Seth Saunders

Hey guys, new to this forum as I am looking at buying an F150 soon. I was curious to find out at what point mileage wise, your trucks are getting worn out.

Essentially I want to find out what mileage is to high for me to consider buying. I want to buy a tuck that is still reliable for ~5 more years.

I am okay with very basic repairs and maintenance like brakes, rotors, spark plugs but can't handle anything major

Thanks for any info and advice

SCORGE

This is a flip floppy area for advice. I'm closing in on 200k with no super serious parts failures....theres members out there that are approaching 300k as well. Best bet in my opinion...if you find a used one you like...post any and all info about it that you can on this site. Noises, maintenance history ....the way it feels...anything.

lutter5-0

How much do you plan on driving it?

nddragon01

Agree completely.

While some like SCORGE have been lucky with little-to-no maintenance other than routine, I and others have had some off the wall issues.

- 4x4 IWE solenoid located behind the battery in the engine compartment failed... where rain runoff from the windshield can pour right on to it... an electrical part... good job, Ford, lol.

- Also had to replace the 4x4 transfer case while I'm thinking of it.

- Both idler pulleys and the tensioner pulley needed replacing.

- Blower motor resistor failed. Truck HVAC and defrost would only work on highest setting before replacing.

- Have been told I have a cracked front hub actuator (can't remember side) by a mechanic doing a brake job. Haven't had any issues and tend to forget about it until I am not able to take a look myself.

- Had the passenger spring snap in half on the second lowermost "rung". Luckily it sat right down on top of the bottom "rung" of the spring in the spring support tray or whatever. Found out while putting in 2" front leveling kit. A nice unexpected additional cost.

- Fan clutch went out and needed replacing.

- Radiator blew a nice hole in itself.

- Inner bolts / mounting plates for the front sway bar rusted to powder and broke - both sides. Upgraded to a Hellwig front bar at the same time, had to get new mounting nuts/bolts/washers. Not a big deal, just one of those "really?" moments when I found they rusted literally to dust.

- FX4 rear skid plate bolts rusted through as well.

- Plastic "FX4" trim moldings around wheel wells and bed rails faded beyond funny. Replaced the wheel well plastic trim with fender flares and painted the bed rails with Krylon Fusion satin black. Surprising how well the paint has held up, haven't had to fix in 2 years.

- Plastic windshield cowls (not the cowl ends, even though they have disintegrated a few times as well) - same fading, same painting done.

- Rear passenger door lock actuator failed. Had to replace.

- Steering shaft (the midsection part) had a wobbly joint (don't know how else to describe it) and had to be replaced.

- Headlights yellowed / faded / crazed. Replaced with aftermarket headlights with built-in LED DRLs.

- Power steering pump lines (not the pump itself) all leaked like sieves - power steering pump itself was covered in rust so it was replaced at the same time to insure a solid connection to the new lines.

- Rear differential leaked like a sieve as well. Parts were not expensive and not hard to do, but it's the first time I've had to fix a bad rear end seal.

- Make sure the original plugs have already been changed out, or have them done prior to buying the truck. Broken plugs are always fun to deal with.

- Almost every single manifold stud broke in the heads. PITA to get them out. Entire exhaust was rusted out behind the y-pipe, so I just sawzall-ed it off and away I went. Get compliments all the time on the natural sound of the 5.4 lol.

- Lower rear corner cab rust was so bad the sheet metal had to be cut away and completely replaced, as well as the rocker panels.

- Tailgate is showing the pock-mark looks of rust getting ready to peek it's nasty head through all over the door. Haven't decided if I'm going to get a new tailgate or just get a tailgate net instead.

- Fuel pump drive module - the aluminum backplate was so corroded through the circuit board was clearly visible. Caught that one in time before being stranded on the side of the road (my cousin was not so lucky). Side note: the drive module was so much fun to replace having to sawzall the spare tire out of the rear first due to the winch holding it up being completely rusted frozen, lol.

