Advice needed on new to me truck

Print all that out and keep copies of everything. This is adding up to a lot of sketchy things.

 

well im not getting into your frame issues but for your vibration it sounds simple.

the vibration you describe is a very bad alignment or worn out tie rods, it could be any of the tie rods either inner or outer or a combination of it. you have 4 of them, two one each end connecting the steering to the wheel spindles. jack one front wheel off the ground and wiggle the tire to see whats loose then put it on the ground and repeat on the other side. if you see a shiny new tie rod under there then the dealer replaced one or if its just not as rusty and old as the others then the previous owner likely did it but anyway, they likely replaced it but never got it aligned and that's why the tires are worn like that and if the tires aren't aligned it can cause wheel shake and vibrations.

as to the rest I would talk to a lawyer, there are way too many safety isues and flat out lies going on and I think a lawyer could help you get out of this deal.

I could be wrong but the vehicle doesn't sound like its safe to be on the road if the frame is rusted through and I don't know the law but im pretty sure they have to be certified as a safe road vehicle for them to sell it

 

Update::: had the truck at my mechanic all day and he gave it a good once over. The frame he said there is obviously the little hole but no where near failing an inspection so that made me feel better. He said it honestly seems like a good truck. The high speed wobble was from front tires being way out of balance and one of the tie rods are a little loose. Stopped back at the shop I bought the truck from and he assured me he did not roll back the miles and he is going to get to the bottom of it and make it right when we come to a conclusion. So today turned out a little better than I was anticipating.

 

sounds a little better now. if I were you I would have a plate welded around that rusted area to reinforce it like new again and I think the mileage might have been an innocent typo of reversing the second and third numbers so maybe it said 143,789 miles on the ticket but was really only 134,789 miles, after all the dealerships are famous for not paying attention to details very well.

 

That could be but the thing is the truck was in 3 times
First time - 7-13-2005 at 85,925
Second time - 9-2-2008 at 132,858
Third time - 5-19-2010 at 143,789
So maybe but I guess that means 2000 miles in 2 years. But from the first visit to the second there was quite the me spike. There was an extensive amount of work done the last time it was in and if he only drove it 2000 miles In 2 years I don't see why he would dump all that money into it or just not do all that work when it was in 2000 mes before hand, but I guess anything is possible

 

well you never know, could be health issues or maybe he just got too old to drive it so grampa parked it in the back yard.

I agree it averaged around 15k miles at first repairs then nothing "it would appear" after that so was it because the truck had issues or was it because they just bought a new one and didnt need it anymore. I see people do that to "save it for the grand kids" instead of trading it in but again, all we are doing is guessing here.

bottom line is these trucks are pretty near indestructible so spend a little money to get it all sorted out and next time you will be a much more educated buyer. sad thing is, had you looked into it more and insisted they fix everything "before" you sign, then with all this you now know about, I think you could have got the price down another thousand at least or walked away and got another truck without any issues.

 

Like I said I think this whole thing is going to turn out to be a valuable lesson I probably could have avoided. I should have researched more, no one to blame but my self for that. I have been a ford guy my whole life (I'm sure you guys don't want to hear that) but I know exactly what to look for on them and kinda treated this the same way.