I'm posting here because there does not seem to be an 'Any sane individual would have sent this truck to the boneyard' forum. Early 99 F-350, conventional cab, 6 speed. New England. Rust. 160K miles. I've owned this truck for 10 years, bought it as a non plow truck, put my plow on it. 5 years ago I did major rust containment on the rear of the truck. Took off the bed, replaced the drivers side cab corner and rocker and found a new door shell for $100 on craigslist. Also replaced the rear spring mounts and used pieces of 1/4 steel as backing plates for the mounts. Removed the rotted X members and replaced with an I beam. I descaled the rear frame and painted with Chassis Saver. Then in April I

1. Reinforced the passenger side frame with 1/4 inch steel plates. I made a template out of cardboard and had a metal fabrication place cut them for me. Took a number of tries with my grinder to get the perfect fit for the inner one. Think 'Dentist fitting a crown'. But with bigger tools.
2. New front leaf springs. A study in rust. Also fun to do in your driveway!
3. knocked off a ton of rust scale and painted the front frame with an epoxy rust preventing paint.
4. New calipers and rotors. New brake line on passenger side. Had to cut the metal line back a few inches and union a six inch piece in. Double flare tools are fun.
5. Cut out a bunch of rust from the radiator support bracket (really the front of the truck) and welded in some new steel so I could mount the power steering cooler and the passenger side radiator support.
6. pulled the rusty front driveshaft, descaled it and painted it.
7. removed a mouse nest which had caused a high pressure fuel line to develop a pinhole rust hole. Replaced the line. First time I got out of a Ford dealership for under $25.
8. New passenger side fender.
9. New (used) bumper. It is dented so only $29.
10. Installed new 2005 style headlights and parking lights.
11. Had the plow mounts sand blasted. Painted with rust preventing epoxy paint.
12. New front shocks. When I pulled the drivers side off to do the spring it gushed oil all over the driveway and me. Replacement shocks from a closeout sale on RockAuto for $9 a shock.
13. The exhaust hangers were all rotted away. I made new ones out of threaded rod.

The tires were over a decade old, replaced with a new set.
My leased BMW i3 went back at end of lease a couple of months ago so this truck is now my daily driver. I'm unemployed so I do 5 miles a week, no reason to get another car right now. As soon as warmer weather returns to New England I'll pull the bed and replace the passenger side cab corner and rocker. I have a new bed to put on it and then I'm hoping to get a few more years out of this guy.

Be safe and wash your hands!

 

Now, that is a heart felt posting......... Thanks for sharing......

'Any sane individual would have sent this truck to the boneyard' forum. ........... Well, the sanity of a few of us has been questioned. You are in good company.
I'll read between the lines if that's OK..... The rig you have is paid for... With the state of the world, that is a big plus. Next, you have the resources to do the work yourself... Plus #2....

Hang in there and keep us posted on how things are in New England.

Hobo

 

Thanks for sharing. I admire your dedication and I’m even more grateful I don’t live in the rust belt.

 

Nice story, thanks for sharing.
But where are the photos?!?

 

Yes, it is paid for. When I was buying the fuel supply line at the dealer i took a look at some F-150 trucks on the lot. Some were priced at over $50,000. Yikes. And yes, I am very fortunate that I was able to do the work myself. There is no way that I could have brought it to a shop, they would have laughed me out the door. Every bolt on this truck is a learning experience. The total dollars I spent on all this was about $2000. The big expense were the springs and ubolts, $310 per side and the tires at close to $800.

 

Thanks. I see you run on french fries, so to speak.. I had wanted to do that a while back. With the cold in New England it can be a bit tougher and now that I drive five miles a week it is not worth it. I can send you about 30 pounds of rust scale if you want. :-)

 

We try to remove all the fries, etc from the oil before using it, but yes I burn the high cholesterol fuel. I started 15yrs ago and have almost 400k greasy smile miles between my dually and Excursion. I always say it’s the only hobby I’ve ever had that did not COST me money.

No thanks on the rust!! My experience with the crusty brown stuff is limited to extracting ‘good’ 7.3 drivetrains from rust buckets and putting them in minty nice southern trucks like this last 2006 F250 7.3 I built.

 

quite the project there!

 

SkySkiJason:
My goodness! You sir are a god! I almost did not recognize what the long pieces of rust free metal with the tires under it was, but it is a frame!! :-).
Is that a brand new oil pan on the engine, or did you just clean up the existing one?
That is a nice completed truck.

 

Replaced the rusty oil pan with a new one that I had pro bed liner sprayed on.

Our ‘southern’ trucks often look like that. That ‘06 had the same amount of ‘rust’ it left the factory with. Literally looks like brand new.

All of that work (prep, paint and then fluid film) was because the poor thing was being sentenced to upstate NY for the rest of its life. I literally did everything I could do to make it last the longest..,