More Truck Work

[Ponyman66]

Since Mark got the starter changed on his F250, I figured I could do some work on my F150. It's an '01 Lariat but only has 117k miles on it. I bought it used in '05, but it only had 23k miles on it then. Since it's all original, no grease fittings on the front suspension.

The during the past year the front suspension started squeaking and groaning every time I turned the wheels or went over any bumps. It sounded like crap! Yesterday I swapped out the complete upper and lower control arms (yeah, I know the lower is rebuildable but I didn't feel like fighting with it!), as well as the inner and outer tie rods. The tie rods weren't too bad, but the ball joints were shot and the bushings were hard as a rock. It is SOOOOO nice and quiet again. It's getting an alignment tomorrow. This weekend...on to changing out the front and rear brake pads.

The truck is in excellent shape but hopefully a brand new F150 will be in my near future. I'm hoping this will be the last time I have to do anything to it other than routine service!

 

[AzPete]

Put a new, expensive set of tires on that '01 and I guarantee it will get traded in the next month.....or at least that is how it works for me. I need to do the Lightnings front end too, been trying to forget that......

 

[Flysure1]

Put a new, expensive set of tires on that '01 and I guarantee it will get traded in the next month.....or at least that is how it works for me. I need to do the Lightnings front end too, been trying to forget that......

I have done the exact tire thing more times than I care to remember--I wonder if there is some kind of medical term for that affliction-(besides "nuts")

 

[msell66]

Nothing like getting under a truck full of dried mud and start banging on old parts! Hmmmm, I wonder if the EPA has outlawed taking mud from one State to the next?

 

[Ponyman66]

Put a new, expensive set of tires on that '01 and I guarantee it will get traded in the next month.....or at least that is how it works for me. I need to do the Lightnings front end too, been trying to forget that......

Didn't happen! I put a new set of Michelins on it last year. Since I got a little over 80k miles out of the original set I figured that would be the last (only!), set of tires I'll ever put on it.

Nothing like getting under a truck full of dried mud and start banging on old parts! Hmmmm, I wonder if the EPA has outlawed taking mud from one State to the next?

Actually, I was quit surprised. There was some minor rust on the rear nut for the right lower control arm and on the upper nut and stud for the left shock. Other than that everything came apart surprisingly easy! The underside of my truck is somewhat like the exterior, interior and engine compartment...all kept clean. I'm not OCD about the underside, though I always spray out the wheel wells and and surrounding areas whenever I wash the exterior. My truck gets used like a truck, though admittedly I baby it. I know every little flaw on it and THAT I am OCD about. On the other hand my younger brother can own a new truck for a month, but it'll look like he's owned for 20 years!! He'll comment on how good my truck looks after owing it for so long. Um yeah, ya just take care of it!! :rant