well before it gets to cold i decided to get under the truck and make sure everything is ok. I know i had a few leaks and alot of rust. heres what i found

passanger side outer tie rod damp, coverd in gunk.


inner tie rod. gunk removed. looks like grease escaped also



left axle arm pivot bushing.


sway bar linkage. looks like alot of rust. sandblast and reinstall?



swaybar bushing look ok


front body mounts. look rotted and rusted



spring support starting to rot away



other side i think this is bad. frame looks rotted through?!



drvers side inner tie rod. looks wet



tie rod link. looks REALLY rusted



drivers side tie rod. also greasy



i think this was the drivers side lower ball join looks ok



drivers side steering knuckle upper joint assembly.



drivers side radius arm bracket. could use a sandblast and paint



drivers side radius arm. same as above



i think this was the body mount drives side by the door looks ok.


inside of the radius arm



front axle u join. sorry bad pic. prob needs to be replaced. not sure if the leak is from the shaftseal or somewhere else



looks like brake fluid leaking somwhere near the rear abs module



pasanger side front shaft prob need a new oil seal in the housing



trans very wet. i believe its the seal between the transfer case and the trans



ujoint front drive shaft. looks ok



radius arm bracket and bushing passanger side..



passanger side radius arm and axle arm assembly. look ok



passanger side ball joint also looks ok



gotta tighted my oil pan nut



gawd trans is coverd in tranny fluid



passanger side leaf spring front



leaf springs



rear driveshaft ujoint

 

4r70w again backside all wet



leaf spring shackle? dont look too bad. sandblast and repaint



leafs look whimpy. perhaps i could add a few or just replace the whole pack?



ford 8.8 leaking at the cover gasket will replace



whats this?! OH GAWD. gas leak passanger side gas tank. any ideas?



drives side leaf spring mount. again loooks ok



drivers side springs. there is nothing in the bed



drives side front spring mount. will clean and paint



bad pic. rear sway bar ?



drivers side rear sway bar? bushings look nice



bushing look ok here also



arg another bad pic. ujoin rear axle. looks ok, but still want to replace



rear driveshaft again front ujoint- looks ok but will replace




I have already installed new warn manual lockout in the front along with new inner and outer wheel bearings.
I have new f350 springs and the complete energysuspension bushing kit for the truck.

so heres the plan.
install new front coil springs
upper front spring seats sandblast paint replace if necessary
radius arms and radius arm brackets sandblast and paint
new radius arm bushings
replace drivers side axle pivot busing
replace passanger side axle pivot bushing
front axle housing new oil seals
front axle new gasket for cover
new tie rods inner and outer
sandblast and paint tie rod parts that are rusty
drives side front ujoint x1
passanger side ujoint x2
front drive shaft ujoints x2
rear driveshaft ujoints x2
trans oil pan gasket
oil seal between trans and t-case
new body mount bushings x6
new rear springs bushings x6
clean rear spring shackels. replace if neccessary.
new gas tank - larger capacity.
new fuel pump necessary?
new fuel filter necessary?
have alignment done to adjust camber due to taller springs


well thats all i can think of right now.
AM I CRAZY? the trucks is a 96 and has almost 200,000 miles on it. I love my truck, but michgan salt is doin a number on her.
the body panels are rotted bad by the rear wheel arches. besides that, it looks "ok" on the outside..

 

I can understand being "attached" to a vehicle, but seriously after seeing all of those pics, my personal opinion is to just run it until it dies a violent death then scrap it. The truck is shot, it has served a long life. You would spend sooo much money and time just temporarily extending it's life by a few years. The rust has invaded the cab supports and everything else that's exposed.

Maybe it's time to take a vacation to SoCal or Arizona and find a rust free truck that is worth fixing mechanically. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do!

 

Pics 6 and 8 indicate it is very tired and deserves to be put to sleep. # 8 if that is the frame, looks like it's unsafe to drive anyway. Ditto on finding a Western or Southern truck.

 

yep. thats what i did. mine was the same exact way, and one day, she got so bad, she met her maker. for $443. hahah unless the truck has alot of sentimental value, i agree with them, and say run it til she dies. but thats my opinion. if i had the money, i would have saved my truck. because it was sentimental to me, but i couldnt afford it anymore :/ good luck on whatever you choose to do.

 

There's no way around it, #6 and #8 are scary. You're one good pothole from those cab mounts coming through the floor. Your planned improvements have got to come close to the value of the truck itself. Here's X3 on a new truck and then i'd recommend that you move, but if you can't move consider crawling under the truck each fall with 6-8 cans of black Rustoleum paint and spray everything you can see with it. Do you need a good plow truck, maybe you could retire her like that?

