Dan3292

For a bunch of years now, I have been pasting my 96 XLT back together. My latest is failing PA state inspection due to: rusted front spring towers and rusted-out radiator support. I have seen from numerous posts here that the spring towers are a pretty routine repair, the Ford dealer where I had the inspection done thought there was enough frame to re-attach new ones to. The radiator support is something else though - if I understand it right, they have to take the whole front of the truck off and cut off the front of the body, weld on a replacement, paint it and put the radiator back in.

I am in NE suburban Philly and have taken it to three body shops, the lowest estimate being $2500 - I get the feeling none of them really want to do the work. Oddly, the lowest of the estimates is from the dealer's collision center - I think I could be pretty sure I would get a good job from them. I do not have the skill nor the garage to do the repairs myself.

A few years back I had the rear spring towers replaced, new gas tanks installed, and the entire brakeline replaced with stainless steel. I am practically in tears with the thought of letting the old truck go, especially since the top of it still looks pretty good. I have been around to look at new 2013/14's and the dealers barely want to give me $1000 for it. Boo-hoo.

I have been bookmarking eBay sales of trucks very similar to mine and I have been surprised at how many bids they get, even with heavy rust over the rear wheelwells. Apparently, I am not the only lover of the old classic. Surely, many of these same vintage trucks have similar problems as mine.

Several questions, any answers or opinions greatly appreciated:

1) Once my particular symptoms start to appear, how far gone is the frame likely to be? Are the repairs worth making? I wouldn't mind if the repairs got me another year or two (I was hoping to hold out for the new aluminum body models in 2015).

2) Does anyone know of a body shop that specializes in Ford trucks? There is such a dedicated audience on this forum that I can hardly believe the sour response I get from the local bodyshops.

3) If I was to part with my current vehicle, would I be better off to sell it outside of a trade-in?

Still love my old 96 XLT -Dan

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

The radiator support bolts on. Easy fix with a good one.

f150cam

nice truck, prices are crazy in the rust belt, but where i live i can pick up core supports for $50-$100, spring towers for $25-50 ea. you can change out the front core support yourself, iv done it on 2 trucks and it takes about 4 hours if your kind of taking your time. its all bolted on so i dont understand why the hell they have to cut the front of the truck off unless the bolts are THAT bad, which iv never seen.

never done spring towers. but id guess 2 hours each.

we cant really tell you if its worth you keeping, if it was me, id keep fixing it for as long as i can. the repairs you mentioned dont cost that much if you can do it yourself.

also you would get more selling it private party then trading it in.

Dan3292

The way they showed me that the radiator supports were rusted out was by opening the hood and looking down toward the bottom corners of the radiator. The estimate quotes part number F4TZ16138B which I see here: http://www.oemfordpart.com/ford/f-25...diator-support.

The picture shown on the website matches what he showed me as well.

Now I am remembering maybe that the dealer's inspection station said that it was a welded on part and not the body shop, so maybe I am wrong on that.

f150cam

its not welded on, its all bolted. unless it was replaced in the past and some idiot welded it. there is just 1 bolt on each frame rail, then the bolts bolting it to the fenders.

bad pictures, but you can see the 2 body bolts. then the spot that's rusted out on yours, which is why i replaced this 1 when i did the swap.

Dan3292

I have been the only owner of this car and I have never had any work done to the radiator itself, so it is as you say. I take it the radiator sets into that whole assembly that goes across the front of the car with the headlight holes? You are correct that the rusted sections look like your second picture (from above anyway).

Yet and still, despite the ease you say the repairs may be made - I am not having an easy time getting a body shop to bite on the project. The other two body shops quoted higher than the $2500, so..

f150cam

if you can find someone on this forum who lives near you im sure they will help you. alot of good people on this forum who would be happy to help.

also the radiator is only held in with 2 bolts, then it just pulls out (after unhooking the hoses obviously) condenser is 4 bolts and the fan shroud is 2 i believe.

Manuellabour247

Probably the reason is that they are adding all of the hours for each individual removal. They aren't that hard to remove and install. I've done some in the salvage yard. The main thing if you do it yourself is to paint everything with some good pain to protect it. And take your time pulling everything off and reinstalling. This project by yourself would be a maximum of 2 days. (I'm adding in the extra time for finishing touches like aiming the headlights.)

The prep work for the frame would be some wire wheel and good paint again. I wouldn't get rid of that truck, but that's just me.

KevFord1993

I love my 94 f250, I undercoat and wax it yearly. I'd never get rid of it as long as I had the choice. If its cheaper than buying a new truck .. Why not?

Dan3292

As I said initally, I do not have the tools, skills, or right location to do these repairs myself.

Yet, it seems as if you are all saying that the radiator support and the spring towers are common repairs and bolt-on parts.

I am wondering if I took the approach to break up the two chores: spring towers and radiator support. Could the spring towers be done by the dealer if I supplied them the brackets? I have done this in the past with aftermarket brakelines and gas tanks and it has worked well.

It seems like the spring towers is a straightforward repair, no? Drill out the rivets on the old ones and mount in the new ones? I proposed this to the dealer just now and he cautioned that if they found a rotted out frame underneath, that they wouldn't have the ability to do welded frame repairs there. What do you think is the possibility that they would find a rotted out frame under the existing spring perches? It would seem to me if the frame was that far gone that I should get rid of the truck anyway.

I could still see going to the body shop for the radiator supports if that part needs to be painted. My concern with the spring perches is safety - somehow I can't imagine the radiator just dropping out because of the issues there.