Ford Repair: 96 F150 4x4 EB with 300 6 Cylinder - Manual, clutch slave cylinders, radius arm bushings

Question
I was considering purchasing a '96 F150 Eddie Bauer 4x4 with an inline 6 cylinder and manual tranny. It has 133,000 miles on it and the owner wants 3,200. It appears to be in reasonably good shape.

My question is, is this a solid truck or do you see them needing repaired often? What things do I need to look for with this truck? Also, do you think this sounds like a reasonable price for this truck?

Answer
The inline 6-cylinder engine is very tough to beat as far as durability, although they were never very good on fuel consumption.  My best advice as far as "what to look for" is to check out the front end-- these trucks tend to need ball joints, axle joints, and radius arm bushings.  They rarely need replacing more than twice during the life of the truck, but it can be a good negotiating point since it can be a costly repair.  Once in awhile clutches and/or clutch slave cylinders go bad in those, another costly repair, unless it's already been done.  Other than that, I'd say look for the usual stuff- make sure it goes down the road straight, isn't overly rusty, tires should have good tread with even wear, and test all the accessories well before you buy.  In average condition you should be able to get it cheaper than that-- for that price you could pick up the same truck with lower miles, or with the V8 and auto transmission.  Hope this helps,
Jason