I don't normally post here in the general section. I have stayed in the Superduty and V-10 forums as a semi lurker. I have always been pleased with my choice of vehicles, that is until the last week or so. My truck is a 2001 F-250 Crew Cab 4x4 LB with the V-10. I bought it used with about 12,000 miles on it. I am now at 43,000 miles.
I have always bought the extended warranties as extra protection and they have always paid off. In this trucks case in spades. At 40,000 the tranny went. Now I don't tow, I don't go offroading and I don't drag race from light to light. I do drive it fast but never beat on it. I was happy that Ford replaced my tranny with one from the factory and I had a rental car during this time. However now just 3,000 miles later the tranny is acting up again and slipping bad in 2nd. That combined with a knock that the dealer can't seem to diagnose and fix has me seriously PO'd.

In addition I also own a 2000 4x4 Explorer which I call my Exploder. That just passed it's extended warranty at 60,000 miles. I just dropped $800 into the front end for lower ball joints, upper control arm and new brakes. In one form or another I have put five set of ball joints into this POS from 25,000 miles on. This is my wifes vehicle and it also doesn't get driven hard or off road.
It has also had a tranny replaced as well as other rediculous minor things. The door locks falling down, windows not working, doors not latching.

I guess I should have learned my lesson with my 97 F-150 V-6.

I am not here to bash Ford, however I am here to say these will be my last Ford vehicles. I am not a brand loyal person for the "sake" of brands. It's my hard earned $$$$ and IMO I didn't get what I paid for. It really bothers me about my Superduty as I love the size and styling of the truck. No other truck looks as good period. When it's running properly it's great but it's not and the reliability IMO is not there. When I can afford to I will take my $$$ to another manufacturer, not sure which one.

 

hmm alot of the stuff that you replaced are considered maintence items, not the tranny though, where was this work performed and what brand of replacement parts was used? if it was not done at a ford dealer, 5 sets of ball joints? somethings not right about that, i'm sorry about your luck, but my last truck i got 370,000 miles out of it,bought with40,000miles. my wifes e-250 about 400,000 miles, sure they had there problems, but for the money they served us well. one thing i know is that loan value is closer to retail than any other make. maybe the banks know something we don't.

 

You know, it's funny how Ford is the only kind of truck that you ever have work on. I sure wish I owned another brand so I would never have to spend another penny fixing anything.

 

check what fluid ford put in the transmission.

 

i'm not brand loyal either, my last 2 were chevys. of the 3 i'd say, i'd rather have my ford. the chevys were easier to fix and cheaper and got better mileage, but they just couldnt do the things i can in my ford.

in my 95 Z71 i replaced the cluth 1 month after i bought it, replaced the motor at 100k (spun crank shaft bearing 100 miles from home, and one thing lead to another then it let loose). installed a new clutch with the new motor.
went through another stock clutch and upgraded to a centerforce gold. 3 months later i was putting in a new diff.
finally traded it in on a 97 tahoe.... before i sold the tahoe, it was going to need u-joints. i replaced a toasted fuel sending unit, the wires and the connection were scorched, the truck could have blown up!

so far with my new truck, i've replaced the ball joints & all the front axle seals.

every brand has its problems, it all depends on your luck i'd say.

also, i'd have to look farther into the 5 sets of ball joints problem. maybe the ball joints arent the problem. maybe its the dealer... or believe it or not maybe its the driver

thats right... i said the driver. even though we'd all like to believe our wives are good drivers, they still do things that arent so kosher.... for instance my wife has a tendency to just not even try and make it around curbs in my truck... she says well- its a truck. thats why she doesnt drive my truck.

as far as the expy... your windows probabaly need a 10 dollar switch, and about 5 minutes of your time to adjust your striker bolt on your door.