Your long-term review of a 1999 Ford F-250 Power Stroke diesel V8 is here! A TFLtruck viewer from Tennessee sent us a review of a video of his cherry F-250, and we mean cherry. The rig looks brand new and with only 150,000 miles on it, it’s just broken in. The owner bought it about 3 years ago as a towing rig for his 5th wheel RV and work truck. Now it is his family’s daily driver. Let’s dive into the details:
The Good:
The original owner added a leveling kit, Hydra tuner, and a 4-inch turbo exhaust. In the bed the first owner popped in a gooseneck, which this new owner took advantage of by adding a BW 5th Wheel Hitch that fits right onto the gooseneck ball. He claims that he can get the 5th wheel hitch on or off in 5-10 minutes.
Since then, this rig has been outfitted with bigger Toyo Open Country A/TIII tires, which significantly upgraded the truck’s off-road performance. With help from his wife, he swapped in air bags in the rear suspension to handle the squat and smooth out the ride from his 10,000-pound 5th wheel RV.
The Bad
Being a 21-year-old truck, there have been some issues. When towing his 10,000-pound 5th wheel in the summer heat, he noticed the transmission was hitting over 225 degrees F, way too hot. He figured out the transmission cooler bypass was stuck. So he swapped in a new kit and added an auxillary transmission cooler to help out. Now, fully-loaded runs in this 1999 Ford F250 show the transmission staying between 150-180 degrees when running heavy in stop-and-go traffic on a hot day.
The leather seats are showing the wear and tear as well, although the small rip shown above looks to be the extent of it. Switches in the driver’s side door are also giving up the ghost, namely the door lock switch. But the biggest gripe is that the cable that releases the rear suicide doors to access the back of the cab snapped. He’s fixed one, and as he explains, he’d rather swap in air bags on the rear axle again than deal with the other door.
But that’s it! The engine is running strong and everything else is in tip-top shape. Looks like our man got a winner. And the way he takes care of it, I’m sure it’ll be running strong for another two decades. We can only hope our own 7.3 diesel, Gunsmoke, a 1989 F350, keeps running this well.
