One of the things I l really liked about the OBS Fords, like your 97, is that the shortened was 6'9" or 81". 6.5ft beds, although not much shorter,...
The 6.2 is proving to be a pretty good high mile motor. Mine has 150k with lots of 5-10k towing over mountain passes, dirt roads cold weather starts...
I grew tired of Verizon towers also and spots that had no service. It was a prepaid and they started offering Hot Spot and I had issues getting that...