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Hi everyone, I'm new here so please excuse my mistakes
I just picked up an '04 f150 (later style, not the heritage) and found that the frame is totally roached out through the mid section. thought about trying to patch it up but feel its a bit too far gone for that, and the rest of it isn't that great anyway. Does anyone know what years interchange? Thanks!
Sorry to hear that you got stuck with a rusted out frame. Do you have any pictures?
Does it just look rusty or can you stick a screwdriver through scaly metal?
Any ‘04-‘08 frame of the same wheelbase, cab and bed configuration should fit easily enough. Wheelbases changed in 2009, so the newer frames wont work.
Honestly, the easiest thing to do is sell yours and by a rust free southern truck.
Thanks for the reply. I'll try to post some photos..... pretty sure it's not repairable, heance why looking to do a replacement. The interior is perfect, motor and transmission are good and I'm not the type of guy to pass problems onto others (despite getting screwed myself 🤣 truck only has 120k miles and I think it's just sad that it's so far gone! Ford really did poor design with this one. Not to mention the brine that's used around here eats anything in it's path.
Originally Posted by JKBrad
Welcome to the forum!
Sorry to hear that you got stuck with a rusted out frame. Do you have any pictures?
Does it just look rusty or can you stick a screwdriver through scaly metal?
Any ‘04-‘08 frame of the same wheelbase, cab and bed configuration should fit easily enough. Wheelbases changed in 2009, so the newer frames wont work.
Honestly, the easiest thing to do is sell yours and by a rust free southern truck.
Yikes!
Looks scary to me. Just guessing, you never looked under it?
Not sure of years that are same frame, other than '04 and '05.
2006 and up will differ at frame ends but you could section old ends to newer frame maybe.
Could plate it all, essentially building a new frame over old.
But if mine, I'd find a better truck, even if higher miles, maybe swap the running gear over.
It looks like the rockers are rusting out too. So you've got more work ahead with work on the cab too.
Sorry to hear you got a bad deal, but might be better to just find a better truck with a bad drivetrain and swap the good parts.
Yep, definitely not drivable as is, which is ok as my 99 runs just fine. Body does have some rust damage as well but I'm over that...….everything rusts eventually in Wisconsin anyway.
Story goes that I got it from a local auction, listed as "runs-drives-stops all as it should - 4x4 - hot heat - ice cold A/C - 122k miles" was TOTAL B.S.! No mention at all that the truck shouldn't be driven. I do own up that I didn't go take a peek at it first and the predicament I'm in is completely my fault. Regardless, the description was grossly misleading and I don't have much recourse (from a legal standpoint being an auction). My 99 has over 300k miles and isn't nearly in this kind of shape so I figured well an '04 would be a nice step up and still within a cash budget (I despise vehicle payments) Didn't realize Ford started making frames out of sheet metal thinner than some tin cans! Anyway, enough crying over stupid mistakes......time to buck up and deal with the situation at hand and hopefully I won't get too much salt rubbed in the wounds. I'm quite handy, have the tools and equipment and not afraid of some hard work, (more muscle than money too) besides it'll be a good learning experience for my teenage son as well. At least if I swap out the frame I can get some use out of it for the money and time spent as opposed to handing it off to the scrapyard for a couple hundred bucks and cutting the losses.
So from what I gather from some of the replies; a frame through 08 should fit with minor mods quite possibly provided it is the same wheelbase/cab and box configuration. Thanks for the info!
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truck only has 120k miles and I think it's just sad that it's so far gone! Ford really did poor design with this one. Not to mention the brine that's used around here eats anything in it's path. 
I'm quite handy, have the tools and equipment and not afraid of some hard work, (more muscle than money too) besides it'll be a good learning experience for my teenage son as well. At least if I swap out the frame I can get some use out of it for the money and time spent as opposed to handing it off to the scrapyard for a couple hundred bucks and cutting the losses.
