hey guys i just wanted to make this thread to see how your truck is holding up living up here in WNY with the salt and stuff.
I'm in need of a new bed this summer on my 2001 XLT 4x4 5.4l because my crossmembers are literally crumpled/disintegrated, my rear bed mounts must have went because the back end of the bed shakes over some bumps and man is it ANNOYING! it shakes the whole truck! It was so bad by even this past summer one time i came out and my tailgate was sitting on my bumper! had that welded and rigged to get my through winter.
but man i was a little disappointed when i noticed it was that bad... but that could also be neglect on the owner prior to me when it comes to washing in the winter, i understand that. It also has the common bottom door rust, and the rocker panels just started falling apart this winter so they're not too bad (yet) lol.
Anyways just tryin to get a little something started to see how much toll the salt takes on our trucks. Other than puttin the bed it's needed a decent amount of work to it too since i've bought it. (u-joints, upper and lower ball joints, for some reason tie rods on there when i bought it were the non greasable ones, and those were goin bad, new idler arm, alternator, fuel pump, had a plug blow out a couple months ago, helicoiled and no CEL to date! (knock on wood), new brakes, and my manifolds are very leaky needing replacement)
truck has soon to be 166k on it, original engine, rebuilt trans (haven't checked the model of the trans)
-will upload pics later of the bed and truck, but hope this thread works! haha thanks guys enjoy!

 

i know im not where you are, but id imagine iowa is kinda like NY on salt. it just chews the **** out of our trucks, mine needs box corners, and i need to get some new plugs for the rocker panels on the cab bought so i can clean and paint the inside as well as i can before i re-paint the truck. but it sounds like you have a bit more of an issue!

 

oh yeah i couldn't believe it! i took it to the dealer to look and see if they sold bed mount kits, and he came out and looked at it and was like "Holy Sh*T I've never seen a truck of this model rotted this bad" lol exact words. i was like greaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt

 

I'm between Chicago and Milwaukee and my '97 is ugly underneath. I actually feel better about it now since yours sounds worse (sorry).
A couple of years ago I did some body work on the doors and rockers and have been spraying FluidFilm on the entire undercariage (and inside the doors and rockers) since then. It seems to help.
I've also had to replace both manifolds, and the replacements already look terrible. You may want to replace your brake lines if you haven't yet.

 

i hope you guys can handle these pics cause they sure do make me sick... lol

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...-17-11_401.jpg
--This pic shows the worse section of all the cross members (the others aren't fat behind) as you can see, that little rod was supposed to be bolted on there, but since it's literally eaten away it's just hanging there.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...-16-22_437.jpg
--This pic shows how pretty much the rest of them look (which is far from healthy) The beam of light is directly over a hole (maybe kind of hard to see, sorry) and there's also rotting at the backside of the cross member you can see too.
I'm not the smartest guy when it comes to vehicles but i know this is BAD lol and also why my bed is bouncing ridiculously.

 

That looks rather nasty (worse than mine ).
Fortunately that's an area where it shouldn't be too difficult to fabricate a repair/reinforcement.

 

Yeah I gotta see if a friend of mine that does work like that can do anything.. but from how rotted that is and there's other spots completely rotted through too, I think I just need a new bed lol

 

Wow, yeah, your bed looks NASTY! I bought my truck brand new in 2001 from West Herr and it's only seen a handful of WNY winters. I'm done driving it in the winter around here. I also have it "oiled" every fall. It has a little surface rust on the door and tailgate seams, but since I started oiling it and not driving it in the winter, the rust has seemed to stop and not spread any further. I figure with the prices of new trucks these days, there's no way i'll be getting one any time soon. I decided to drive clunker cars in the winter and let the salt feast on those and not my truck. I'd rather trash a $1,000 clunker. If I were you, i'd find a good used rust free bed and throw it on there. I know of a place in PA, about 50 miles south of Erie that sells southern/western beds, reasonable too. That's the only way to go. Repairing rusty beds SUCKS. You may be able to even get your color and not have to worry about a re-paint!

 

Thats what I do here in Minnesota. And now they are 'pre-treating' roads with a slurry mix to prevent ice from forming. That stuff is even more corrosive than salt!

 

ewww...

 

Oh yea the brime water salt mix. Its put down on the roads here in Ohio too. I hate that stuff! When you live in wintry conditions it sucks knowing that its the norm. I feel bad for your truck man!

 

yeah it's awful i feel bad for it too lol. i didn't expect it to be THIS bad... i bought it and it runs well and i just wanted to fix it up a bit and drive it til it dies, and who cares if it rusts cause it's WNY anyways.... but now it's basically unsafe so i need a new bed lol. i really almost wanted to fix the rockers too cause they just broke through badly this year. aren't quite to the cab corers yet....

 

Same here in Delaware. I hate having to take my truck out on the road when a storm shows up. But since it's my DD, I don't have a choice. I'm working on moving to Florida before the year is out. I hate the cold and snow... always have. Fortunately, my truck only has rust on the door and tailgate seams. First good day after all is clear, it's right to the car wash!

 

Yep, car wash makes all the difference. A do-it-yourself car wash is best if you have time. The previous owner of my '98 didn't do many washes. Pics below is some work I did before I sold it. My new-to-me '03 is mint, and its going to stay that way!!!

Note the rust on garage floor.
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Getting there. Sprayed rust inhibitor inside before glassing.
[IMG][/IMG]

Sandable primer, now need to do sanding and shaping, re-prime and paint.
[IMG][/IMG]

 

yeah i wash my truck probably once a week at least in the winter just to get all the crap off, especially the undercarriage. but from the looks of mine, the owner before me probably did not do the same... lol. one plus of gettin a new bed is that literally half the rust is going to be gone and no more bouncin all over the place!