Thanks to FTE, I fixed a surging/bucking issue I've had at light throttle/cruise. As everyone said, if the problem doesn't happen with the cruise control on, it is likely the TPS. I replaced the complete pedal assembly as my truck has the adjustable pedal assembly. I found my local Ford dealer had it at List for $830, they offered it to me for $530 and it was special order. I've read that the sensor is independently replaceable on the non-adjustable pedal assembly, and somewhere I read that the adjustable pedal TPS was replaceable, but I can't see how that would work based on how it's attached to the assembly. After replacement, the truck drives flawlessly. I used to have to give it a little more pedal than necessary to get the pots out of the worn area. So with the new TPS, my mileage has gone up over the last 250 miles by an indicated 2mpg. Not too bad.
So once the pedal assembly was pulled, I popped the sensor out of the assembly and took the sensor apart. Below are some pics of the failure. This is at 167K of use. Just plum wore out. Though I didn't ohm it out before disassembly or get a voltage signal during use, I figured this was the case. BMW uses a similar sensor assembly and with higher mileage the same thing happens... So here's what I found when I took it apart:
(thanks again FTE!)
At least one trace is worn through completely:


Hard to see, but the armature 'brushes' are completely worn off one set of the 4 on the armature:

 

Nice pictures! Thanks for posting this. I also have the adjustable pedals and fret the day I need to replace anything.

 

Thanks for sharing. I guess I'll need to start saving for the day.

 

Good post, nice pics.

Reps given.

Stewart

 

Thanks guys. I'd imagine that if we all go the distance with our 7.3s, we'll all need to replace the TPS at some point.