Hello,

So I have inherited my fathers 97’ F350 and all his tools(lifelong mechanic). This is my first truck and I plan on driving this truck fairly regularly into the mountains for hikes and such. As he has passed, I’m not quite sure where to begin and what the nuances of this truck are. I’m basically looking for any general tips and things to look out for in terms of common problems for high mileage (540K).

He took pretty good care of it as far as I could tell. Before passing, he had just rebuilt the engine after 500K miles. I drove it around this weekend and it seems like it’s driving great. So far I found a couple issues.

The fuel gauge for the front fuel tank is stuck past full, I haven’t tried switching to the rear tank. Is this commonly a wiring issue? I also believe he would just fill up before 300 miles on the front tank, and just reset the odo when he filled up. Is this a good rule of thumb?

The steering dead zone seems a little loose, is this fairly common for these models?

If you have any general advice for me with this truck, as I don’t really have anyone to show me the ropes or even service records, I would be extremely grateful. Thanks for reading!