Well, for better or for worse, I got the 2002, F350 Superdoody. Cosmetically, it's "not great". Mechanically, it seems to be pretty darn ok. Starts fine, idles nice. Pulls pretty good. If I don't look at the speedo, it feels like I'm going slow. But this thing actually gets up to speed pretty nicely for what it is. I had it up to 85 on the interstate a few times coming home and that was towing the Fun50 on the trailer. Steering feels almost better than any Ford truck I've ever driven. A/C needs something. The air seems to get cold. But it doesn't blow hard out the vents. I'll have to check the blower FAN resistor and take it from there. Might be trash blocking the fan or evaporator coil. Needs tires. 2 of them are home made racing slicks. The hole in the hitch receiver where you put the pin is wallowed out like a 90 yr old prosti... I better not finish that analogy. Small dents all over it. Holes in the interior bed walls. Ut no rust detected anywhere yet. NONE. Headliner needs replacing. Steering wheel needs replacing (left side cruise buttons gone and air bag cover loose). I need to replace/repair the trailer wiring harness. I drove almost 2 hours home with no trailer lights or trailer brakes. Oh. And the brakes are awesome. This thing stopped with the trailer better than the Fun50 does with trailer brakes on full boost.
But... no looseness in the driveline. Carrier bearing seems OK (10 miles of drive shaft under there) and no play in the pinion or u-joints. Didn't see any major leaks anywhere. Worst keak seems to be around some fuel system components near the front top of the engine. Coolant temperature and transmission temperature stayed in the middle all the way home. That was towing on interstate in upper 80 degree ambient.
It's what I would call a base utility model. Just perfect. Arm-power windows. Finger-power door locks. Basic am/fm radio. The fanciest luxury on this thing uis cruise control, which I didn't even try yet. No PATS, just one simple, old-fashioned no-chip key. It does have carpet. He swapped out the seats for front buckets with center seat/fold-down arm rest. The rear seat is pretty nice when you lift the bottom up, there is some kind of metal platform that folds out to cover the floor.
Oh yeah. He was asking $5200. I got him down to 4800. That's with salvage title.
So. It's ugly. I can live with that. At least Rusty can't give me a hard time. Better pictures later.