[Evans, Marv]

I have an '03, 7.3L that I will keep until I die or it does. I drive it less than 6K miles a year now, & at this point it has almost 170K miles on it. I did buy it used with 40K miles on it and have taken really good care of it as far as maintenance and mechanicals are concerned. I also did a few little mods I thought would make it last, like a bypass filter, the large air filter, & some other items. I haven't done much to it except for routine maintenance and replacement of things like the alternator, water pump, power steering hose, & maybe a couple of other things. I would think you could buy one with a lot more miles on it than mine if it was well maintained, so I'd try to get one you could verify a good maintenance schedule on. They are heavy trucks, and things like the ball joints and other front suspension parts can wear out. I just spent about $2K on mine over the past year to replace all of that, but I've done those kinds of things before they became critical. It's 4WD, and if you buy a 2WD those might not wear as quickly. I know Speeder had one some time ago he did work on, so he might chime in with some comments. The engines are under stressed in my opinion with 250 hp. & 525 lb. ft. of torque. I think that contributes to them lasting a long time.