 times for timing belt changes on toyota v6, i will never own another. Way too $ and difficult. Clutch changes too.....never will own another manual transmission.

Aragorn

Rock Auto has Eastern catalytic converters. As for the brake leak it could be as simple as the rubber hose that attaches to the break caliper.

Honestly if the mechanic is saying you'll need 5k to fix that he's cheating you. If you are looking for justification to buy a new truck and convince the wife then that's totally up to you. Personally I'd fix the truck myself but then I am a glutton for punishment.

Here are the hoses I'm talking about.

I don't know where you are at but if the truck is running good with no codes and the body is in good shape and not rusted you should be able to sell it for about 5-8k ish. A brand new truck to match would be about 750$ per month in car payments.

ZebraFord

I put all new brake lines on my truck for about $200 and hi flow cats will run about $200-300 at an exhaust shop with install after you scrap the old ones. The repairs should be well below $500

ZebraFord

You're getting scammed. A local guy I've taken my truck to when it's too cold to work on did a brake line for me with parts for $50. They only charge 600 labor to change a motor for example