Last week, I ordered the PMT Fabrication trailing arms for the Expy, a recent inspection revealed severe corrosion at the rear ends of each piece. Despite several years of careful preservation, rust removal (when it surfaced), even priming it with rust bullet, then painting them - they still corroded badly. To the point where if one had broken off, it would surely have spelled disaster for my family who drive the truck daily.

We drive this truck in Virginia and do get some snow, but not a ton. Before we bring it into the garage after a big snow and have driven it on salted roads, the truck gets hosed down underneath with a hot water hose. It helps some, but we still have corrosion in most of the same places on the truck mentioned by others in this forum. Each spring, my son and I get under the truck and try like hell to contain the rust with wire brushing and re-coating some spots, but sometimes it seems there is nothing you can really do with some of the design flaws of the material and coatings that Ford put on it. No, we did not undercoat it (although we have to other vehicles over the years) - Ford told us at the time we bought it that coating technology had improved to the point that simple rinsing would suffice over the years.

Anwyay, the new PMT arms are great. We installed them one at a time and had to cut the bolt head off the forward bolt on driver side to clear the gas tank and install the new one in reverse like alloro showed everybody in his replacement (thanks alloro). It was difficult installing the driver side though, took 4 guys with a chain fall and pry bars to move the axle forward to align the bolt. Passenger side was easy.

 

Go to photobucket and open an account. Then upload your photos (800x600 is plenty) to their server. Then, you should have the option to share the photos by copying the "direct link." After copying the link, click the insert image button and paste that web address in the bar. Your photo should show up after submitting the reply.

 

Thanks, 97ExpGuy, I posted them in the thread using photobucket. Those pics were taken using a Blackberry phone.

 

When I realized I have to replace mine, I almost felt sorry I didn't try to prevent it from rusting-out. But based on your post, it's bound to happen anyway. For some reason, I ended up installing oem from Tasca Ford and the new ones are definitely longer than what was removed by about 3/8". I did have a hard time installing them because of that (more so because I worked solo). Did you compare the length of the PMT Fab and the original?

I have since tried to 'preserve' the upper arms, the track bar, the pumpkin diff. cover and have replaced the rear brake lines because of rust. Will work on front this coming summer - I think the torsion bar and the frame in general (visibly in the welding point of the upper arms area) need some R & R if I hope to use the XP for some years ahead.

It's funny I can't help but look at lower control arms of every 1st Gen XP I see in parking lots whenever I'm out and not one of the ones I've seen so far looked like they have been replaced!

 

I did compare the lengths, but only a quick cursory look holding the new one up next to the old installed ones, not a very accurate check, the bolt spacing looked fairly close. I think we had more trouble installing the first one because that axle is under a lot of tension from the other components - air spring, shock absorber, track bar, etc. - and it tends to rotate slightly when removing the trailing arm, least it did when we removed the first bolt, you could see it twist just a bit - kind of 'popped' as the bolt finally got hammered out. We all kind of looked at each other and said 'that'll be fun getting back together'. I think it depends a bit on how you have supported the axle and the truck as well.

The thing about the PMT's are they are a solid rectangle shape of extruded steel (I think) and there is no open space underneath as the OEM has, which is where the water and salt gets stuck on the OEM. The PMT design is a closed bar preventing water from collecting. They also have greasable mounting bushings, but make sure you install the correct grease, it has to be a silicon-based grease to prevent deterioration of the rubber bushings. I bought a separate grease gun that holds the recommended grease only - you can't grease the PMTs with regular petroleum based grease. The PMTs are definitely stronger in design.

PMT also makes the upper trailing arms, but mine are not really corroded that bad at this point.

Looking back at the old lowers, I almost felt like mailing them back to Ford and asking them "What if one of these failed on the highway .... and what about the thousands of trailing arms that haven't been replaced ...like that cruise control brake deactivation switch debacle...". However, on balance, the truck is eleven years old and has been reliable enough for us, mainly because we take care of it as best as we can afford money and timewise, so I can't really complain. We'll be turning the truck over to my teenage son in a few years and he's really worked hard helping me fix and maintain it. It's a safe vehicle that works hard for us. It'll remain in the garage next to one of those new-fangled electric vehicles eventually - and it will be the only vehicle in the neighborhood that can still tow anything....

 

Ditto on electric moving forward, but we also will keep the expedition for towing capability like you said.
: ) on your signature - I'm also waging a battle on rust and have been using POR-15 on the underside of all doors, as well as rear wheel wells. That's pretty low mileage, mine is not that bad either at ~134k.

Cheers!

 

Those are some pretty nasty looking arms but not as bad as Alloro's. I think he was driving when his failed.
That's the kind of quality that makes you want to tie them to a cinder block and airmail through the front window of Ford Corporate Hq.

 

Mine were pretty bad. I didn't take pictures, but my mechanic looked at them and said "that doesn't look good". Then he tapped them with a ballpein hammer and it went right through. I got a pair from a junk yard. They are completely solid. I cleaned them up and hosed them down with that "turns rust into primer" stuff and then painted them black.

 

I tried that rust converter stuff, several types over time, just never had much luck with getting it to last even with very careful prep - if there's even one shard of rust in there that you don't remove cleanly, count on it mulitplying to some degree. I'm thinking of trying that POR15 stuff and seeing if I can get better performance this spring. I did get the rust bullet stuff to work on the diff cover and traction bar, but the trailing arms just shredded it off and sheets of rust formed again. Just gotta keep at it I guess.

 

Guy on E-bay is selling adjustable ones that are pretty solid for 200+ shipping,some off road place in Ma.

 

Ford should recall these model trucks and replace the rusted control arms.If enough people go to the NHSTA website and open a complaint file(easy to do),the gov't will start an investigation.Usually,a recall will be issued if there is enough evidence of a defect.I am starting a complaint for my '00 Expy as the rear arms are rusted too.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by thumper477

Ford should recall these model trucks and replace the rusted control arms.If enough people go to the NHSTA website and open a complaint file(easy to do),the gov't will start an investigation.Usually,a recall will be issued if there is enough evidence of a defect.I am starting a complaint for my '00 Expy as the rear arms are rusted too.

It seems that the manufacturers own the NHTSA.
Mark VIII owners tried that avenue with the standard headlights that came on that $52,000 car, to no avail.
I was driving home one night about a month after buying my Mark and got caught in a heavy central Florida rain storm and couldn't see 20 feet ahead. I had to pull over stop and for about a half hour until the storm passed. That incident scared the crap out of me. The next day I bought some driving lights and installed them behind the grill and ordered a pair of new HID headlamps from a vendor on the Mark VIII forum. They are much better while they work, but a couple of years ago Ford and Sylvania discontinued the bulbs for them and there is no aftermarket direct replacements available.
Shame on Ford, Sylvania and the NHTSA for doing and allowing this to happen.

 

Why? We are talking about 10 year+ vehicals with 100k+ miles. When does it stop being fords problem and start being the responsiblity of the owner.

 

Because that's what this forum is for.

As to the trailing arm, this is a part that should last 30 years not 10-15. If it were a moving part such as a ball joint then fine it's wear and tear. But for such a critical suspension component to rust out like this, why it's inexcusable.

 

they will last 30 years when they are not soaked in calcium chloride for 4 months out of the year. How many people on here crawl under there vehical & clean off the winter salt and repaint.