Hi folks....

I was driving along today and heard a sound like something bouncing off the underside of my 1997 F150. The road was clear so I turned around to check if anything fell off the truck. I found this grommet at the side of the road. It has the lettering "CA" and "54" on it. It is approx 2" in diameter and about 1" thick.

Does anyone know what this rubber grommet is for?

Thanks...Dave

Rubber Grommet - top | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Rubber Grommet - bottom | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Looks like an exhaust hanger.

 

Doesn't really look like a Ford part to me. Also, because the grommet is intact, something fairly major would have had to break or a nut fallen off, to drop it. I'm not sure about the CA, but lot's of times, numbers like "54" are the hardness rating of the rubber.

Dave

 

im not sure but it looks like the rubber grommet under the radiator on where it sits on the frame. give it a quick look might be that part.

 

That makes sense, with the locking flange on the bottom. But, how did that come out ? Unless the radiator never engaged the hole. Best idea so far though.

Dave

 

Get under the front on each side and look at the anti roll bar links.
They have 4 buns each link, 2 on top 2 on bottom each side.
At 150k I had to replace both sides due to the link bolts breaking from rust-thru.
Good luck.

 

Thanks for your replies guys. Interesting call on the anti roll bar links....mine have been replaced, likely due to rust too. That wasn't it though.

Grimreaper, you nailed it on the radiator support grommet. Once I looked under the hood and saw the upper ones, I knew that was it.

Found something very interesting on the underside though. On one side the frame portion that supports the area where the grommet sits is completely rusted out! The grommet was probably just hanging on the lower radiator flange until I hit a bump and it fell off. The other side is rusty but still there. The radiator still seems pretty secure from what I can tell.

Interestingly the rest of the frame and underbody have only an average amount of rust, certainly not anywhere near what these two areas are like.

Was this area of the frame prone to rustout on 97's? What are the issues with this area being rusted out on both sides?

 

I am impressed!

If you haven't sprayed zinc on your 97, do it now, especially sheet metal.

 

probably has something to do with the battery-- acid fumes -- leaking..

 

What do you mean by "sprayed zinc"?

 

He mean "zinc rich paint". Do not work good enough https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-compound.html . My truck is at Cosmoline now. However, and it is said to a shop owner to me, if that stuff go into yours lung and ayes it is priest time. Problem wit zinc is it never go at clean meatal in case of trucks. Paint fail off there is rusted metal. You can not clean it completely hence need cover with something and there are or Cosmoline or Lanolin.