I have a 2002 F150 Lariat SuperCrew with about 110K miles on it, bought it used way in 2004 with @20K miles on it. It's been kept up pretty well I think. My plan is to turn this over to my son when he starts driving next year and want to get some advice on things I should do to it to make sure it continues as a healthy vehicle for him. Beyond normal oil changes, tie rotations, etc haven't done a lot. Probably missing a few big maintenance intervals as it mostly sits, pulls my jon boat, ..... In the last few years I have had to repair the following. Replaced the fuel pump. Replaced the lower exhaust manifold on the passenger side. A/C lines replaced and system recharged. A number of brake issues have been repaired (hopefully, knock on wood), some new lines, emergency brake, calipers replaced, etc. The engine and trans have never had any work down to them. The engine "ticks" a little sometimes, but not always and has been doing that for years. Wondering if that is just what the 5.4L sounds like sometimes? The fuel injection was serviced and engine tuned up, but that was about 5 years and 20K miles ago. Timing chain is original. The truck is in Virginia and certainly had some surface rust on the underside and some rocker panel issues with rust. A shade tree mechanic replaced the rocker panels and repaired some rust on the rear doors too. He also tried to clean up the surface rust underneath the truck and then used some black paint/rust coverup and that seems to be holding up after about 3 1/2 years. Suspect over time that may come back as an issue, but not a big concern for me right now. The front upper and lower control arm bushings are bad. Probably need new wheel bearings.

I also installed a rear backup camera.

Anyway, don't want to spend a mint on this thing as most of the work I'll have to pay a shop to do and I also don't want to create new problems by doing work on something that may be beyond its service life, but hasn't been causing problems. An example I've always heard to flushing a transmission when you should have done it years before, then you end up screwing up a working transmission.

So, given all of that, the question is, are there some things I should invest in now? Timing chain replacement? Control arms and bearings, totally replace? Some sort of magic elixir to start putting into the engine either through the fuel tank or crankcase? Anything I should have checked?

Any advice is welcome. The truck is cosmetically in great shape and could be sold quickly, but I'd like to keep it for my son if it makes good sense.

THANKS, David

 

Add a couple bottles of Chevron Techron to the gas once in a while to keep the fuel injectors clean. I assume the "tuneup" included spark plugs? Change the fuel filter. I drop the trans pan and change the filter and add about 4 qts to fill it back up every 20k miles on mine. The gasket is a permanent gasket with no need to replace it. If the wheel or axle bearings are bad, they will let you know by making a roaring sound. Somewhere around 130k miles I had to replace the front lower ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arm, front bearing hubs(4x4) and one rear axle and bearing. My engine is quiet at 166k miles. It had started making a little valve train noise on cold startup and I added 6 ounces of seafoam to the oil about 30 miles before the last oil change and that appears to have stopped the noise. These are reliable trucks.

 

Hey Roadie, mine is also a 4x4 so thanks for adding that info. On the parts you replaced at 130K, was that mainly from simple visual inspection or actual problems you started having? If problems, what should I be looking for? You point about the bearings is something I had read, so I'll keep an eye on that. Have you ever replace the timing belt? If not, thoughts on that, preventative measure or do it at xxx,xxx miles? I'll try the seafoam and see if that helps with the minor sound I've heard. Did you ever change to a high-mileage or synthetic oil?

Lastly, my front brake shields have mostly disintegrated from rust, did yours do that? Not sure whether those are a "must" for replacement or not?

Thank You!

 

The axle bearing and the front bearing hubs let me know by developing a roar. My tires were quiet but if you run agressive tread tires you may not be able to hear when they start roaring. They don't usually fail immediately after starting to make a noise so I wouldn't replace them until they did make noise. That might be a good idea on the rear because when the bearing fails, it pits the axle bearing surface and the axle has to be replaced too. The tie rod ends and idler arm were loose when I inspected them during the bearing hub job. Also, upon inspection I found the lower ball joints to have wear. The timing chains on these engines usually last the life of the engine. I live in the south and my truck has not been exposed to salt so it would be rust free if I hadn't driven it on the beach so much. I have some fluid film that I plan to spray on the bottom and inside the panels to slow down the rust. I have a hole in the rocker panel on the passenger side. I have also changed the fluid in the transfer case a couple of times. And the front and rear diffs once. If you do repalce the rear axle bearings, be aware that there are two sizes. there should be tag on the diff that identifies which one your truck has. I think my tag was V919F and it had the small axles and bearings. I replaced the spark plugs at 119k miles. I have never thought much about oil additives but the seafoam appeared to be a good thing. Use at your risk! I have used several brands of engine oil regular, syn blend and synthetic. I used the recommended 5w20 for a long time and a couple years ago switched to 5w30. The engine uses a qt of oil in 5k miles when I change it. But, I add a pint at 2500 miles because I'm ****! Ha! Those shields are there to keep mud or debris off the brakes and probably aren't necessary but I would probably get some from the junk yard and replace them if they aren't available new.

Knock on Wood! My truck has been very good to me. Labor day year before last I drove it from Wilmington NC to Glacier National Park in Montana which was a very fun trip. A couple years before that I drove it to Wyoming and spent a week touring Wyoming. Thoroughly enjoyed Thermopolis, Cody, and of course Yellowstone Park. Went off road a few times on both trips. Nice to have a truck with 4x4 for those side trips.

 

Thanks, all good info, will be very useful.

I've been out to the Yellowstone area too, though we flew in and rented a car. What a beautiful area of this great country!

Cheers, D