Scibz

Picked up my first truck last week. 1999 f-150 xlt styleside. 129k on the motor 7k on a rebuilt transmission. Car is from sarasota florida and has been in new england for 3 years. No rust or rot on the body/frame which is very rare for a car up here. especially these trucks!

Im a self taught mechanic and have been working on VW/Audi for about 5 years now, so im pretty sure anything i may need to do to this truck will be a walk in the park (i hope)

Anyways i already did an oil change with motorcraft oil/filter and shes running a bit better. I work in sales at a ford dealership and had the guys in the shop take a look at the truck.

What it needs
Left cats are plugged up, breaking apart inside (str8 pipe time?)
Upper control arm bushings (just buying new arms, easier then doing the bushings)
Lower ball joints
front brakes (can someone give me parts list?)
some fresh tires

Everything else checked out- sweet

I plan on doing a basic tuneup soon, plugs, wires, fuel filter, and the stock air intake mod, forgot what it is called. Im curious what peoples opinions are on Plugs, wires and a fuel filter. From what i have read so far, people are torn on 2 types of plugs. I forgot the exact PN# but its something like 32-c or 32-EE. The owners manual calls for 32-EE. Wires; Aftermarket or OEM? same with fuel filter. I have always used MANN filters but not sure if the Motorcraft/OEM filters perform better.

Brakes
My truck is RWD front ABS only. From what i understand i need to do the wheel bearings when replacing the rotors. Can anyone give me a parts list for Rotor/pad change and caliper rebuild kit? i keep getting different lists all over the internet....Thanks in advance!!

Exhaust
So OEM cats are stupid$$ also there is 4 of them. Pretty sure 1 manifold gasket or header is cracked/leaking. So..after i figure out the gasket/manifold

1) replace the 4 cats with 2 aftermarket cats and run straight pipes?
2) No cats, straight pipes all the way back?

I have read that having no cats on these cars can throw a CEL and decrease fuel economy. But would love some verification.

Thats it for now, Thanks to everyone in advance for the help!

03f15012

With a 2wd, the rotor and bearing is all one piece. Did the front rotors and pads on mine a while ago, and it was pretty easy. (I did have access to a hydraulic lift though :P) If the calipers need rebuilding, you may be better off replacing them. I'd feel more comfortable, anyway. Spark plugs? Keep with motorcraft. Everyone will tell you that; I used the platinums on mine. Cat removal can and will throw a CEL light, but there is an easy way to stop that from happening. Member [MENTION=45175]BrowningSCrew[/MENTION] can help you with that. If you replace the manifold gaskets, be verrry careful about the studs. At this age, they can break very easily, and a lot of people who do remove them run into that issue. As far as plug wires go, not too about how good each one is. If you want stock ones, there is a member on here (fxe-77 If i am correct) has a new set he didn't use for sale.

I know I didn't answer everything , but I still have a lot to learn, so sorry about that... By the by, the stock air intake mod is called the Gotts mod.

Scibz

Thanks for all the help!

From what i have found online, i need to buy all the piece seperate for the brake job... i have not found a place where i can buy a complete rotor with the bearings/seals already in place. Not a big deal i can assemble it just curious if there is a complete kit out there.

I have pieced together mine for just under 200$ on rockauto.

Scibz

Also as far as the plugs are concerned:

I have read on several sites that people prefer the copper plug over the plat plugs because of some type of firing issue, not sure if anyone knows about this or can verify. But from what i have found the copper plugs are hard to find, i work at a ford dealership and they actually have the 32-C (copper) plug in stock but they want 9$ a plug! the plats are 3$ a plug online. Really worth getting the copper?

03f15012

Not sure. I had platinums in my truck when I changed them, and I replaced them with platinums. I've put nearly 20,000 miles on the truck since I changed them. Not a single hiccup. And if it was the rear rotors you were talking about, yeah. You need the new bearings. The front ones on a 2wd only dont require them. Its how they were designed, I suppose. The rotor on the right is how a 2wd front rotor looks.

Scibz

hmm interesting i guess im just going to take the front wheels off this weekend and see what the deal is. I know mine is Rwd front ABS only and drum brakes in the rear. Thanks for the help.

Also i got a quote from work on doing the front brakes and i it showed rotors, pads, and front seals.

Scibz

so after looking at things i belive i need the rotor as well as the front bearings and seal. I have a 5 lug pattern but i see there are 2 differnet patterns for 5 lug gahhh

03f15012

Ours is 5x135. besides the 02 discovery trucks, It was the only truck to ever have the bolt pattern. Stud size, 1997-1998 are 12mm. 1999-2003 were 14mm studs.

F150_NAMED_CLIFFORD

The good thing about going with motorcraft parts, is that we have a 2 year warranty now. in motorcraft parts only...... plus with the 4.2 spark plugs dont matter as much as they do for like a 5.4 those engines are a little more picky...

F150_NAMED_CLIFFORD

p.s. the spark plug # is AGSF-24F-F or SP504 (same part just one number is the FORD # and the other is motorcrafts short #)


i have a question, do you not get any kind of discount for working at the dealership? cause i do....