Since my price range is low, I'm looking at high miles trucks.

What to watch out for? Any bad years? Newer the better?

I do most of my own work so higher miles don't bother me. Any particular pitfalls on the early trucks? Weak links?

I need a large SUV for my ever growing family. Child on the way soon enough, a Great Dane, and a wiener dog. Plus I need to tow my racecar to Watkins Glen couple times each summer.

Let me know what you think, or where else I should search.

Hey, I have a 98 XLT with 170k miles and it still runs great. I have had very few problems with it. Some friends of mine, also do-it-yourselfers like you, have a 98 Eddie Bauer with 235k miles, and it still runs great with few problems. I would advise getting the 5.4 if you are going to be towing. From my experience it seems like 97-98 have few problems, and these years would be in your price range. Good luck with finding one.

I have a 98 xlt paid 40,000 brand new has 130,000 miles runs like new it a real good truck to get had no problems with it it was serveced every 3000 miles

I would make sure you pull a carfax on it and make sure it has some kind of service records. If you want a carfax pulled I can do it for you. Just send me the vin, but most dealerships will give you one these days. Most important is some service records.

I would check with Consumer Reports too. They have a fairly good background on these vehicles and reports for vehicles continue to come in. I've seen a vehicle that got a good review when it came out turn into a bad one in just 1 year because of all the problems it was having.

I have 120K on my 1998 Navi. My friend has 160K on his Exp. These things run forever. We both have the 5.4L SOHC. They get shitty mileage though. Usually 12-14. See if the suspension is ok. Let the vehicle sit overnight and see if it sits lower in the rear. It should not change. If it does it will ned new airbags in back. Check the 4wd system. Put it into 4-low and back several times. The shift motors are a common problem in all Ford electric shift systems. Mine actually broke while test driving it, LOL. About a $600 repair at the dealer. $300 if you do it yourself. The tranny in Fords sometimes shutter. This is checked in OD at the low rpm. When giving it gas at about 45 in OD it might shutter. Kinda feel like it is missing. If so it is not necessarily bad. Means it has not been serviced lately. Usually a filter and fluid change fixes this.