Ok its not a X but this is where I hang out and I wanted to share what kind of stuff we have to put up with because of salt. This is our 95 F250 with 351. Has about 375K on the clock and still going despite wisconsins best efforts to kill it with salt. (I wish they just used sand and people would learn how to drive)

On with some pics.

One leak:


Two leaks:


front of leaky pan, see any rust prevention efforts by ford anywhere?


See the bedliner?


Hmmm


More rusty broken stuff to fix.


The frame rusted nearly threw. See the "flakes" of rust about 1.25" thick?


Those aren't gonna come apart.




Typical broken bolts


Only broke one stud on the drivers side, it must be my lucky day!


Junk is out.


even the inside of the motor has a rusty brown look to it. lol


New one will go in tomorrow and then I start on the gas tank.

 

Holy crap. You really got your work cut out for you. Good luck!

 

Amen to that! Most people are idiots when it comes to driving, even in good weather.

 

Just another reason to live in the sunny Southeast!

 

Methinks you got your money's worth out of that one!

 

You should come to NJ, I grew up here but I'm military and most of the people I work with are from out of state and consistently amazed that more people don't die in car crashes here. Even in the best weather some moron will always wreck on the Turnpike and then create a 2 hr backup for everyone on BOTH sides of the divider because all the idiots on the other side of the highway rubberneck and then jam up that side too.

As far as that repair... those guys must REALLY love that truck because that is just about ready to go to the scrap heap. I suppose some new fenders but I can't imagine what kind of cutting/welding in new sheetmetal the rear wheel wells need...

 

I agree...

 

My hat is off to you Andy, I would go insane if I had to work on rusty junk like that every day. We see a decent amount of salty roads here in PA, nothing like you guys but enough, I try to keep the undercarriage washed down frequently during the winter. So far it has really helped, most of my junk is holding up pretty well. I'm hoping to get my chebby pickemup back on the road soon to save the EX from any salt exposure this winter.

 

We think she has a couple more years in her yet! The drivetrain in this truck has worked flawlessly since the day we got it! To this day it runs and drives perfect, the rust is just eating away at her. We are looking for a new trucks but the new stuff is such junk. Either you have to own a bank to keep gas in the tank or you have to own a parts warehouse to keep a diesel running. Plus we see trucks of the new generation rustier than this one which makes us think either the new metal is just to thin or cheap or ford just doesn't care to paint anything any more, but they want $50K+ for a truck now.

Already quite a difference in quality from this 1995 pictured above to our 1986 that has 450K miles on her driven in the same conditions below.

 

Gonna have to disagree there. 80's rust proofing was junk. My ranger's body is just about gone. My neighbor's 86 F-150 doesn't even have a passenger side floor anymore. Every mid 80s F-Series I see in the junkyard is just about rotted away.

I'd say yours is the exception, definitely not the norm. Looks like the underneath of that truck has been oil coated too, a little oil on the undercarriage will go a long way to preventing rot.

My buddy has a '96 F-250, another has a 97 F-350, and they both still have beautiful bodies - from an area of the country where some are considering a class action lawsuit against against the state governments for over-salting the roads.

 

LOVE the 86, any chance you want to sell it

 

So the difference between the 95 and the 86 is that you sprayed the underside of the 86 with waste oil to protect it from the salt monster right? I just treated my hitch and it looks 10X better. I need to get the undercarriage coated with oil before the snow hits here in WI. I want the oil down before the salt can get under it for another year.

 

The 86 was sprayed yes, but so is our 94 and the 94 looks like the 95.

 

So do you just oil it yourself or do you take it somewhere? I live in Ohio and any given day it goes from 60 degrees to 20! Plus like most states they don't know how to salt!

 

treat your truck right






Right after I painted up the bed I found and bought a 2012 bed....it's going on tonight.
I replaced the cross members with 1 5/8" unistrut