Bristoe, a friend of mine had one of the year trucks that had gasket problems. He said the mechanic said the gaskets were shot, I said - what does that mean? reply > time for a new engine, $3000 installed, that was many years ago. Runs like a sewing machine now, says he's going to drive it until the wheels fall off or he kicks the bucket.
The intake manifold gasket problem caused coolant to leak into the cylinder. When the motor fired up it would bend the connecting rod.
People bought fleets of those V6 stick shift F-150s. I've heard of them running around with 300K miles on them.
