Hey, I'm new here and have grown up on powerstrokes, a 95, a 94.5, a 2000 and so and so forth. But anyways I currently drive a 2003 Dodge Half ton and have been given the chance to either clean swap it for a 96 F250 7.3 extended cab long bed, or for a early 99 F250 extended cab short bed. I have been reading some threads about the early 99 and it has kind of scared me away a bit plus because both are 2wd I plan on converting them to 4wd I don't want to have to do much motor work. However the early 99 is a lariat with 264000 miles and the 96 is an XLT with 260 plus it's got the awesome blue cloth interior they used to put in those things. Both are unmolested engines with zero issues and lots of upkeep, so which should I pick? And what all will I need for the conversion on either for 4wd?

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Update.
I will be meeting the guy with the early 99 Saturday to trade, what should I look for on the engine to confirm its a early 99 and if it is what issues should I look out for?

 

well, im pretty sure with out having to take the valve covers off to see if the injectors are AB injectors (early 99) or taking the driverside front inner fender well our to see if the idm is big and silver, it will also say "idm 110" (early 99). The only other way to see if it's an early 99 is if the manufacture date is before 12/7/98. The turbo's and the high pressure oil pumps on the early 99's are smallerthan the late 99's as well.
hope this helps,
Personally i would go for the '96 7.3 . Due to the lack of power that the late 99's provide.
and be fore warned , if you're planning on doing any performance upgrades the first things to upgrade would be the items listed above, otherwise there's no point.

 

Thanks man, I backed out of the e99 and am looking at an 01 f350 4x4 now.