 

Pics 6 and 8 look like the radiator core support.
To answer your question though, yes you are crazy. Everything on your truck is leaking some sort of oil and the rest is rotting away.

Must say though, have you never looked under your truck before? The steering linkage should look "wet" as you say or it won't last long. Grease is good.

You can't simply look at a ball joint and tell if its OK, you need to jack up the front axle and check for play.
Don't relpace U-joints unless they actually are bad.

I would guess your front axle U-joints are dried up, they look like they've turned orange with rust dust (thats what mine do when they dry out), which means they're junk.

The leaf spring shackles look like they've been replaced already. The leaf hangers that rivet to the frame can look just dandy, then smack the bottom of them with a hammer and it will probably show you the hole that you didn't previously notice. They have a cup design that holds in road salt, and many trucks will break these hangers, with the end result of a leaf spring putting a hole in the bed of the truck.

The leaking fuel tank, they're about $100 new, I always replace the pump at the same time, another $140 or so. These rot out under the tank strap, and I wouldn't bother trying to patch, cus it will just rot through somewhere else next week.

Another vote for driving her as is. Grease up every grease zerk on the truck, keep the fluids all full, keep air in the tires, and wear your seat belt.

 

that core support is shot but the rest of the frame looks good. those spring towers are just flaking. i wouldn't tear the truck apart and sandblast/repaint everything until spring. change whatever's mechanically wrong with it and run it for the winter. if you really want to keep the truck, then save up some cash during the winter months to do an overhaul in the spring.

at least that's what i'd do. i have upper michigan (above the bridge) standards on my vehicles so that truck looks a LOT better than some of the sh** bombers i see rolling around my area.

if you want to keep the rust from spreading, you could always buy a few cans of this stuff and hope for the best over the winter months:

http://www.eastwood.com/rust-encapsulator-5.html

 

thanks guys, The only thing i did not know about was the gas leak. Just wanted to get some feed back. Im off to find that 100$tank, and save for a nice new truck gopher

 

that is what every truck living in the rust belt looks like. Thats still in decent shape around here.

 

Don't know if something is bad/loose without pulling or prying on it. Get the front tires off the ground, grab them at 12 & 6, give it a shake. This tests ball joints and the wheel/hub bearing. Grab it at 3 & 9, give it a shake. This tests the tie rod ends and steering linkage. Surface rust isn't a concern, esp on sway bar links. Either they're broken or not. Bushings can be checked with a pry bar and the eyeball looking for cracks/being pushed out. Front pinion seal is definitely leaking. For the trans leaks get some engine degreaser, bomb it down and powerwash/hose it off, then drive it for a few days. Things will always leak from the top down unless its a pressure hose.

Remember to check the brakes!!

 

i completely agree with blue rebel.....although there are some pretty bad rust spots all in all thats in pretty good shape for the rust belt some parts on your frame look real good .....the guys who are saying junk it obviously havent seen trucks from the rust belt lol

 

Not to start a bandwagon here but i agree. I am happy when it is ONLY surface rust. If there is just a few holes it ok, LOL.

Yeah i would do what blkF250HD said and just give here a good washing and keep an eye on it over a few days to pin point problems.

I am in the process of stripping, wire wheeling, and painting my frame and suspension components before winter. Just be prepared for 10 times the work you initially figured it would take. (although maybe you don't plan to pull the engine/ bed/ tanks like i did to gain access to the frame.)

 

I haven't lived there but my wife is from WI and when we visit it seems like every vehicle older than 10yrs is eaten through at the rocker panels and is working its way up. So why do you guys put up with that over there? I know you get a lot of snow but we do over here too and we use little or no salt to fix it. By here I mean MT, WY and SD of which i've lived in all three. The way I see it your road and bridge department is costing each of you thousands in the value of your vehicles every couple of years. Has nobody proposed that they just clear the snow and use sand instead?

 

sand used to be more common to use, but they were having issues with the sand clotting up frozen and not being able to get it outta the trucks. they put a little salt in it to fix it, and it went downhill from there. the snow isn't the reason for the salt, it's the ice. i'd drive all winter with snow up to my doors if i have to, but the road commission feels the need to dump salt on the road, which i would consider the same as dumping sulfuric acid all over someone. i'm rhino lining the outside and inside of my truck to try and hold the rust off.