My best F-150 was a 97 4.2 5sp 4x4 long box, and yes it had gasket issues, but I bought it used, all I ever did was replace the brake pads, I put over 100,000 KM on it, truck had 214,000 KM when I traded up to a 02, That F-150 was prue garbage, tie Rods, Ball jiont's ect, Front susp. was rebilt three times, Than I got the 04 F-150, and it has been a road side assisted truck with batt, alt, belt tensor, and brake issues, replaced the hancook tires.

I can admit Ford has awsome trucks, I just havent had any lately ...

 

Yeah, I know a lot of people that have had problems with their fords, but I know I will never own a chevrolet, unless it is a 73 vette. My dad had a chevrolet pickup from the 80's. It had the fuel tanks that were prone to explode in side impacts. He tried working with chevrolet, to get them to fix it, but they wouldn't. Somebody sued chevrolet because one of their family members got killed by an exploding chevrolet gas tank, and they won! So instead of recalling everybody's chevy trucks and spending $2000 on a new fuel tank, they just sent my dad a $2000 rebate on a new truck!!

My dad ripped up the rebate, sold the chevy, and bought a Ford. I will never buy a vehicle from chevrolet as long as I live. They'd rather watch you and your family die in a flaming car crash, then recall and fix a problem. Instead, they give you a rebate on a new chevy!

 

20/20 I beleave did a report on the side flue tanks on the chevy pick up, they rigged them to explode for thier Tv show, In the old day's flue tanks were behind the cab, also crown vics have a reputation for exploding on impact, pinto's, ect, if you have full tank of flue, it is less likely to explode than if have full to a 1/4 full, ( more liquid than gas ) the down full of the pinto was the flue neck was fixed to the body and sheared off on impact, spilling the flue, having the mufler beside the flue tank was not good.

 

Coming to a board like this for any length of time shows a "consentration" of the same problems a dealer service machanic would see.
Some people get drawn into a thought that the problems are wide spread in great numbers when this is not the case.
Most come here looking for support to repair there own problem they encounter and find they have not enough knowledge to understand the systems and begin to throw parts at something they don't understand. This often results in frustration and more cost than there needs be.
This is a problem on top of the fault the truck has, so the chance of success on repair is reduced.
The Cruise Control fire problem, while the responsibility of Ford is a quality/design failure of a pressure switch, from a vendor. The fluid leaks and causes a conduction path that can heat high enough to ignite the fluid because the circuit has power full time. IMO there was no way in hell to predict such an event ahead of time.
The key words are be reasonable and informed. It's your responsability not someone elses even if you did spend a lot to buy the vehichle.

 

I recently purchased a new to me 2002 F-150 Supercrew to have space for my kids when they weren't with Mommy in the Tahoe. I have to say, I really do like my truck. I am not really pleased with its overall performance. I feel it is a real dog. But I have to admit that being a member of this site has done a lot for me. I mean, I bought the truck with 107K miles on it and have no clue as to what maintenance had been done to it. It was one of those fall in my lap deals. I got the wise idea of ordering an XCal II from TP for it hoping that it would wake my truck up. But in speaking to people off of the board, namely Neal, Marc and Bluegrass, I have come to realize that my 6,000 pound truck was not built to be a race car, and that I ought to be happy that I am still rolling smooth in it with 124K on it now. I mean that is quite a few miles for a 4 year old truck. I have kept the oil changed, it has a K&N with a home modded box, I had a CEL light recently and after doing my proverbial homework on this site, I was able to fix the problem pretty promptly. I had the dreaded P0401 code and AutoZone and the mechanics would just ramble on about spending all this money on the few parts it would take to just fix the problem right. To my suprise, it only cost me 35 bux and about an hour of my time to clean my TB out with the charcoal clumps in it and a new DPFE switch, which ironically the guy at Auto Zone new nothing about. Mike has given me whole new view on true vehicle maintenance with all those worksheets I had to fill out. I haven't even recieved my XCal II yet with the whole back order thing, but it has given me a chance to get all of my maintenance done before it gets here. In the end, I have realized that with a little research and a little work, you can keep your f-150 in good running order and even make it go a little faster, but it will never be a speedster, I mean it weighs 6K pounds. I will say that I am a lifelong CHEVY MAN, and again, this truck fell in my lap, but the way I see it is as long as my Ford stays in good working order, and I will do my damndest to keep it that way, I will drive it and wash it and mod it, just like I do my Chevys, and when I want to go fast in a truck, I will just have to resort to my 68 C-10 with its good ole fashioned 454 and a little ole shot of gas on it. haha So good luck to all of us with our Fords, and may they stay reliable........

 

Nice to hear you reply.
I to have the same truck but with only 65k.
I must say that this truck with the 4.6 is not a race car by any means and cannot be made one.
I have grown to respect the truck for what it is and does for me.
I pull a trailer at close to 12,000 lbs gross and astound people who see it done with no mods at all as far as the engine power. Maybe it's got a hot PCM code installed fromthe factory.
All my efforts have been on keeping the trans life as long as possible under the towing condition with custom cooling and still not done yet with the last changes before towing again for the summer.
When I hear people complain after I do what I do it's hard to accept hearing about a truck they will never buy again.
It gets 5w20 and a filter every 5k and syn blend Mercon V fluid and runs on 87 octane gas.
I nicknamed her the 4.6 super puller for all it accomplishes.
BTW the desiels rigs still fly by on the hills but we accept that and still get there.
Let us know how the tuner program works out.

