Took my truck over to the dealer and left it for some warranty work to be done next week, and they gave me a 4x4 xlt screw with 1300 miles on it to drive until mine is ready. (My dealer rocks)




By the time I got the truck back home it had got dirty and I thought I would wash it. When cleaning the fenderwells and frame I look down at the a-arm and notice how much smaller it is than the a-arms on my scab.
The a-arms on my truck have a "waffle" design imprinted in the tops and are twice as thick in every aspect than what the a-arms on this screw are.


When I get my truck back from the dealer I will get some shots of the a-arm to compare.

Here is one of the screw a-arm. Notice how small it is where the a-arm connects to the frame.



Then look how much larger mine is where it connects to the frame...



I did not know they were different??

 

Its not a SCAB/SCREW rather a 04/05 thing.

 

Cleaning the fenderwells and frame on a loaner??? Man, you need help.

 

The screw loaner has a build date of 11/03 so its a 04 just like mine.

It just has low low miles for an 04.

 

Hmm, I could of swore those pillars looked flat black from the angle of the picture. . .

I don't know but I have the ones you have, with the waffle pattern. I do remember a long time ago someone breaking their A-Arm so maybe they switched during the year because of a strength issue.

 

Here is how mine looks.

 

my 05/05 s-cab has the waffle a-arms... thats interesting

 

Mine are waffle as well, if I remember correctly?

 

That Screw doesnt look like a 4x4, I would guess that is the reason for the smaller a-arm.

Edit: disregard, I just saw the sticker on the side of the bed.

 

Maybe it's an fx4 thing? Mine is an 04 scab fx4 with the bigger arms.

 

Nope. 04 RED LARIAT, SSpiro, and I all have Lariats with the larger a-arms. Im telling you guys that Ford changed them during the year because of strength issues or concerns.

 

Most likely. The loaner screw and my lariat was only built a few months apart looks like. No wonder they changed them, looks like a smart move on fords part.

 

Looks like Xtremeview had the "waffle" design a-arms to break....




And again the smaller a-arm on the screw for comparison.




Notice how much thicker the top a-arm is.

 

are the beefier ones? My '05 Scab has the waffle-type.

 

. . . you can break anything if you try hard enough.

Either way, the smaller ones were probally weaker and they decided to beef them up a little bit.