My 04' has been awesome. I had a 97 and put 285,00 miles on it and now my 04' has 53K! I cant wait to really break it in. The only problem I have had are the 3rd brake light and the cam phasers. What is the butyl pad? New one on me. Just put a daystar 2.5" leveling kit on. Awesome TRUCK!

 

A couple of minor problems....battery replaced and window regulator. Other than that no problems at 60000 miles. Still running as good as the day I bought it.

 

This post was made on 5-22-07. As of today my truck has 41,200 miles, yes I know only 2400 miles in about 8 months. But the truck still runs great and no problems!!!

 

53K miles, and my truck is currently in the shop for a Window Regulator (cable snapped), a transmission slamming into gear issue, and a broken seat belt (my wife closed the door on it). Overall it's been a great truck. The trans issue is a concern though. It is VERY intermittent, and the dealer was going to send it back saying they weren't able to duplicate the problem until it slammed on them pulling into the shop. Overall though, it has been a great vehicle. I am definately glad I bought the extended warranty for sure. But I did that for a GOOD reason. Even used these things are over $20K. I wanted to insure I was covered when something failed.

 

It's odd to me that all of you say it's a great truck except all of these problems listed. I just don't understand it. My '06 hasn't had any big problems, but the "normal" issues I hear around here scare the crap out of me. Mine has vibrated since day one, which Ford totally abandoned me on so it vibrates to this day and makes me sick every time I drive it. It rattles, the left front suspension has always knocked when I hit bumps. CELs come on for no reason. Rebuilding rear ends, trannies, engines, throttle bodies, drivelines, brakes, etc. IS NOT NORMAL for a vehicle that's worth a damn. My truck had a $40k sticker and to compare this thing to an Infiniti, Lexus, BMW, etc. in bang for the buck is ludicrous. The difference in quality couldn't be bigger. Never again when this thing finally sells. If I buy another truck it will be a Tundra. I'm seriously thinking about an old K5 with a crate motor to pull my boat this spring also. Those were the last good trucks worth what they cost IMO. My truck is beautiful, but that's all I can say that's positive about it. No chance in hell of me buying an '09, or any other Ford after the way they've treated me. These vehicles are not smart investments at all, and yes I feel like an idiot for buying mine. My $.02.

 

Samstein,

You'll probably get some flak for making a post like that, but I've no problem with it at all. I also feel that for the money I paid, my truck should def. have held up better. But I try to weigh that against my 1997 F-150 that I owned for 7 years - only one minor issue in 7 years, otherwise rock solid and super tight without even the hint of a rattle. My '04 has more rattles, self-deciding rear slider when it wants to open/close, and a horrific engine whine that drives one to insanity.

So maybe I'll reserve judgement until my 3rd F-150, and then it can be a 3 out of 2 - hopefully in the positive direction. I think your biggest point here is that Ford doesn't seem to want to take care of those with major issues, for the most part yes some have gotten satisfaction after repeated attempts.

So before you get slammed by die-hard F-150 fans, just let me say I understand completely where you are coming from, and I consider myself a very big fan and proponent of the F-150, even with the current '04-'08 "squeek 'n rattle" style design. Just because I love my truck doesn't mean I will be blinded by obvious issues that should have been addressed by Ford to all those who suffered/suffer from them. For 40k+... seriously.

 

6 month & 14,000 miles since my last post here. (Now 96,000)

--New battery

--Thought I had a problem with drive shaft. It was an easy fix , rear shackles bolts got loose

--Replaced upper control arms

--Had 100,000 tune up done , with out any issues

so far so good

 

I haven't posted here in at least a year, but my '04 Screw has just 107,000 miles. I have had very few problems considering what I have read, especially when I first got the truck. The stock Lariat interior still looks like it did day one, but I do take care of it. My stock audiophile stytem was great, but I did recently put in an Avic D3, Alpines in all the doors, and a single Memphis 10 is a Q-forms box (not happy with that). As far as issues 1) I had a vibration from day one. Put 22's on my truck, that didn't help and I dealt with it for a year or two. Now, i have the '08 20's on my truck with larger Goodyears, and NO PROBLEMS! I just replaced the stock rotors and the truck stops better then ever. When i did that, I got rid of my incredibly expensive ceramic pads and used Duralast Golds. They are working well, and not much brake dust. 2) I had 2 leaks. One the dealer took care of (pass. floor board filling up), the second was when my third brake light started leaking, and I took care of that. 3) My truck is LOUD at an idle. It sounds like a lifter, which is why I am reading the board today. I have stepped up to 10/30 Mobil 1 synthetic and one court of Lucas Synthetic oil stabilizer, but it is still so loud it sounds like a diesel. I am looking for that fix on here today. 4) I have a weird part throttle hesitation (looking for that fix today on here too). It only does it at highway speeds and in 2nd gear and up. It's weird, the truck has 100% power, then 80%, then back and forth. Can't figure that one out. I do have a tuner, and it does it with and without the program. The exterior looks great, and has held up incredibly well to the mileage I put on it. Any suggestions on my 2 existing problems. Let me know.

 

YES these trucks do have problems. You want to talk problems? Okay here we go.