 

I hear you Randy, I had very similar problems with an 04 F350, traded it in after 6 months (FROM BRAND NEW) lost my @ss, but got rid of the Lemon. Buy Nissan or Toyota you won't be dissapointed.

 

My truck is small enough as it is! I don't want anything smaller!!!! You can keep your yoder!

 

CYA time for tubby bye bye. I can understand the original guys frustration but don't say it's in all our trucks. Maybe he needs new mechanics, or the fact that one dealership is crap. Out of how many millions, a few are bad!

Oh well, have fun with the rest, go buy Toyota, everyone else does thinking they have perfect vehicles built for life too.

 

Thier are othier choices out thier for a truck, not just Ford, Had I had more coinage and a dealer willing to work with me, I would have bought a F-250, Turns out, a F-250 was not to be, F250 is the only body style truck Ford should build, thier going to lose big building all thease trucks..

 

The most reliable vehicle I've owned was my 97 F150 triton4.6 liter.I owned it for nine years and all I ever did to it was change the oil every 3-4k miles,tires,ujoints,brakes and outer tie rod ends.Oh ya,I changed my sparkplugs once at 157k miles and traded it in at 158k.I never did change the fuel filter(158k) .Hopefully my 06 turns out to be as good of truck as my old 97 was.I am going to be **** about maintaining my new truck it may be my last new one.

 

I have been lucky with my F150, I didnt any problems up until 10K miles before the warranty ran out, I ended up having 3 New A/C compressors and 2 complete A/C systems-including all hoses and hard lines replaced, a bunch of door-interior-light switches, 2 power window switches and a headlight switch replaced-all under warranty, since then its been pretty easy going. But until now the truck runs worse, than my Camaro does and it doesnt even have a transmission yet.

None of those problems are nearly as bad as the ones we have had with our
2005 Chevy Tahoe, 2 weeks after we bought it-900miles the transmission starts acting up, slipping in all speeds.....after 1500 miles transmission 1 is toast, got a replacement tranny- 2500miles later same problem, only it slips in 1st, 2nd and thumps into 3rd, the next day its thumping in every gear and by the end of the day the transmission is wasted #2 is dead, got a 3rd one in...wouldnt bad luck have it, same problem makes noise, slips in all gears, skipping 2nd, funny smell coming from the underside of the Tahoe, got a 4th one in and havent a problem with that since, had to take the 'Hoe back because the front tires wouldnt clear the wheelwell liners, oh BTW this was a $50,000 luxury SUV. Now whos got Problems............

 

Well, since everybody has been piling on; I'll try to get in before the thread gets closed.

I grew up on Fords; Pop would never would have anything else; neither would I at first..... Started with a '73 Gran Torino (4-door - the kiss of death for a high-schooler!) that came from the factory with a leftover 4-bolt Cleveland (Can you say "sleeper"?). Went to a '72 F100 that had been sitting around in somebody's front yard for over two years and only started once: not the 360's fault that all the gaskets/seals and a couple of bearing crapped out in less than a year. After that I had two Chevy pickups. The first was the absolute worst POS ever found dead beside a highway (the only possible tie was a Pontiac my wife bought and told me about later); the second was -for 15 years- the best vehicle I've ever driven/maintained. When she finally gave up (I kept hauling loaded stock trailers and tractors with the 6-cyl 5speed half-ton); I bought my present 02 F150 S'Cab 4x4 (Merry Christmas '05). Took me a long time to warm up to the Lariat; but I love it now.

BTW, my wife's ride is an '02 Dodge RAM Quad Cab with a 5.9L in it - replaced the aforementioned Pontiac Grand Am from he**. I've had "company cars and trucks" with Mopar 360's, they were gas-guzzling low performance dogs; but the '02 5.9/360 is a great engine - except that OPEC leaders cried when Chrysler dropped that gas-hog!

My point is that every manufacturer sells decent vehicles these days (KIA's and PT Cruisers excepted); and every manufacturer, once in a while, cranks out a vehicle that ends up costing them loyal customers. Sorry you got one; but it doesn't absolutely condemn the entire brand.

BTW, I'm just as guilty as everybody else. If/when I replace the F150; it will be with a big honkin' (3/4 ton at least) 4x4 with a Duramax or a Cummins powerplant. Unless, of course, Ford either brings back the 7.3L PSD or brings out anything to replace that 6 liter piece of crap! My buddy at the Ford dealership wanted to sell me an '03 F350 optioned just right up my alley; but he had to give it back to the guy that traded it for an '06. He tells his friends to maybe hold back on buying the 6.0 PSD - and he lives and dies by selling Ford trucks!
'Nuff Said

Dawg