Hit 200,000 miles on my old F-150 last week and it caught me off guard

I've been turning wrenches for about 15 years now, mostly on my own junk and friends' cars. Last Tuesday I was driving home from a job and glanced down at the odometer on my 1999 F-150 and saw 200,004 miles staring back at me. That truck has been through three transmissions, two radiators, and a rear diff that I swapped in my driveway during a snowstorm back in 2018. I remember when I first got it with 120k thinking it was already high mileage and I'd only keep it a couple years. But there's something about hitting that round number that made me stop and think about all the trips and jobs that truck has done. The paint is faded, the AC blows warm on the passenger side, but the 4.6 V8 still fires up on the first crank every time. Any of you guys have a beater truck or car that just refuses to die no matter what you put it through?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa_grant22d ago

My buddy had a '92 Ranger that hit 300k before the frame rusted clean in half.

skylerc8622d ago

Did you live in the salt belt or something? I had a '91 that I sold with 240k on it and the frame was still solid. Maybe it really depends on how well they were kept up with washing underneath. I know some of those years had issues with the frames from the factory too, so your buddy might have just gotten a bad one. Not trying to argue or anything, just saying my experience was totally different on that one.