My former Boss's '99 BMW was in the shop nearly every other week for some leak or another.
My ex mother in law had an 87 Toyota Tercel that went 20K miles before tossing the cylinder head and shearing the bolts.
The new Tundras are snapping cam shafts, busting tailgates, and twisting those frames into little pieces.
My sister in law has a 2002 Lexus SUV (the egg looking one, I don't know the model) and it rides rougher than my old Jeep CJ-7 did!
ANY motor vehicle, being a highly complex piece of technology can, and will experience mechanical faults. Over all, compared to other vehicles I have owned, with the distinct exception of a VERY low mileage 1976 Toyota Celica I purchased from a retiree when I was in college, I have not owned a better vehicle. Yes I am having some transmission trouble with my truck right now. I would MUCH rather have transmission problems than say a wiring harness that fries the truck due to improper shielding on the wires (A friends 05 Tundra recently did that).

If your Ford dealer is not standing behind you and you have warranty, find a better dealer!

 

Your definately gunna catch flak for this one. First of all the price you pay for these truck's isn't ALL that huge in the scheme of things. I work on cars that well exceed the $150k mark and they seem to have FAR more problems then my pick-up. How about the Mercedes Benz models in 04,05, and 06 (not every vehicle included) ? These years Mercedes decided to try out a new electric brake system. this sytem constantly fails and ends up costing the customer roughly $2k . And no these don't show signs of wear and failing down the road. We usually see these cars right around the 25-30k mark. Also, once Mercedes switched over to the double overhead cam, they have had a HUGE problem with leaking head gaskets. We just had a customer who's engine was damn near ruined because of this... at 60k. Ended up costing him about $11k. These are all "top dollar" cars that I would place WELL above Infiniti (ha), Lexus (joke) and BMW (nothing against em, just not as fancy as a Mercedes). I often have to explain to customers why, after they paid an outstanding amount of money, they need to pay me a whole bunch more just to keep it going. You don't even want to know how much the average maintenance bill is. Put it this way, you can take 10 BRAND spankin new cars of ANY make and model... and best case scenario you will have 5 cars that operate normal with the "usual" issues, then you will have 3 cars that act up pretty often, with all sorts of different problems, and finally you have the last two and they will become what we call "hangar queens". Meaning they spend more time in our garage then in yours. Cars just have WAY to many parts to not have problems. There are way too many cars being made to not run into big problems. Also the public is wanting more and more out of their car, forcing car manufacturers to start putting in every bell and whistle they can think of that may (or may not) make their car superior to their compitition. If you have problems with your truck, then you got a dud. plain and simple, and it coulda happened with ANY model car.

P.S. My old man's has a buddy who bought the new Tundra. After owning it about a month he noticed some of the welds for the cab (saw them from outside, working under the truck) were what seemed to be spot welded and never followed up on. Sure enough, he kept an eye on em and they began to fail. Brought it back to the dealership and they replaced him with a totally new one making him sign something where he would go blabbing about it (i'm not him so i guess it's ok). Also they are having issues with a crankshaft bearing I believe. I saw a TSB and remember the wording of "may cause a catastrophic engine failure" OUCH! but im sure thats WAY better then having problems with a window regulator or a leaking rear third brake light.

 

Nice looking truck and great pic! Where is that at ? Is that up here in NorCal ?? Looks a lot like Cow Mountain or somewhere near here. Just curious

 

bought my truck a month ago with 28,016 on the ticker.

from what i can tell everything seems to be good except for two things.

slick tick when i start it up, but that goes away once the engine is warm.

brakes squeel a little bit.

 

I have 50K miles and I'm on my 3rd set of rotors. I think I'm going to have to replace my calipers also, at least the fronts for sure. I had to replace a seal in the rear diff and I'm having an issue that I think is the clutch pack, but when it was under warranty the dealer could never get the truck to act like it does with me. I don't necessarily count these as anything major. Overall definitely a good truck. Now that it is almost paid off and I'm almost through the original tires, new wheels and tires are coming. Hopefully it continues to live for a long time.

 

Thanks Big Bear, Ca.(Mountians Just east of L.A.) . Pic`s were taken last week b4 the rain and snow came

 

https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=4704

Those of you whom have been on here for a long time may remember back in Feb. of 2004 when I was posting problems with my truck. I really hate to try and list in chronicalogical order the problems, but i'll attempt it.
steering wheel shake at any speed. butyl pad corossion in passenger rear fender.
multiple brake rotors and pads. 2 possi. clutch paks. two complete axel to axel rear ends.
transmission and transfer case. severe drive shaft vibration.
3rd brake light leak. At this point I had owned the truck for 14 months and had FORD and TENNESSEE by the ***** on the lemon law.
Engine management system failure. ( computer ) rough idle and stalling.
wheels would not stay balanced.
At this time my truck had been in the shop for 9 months of the time I had owned it. I filed suit and Dearborne Michigan Ford contacted me and asked me what I'd like to do. I was straight foreward and mad as hell. FIX THE DAMN THING IF YOU CAN.
Ford Motor Company, sent two specialist to cumberland ford in middlesboro, kentucky where I bought the truck and asked for a week with the truck, ( it actually took ten days ) I have no idea what they did to it they had it in the back corner of the shop the whole ten days, when they called for me to pick it up an executive rode with me on a test drive it drove great, I signed for it back turned in my loaner and till the day I got rid of it ( 1-8-08 ) it never faltered, never sputtered, never shook or rattled. during this period that ford had it they also replaced the entire wiring harness, fuel injectors, plugs, done another reflash as well.

I have to say after all the headaches and loaners it was a hell of a truck because I certainly drive them hard.