09dreamer

Well it has been a looooong time since I've been on these forums.

I have a 2009 F150 with the 5.4L Triton and a 6" lift, 98,000 miles, 55k of those with the lift kit.

Anyway I wanted to post some pictures of things I noticed while under the hood today.

First off, what is the normal amount of rust for these trucks? My headers look terrible and there seems to be a lot of rust in general. I have been off road, but wash out the engine bay following a muddy run. I go off road maybe twice a year and yes I deal with a lot of salt on the roads this time of year, but still... Also my dipstick is rusted in place... good thing my truck doesn't burn oil...

So that is question No.1 accompanied with an attached picture of my headers.

The second is a picture of the steering shaft, also very rusty, but I cannot figure out if I have a crack in the linkage or if that is part of the assembly that looks like a crack. There is no play or noise in the steering at all and no indication of a problem.

Thanks in advance for any info.

BTW I still love my truck and never want to replace it, despite the advances in the new trucks. My first F-150.


Rust and header (passenger side)



Steering linkage crack?

jhelrey

Might be a slip joint with the bolt that goes through it to secure as well as tighten.

09dreamer

That's what I'm hoping.

paintballdude05

I'm pretty sure it's made like that, at least it was on my '08 when I changed the shaft on it. That's a bad area on the truck since the wheel well liners have big gaps in them that allow water/salt/sand/mud to be slung right into the engine bay.

09dreamer

Thanks. So I guess the rust is normal... Just worried about my truck lasting another 100,000 miles before it rusts away.

ji603

Here's my '10 with about 108k on it.
You can see the design of the steering shaft
Not so much rust

paintballdude05

Oh to live somewhere where they don't use salt!

09dreamer

WOW!

I'd like to see another from the snow belt... that AZ truck looks new....

thebreba

WOW your truck looks new still lol... Crazy what the Salt does to trucks up here in the north. The best we can do is Sand, Undercoat, and wash our trucks as much as possible to keep rust away.