OK, so in the past month, I have...
1. Replaced battery. $130
2. lower radiator hose blowout $171
3. broken lugs on passenger front wheel. tow and repair $137
4. Wheel bearing going out on drivers side front. Haven't purchased yet, but planning on spending about $125-ish after looking around.

Make it stop!!!!!!!!

 

Your truck is trying to tell you it's time for a new one!

 

I know!! it can't happen yet.
I need her to last a little longer. Time catches up pretty quickly though with these trucks. 188K miles, so it's time for stuff to start going I guess.
Plus I need tires soon.

 

If you play, you gotta pay!

 

Yeah that's a rough month.

 

Vehicles cost money there aint no getting around that. You either spend the money for new or pay for maintenance. All of these models are over 10 years old and some are now over 15 plus trucks get used like trucks so many of them are beat up.. 97-03's are going to require TLC to keep em going from here on out..

 

I think it's called owning a vehicle...

Or the curse is owning a vehicle in the first place...

I've got 255,000 miles on my 97 and have had to replace a few things along the way. I've owned it since 2001 and I just got it's 4th set of tires to the tune of almost $1000..

I've been lucky overall in that nothing major has occurred yet... Just bolt on stuff and regular maintenance.

Lets see.. The new F150 I would like to have costs around $28,000.. Figure some down and trade I'm probably looking at over $350/month payments for the next 7 years.. Plus around the same $250/month for gas and more than likely a lot more insurance premium just for the fact of having a new truck!

The new truck will still need regular maintenance and such...

I've not had a truck payment for well over 8 years now! Would a nice new F150 look great in my garage? Hell yeah! Like you, I'm just not able to make it happen yet..

Good luck with it all and keep up with it and it'll get you down the road still..

Mitch

 

Yep, I know it's part of the deal...just had to whine about it for a bit. I will just keep fixing things as they come up. I just need a break for a month!

 

Sometimes the repairs come in spurts. Then happy trucking for a while.

 

thats only one truck payment! id say you got off easy! lol

gotta save up for that suspension lift!

 

1. Batteries on average only last 4 to 5 years.
2. Hoses get brittle with age and heat. After motor shut down, the pressure rises for a short time. This blows hoses because they no longer can expand without breaking.
3. Lug nuts have been over tightened.
4. Normal unpredictable failure.
.
Get a horse so all you need is hay.
Most of it is normal maintenance, some is abuse..
Good luck.

 

Yea, I was not surprised by the battery at all. I had replaced the radiator hose earlier this summer, that one was a surprise. Lugs, big scary surprise. Wheel bearing, just another pain in the butt.
In the meantime, I think I will take a good hard look at major components and have them checked out for pending failure.

 

Overall cost to operate these trucks is pretty low if you think about it. Who spends 171 bucks on a lower radiator hose. I got a goodyear hose for 41 bucks.

 

Shop time plus new hose and coolant. It was 3 degrees, New Years Eve, and no tools available. Had to bite the bullet on that.

 

That sucks donkey *****...lmao