- I've eaten through a few MAFs, lucky that autozone and advance sell lifetime warranty replacements.

- Had the alternator die a few years ago. First time I've had to change one of those in a vehicle. I hear Mustangs of the same timeframe had major alternator problems, not sure if it's related.

There have been other issues, some routine, some not, it's hard to remember them all trying to type this in on my lunch break. Luckily I haven't had the cam phaser issue... Or the cracked manifold issue (yet)...

Timeframe on this all happening... I bought the truck 8 years ago with 118k on it, now has 180k. Some of the issues were present at time of purchase, I wasn't aware of them at the time. Some happened over the span of 8 years.

It also depends where you're buying your truck and where it has lived its life. Mine unfortunately was originally sold in VT and I lived in CT for a while, so I'm certain the snow and salt through the winters up there didn't do the truck any good as far as my rust problems above.

Don't get me wrong, I love this truck and wouldn't trade for another, but I'm also aware it's nowhere near a perfect, repairs-free vehicle and plan to have to fix more issues in the near and distant future.

EDIT: If I can find pics of some of the crazy repairs, I'll post them up. Some aren't believable without pics, lol.

powerranger262

^ Wow. Maybe your truck was used to haul the salt directly out of the mine.
Hit the poor thing with a wash once in a while.

Seth Saunders

Cheers guys. I'll post anything I might consider buying. I'll be using it as my daily driver. I have about a 15 mile commute.

HubFord

First time Ford and pickup owner here, got mine Aug 2015. Generally I keep vehicles to at least 200,000 miles.

NY resident here, so a 10 year old truck will have some rust, if not on the body, underneath. Check out AutoTrader or a site like that, I found my rust-free truck in Tennessee, well worth the $700 or so to ship it the 1,000 miles to NY. Now I’m up to about 116,000 miles.

Mine:
https://www.f150forum.com/f4/first-t...stions-309250/

Mod (Ret.)

Bought a 2005 4.2 V6 with 60K on it; I put another 35K on it before I traded it in. Then bought (used) a 2007 4.6 V8 with 70K. Currently has 121K and running great.

Keep up good maintenance, and these trucks can see well over 200K without major issues. The 5.4's may have issues with cam phasers, along with early 5.4's having spark plug issues, but most of them now have hurdled over that by now.

Rayjht

I purchased my 4.2 V6 with around 69K on it. I now have 110K and my only issue has been a set of spark plug wires and front wheel hub....knock on wood.

ReaperHWK

Bought my 2006 5.4 brand new off the lot.

It now has 135k miles. Besides routine maintenance these issues have occurred:

1)Driver side IWE actuator failed, replaced
2)IWE vacuum lines corroded and cracked, replaced all vacuum lines from both IWE's to solenoid
3)Foam in vent jammed mode door, required dash removal and replacement mode door actuator
4)Spark plugs broke off, required lots of time and money to extract
5)New battery (normal)
6)Replaced all shocks at 105k (normal), mainly did for level
7)HVAC blower resistor replaced
8)All rotors and pads need to be replaced ASAP (started to fall apart, shimmies like a bitch)
9)Starting to rust out, my biggest concern. The bed area under the truck is getting bad with the underside of the bed just starting to fall apart. The truck frame itself is solid though. If I got a new bed it would be good, maybe if I keep the truck long enough I'd do that.
10)Plastic trim pieces at 10y old are getting beat up, need to repaint or replace.
11)Steering wheel shaft needs to be replaced, the bearings are shot
12)Needs a backup camera, yes, NEEDS. Tired of backing up guessing whats back there. Driving newer cars with it and now I need one . Good thing my aftermarket stereo takes the video in.
13)These older truck's don't have bluetooth hands free, add it for safety and convenience.
14)Headlights at 10yrs the UV coating wears off and lens get yellow. I replaced them with OEM Harley Davidson lights.



That's it, overall I'm happy.