95 f150 4x4, 150,000 miles in MI. Is my truck rusting due to the salty winters in MI or is this a common problem with everyone? I've replaced leaf springs(both sides), front and rear fuel tanks, and now I'm dealing with the front shock mounting brackets. Today the shock went thru the upper shock mounting bracket. Is this common (it shouldn't be)? What else do I have to look forward to? Other than the common fenders of the bed and the rockers under the supercab windows(got that as well). Give me some positive feedback; please.

 

Rust is common on vehicles that are bombed with road salt.

Wheel wells, rockers, cab mounts, radiator support, tranny crossmember... all that stuff doesn't like salt.

If you want to keep the truck long term, I'd recommend taking the body/bed off it, repairing the frame and mounts while its easier without the body, then either powder coat it, or do the spray on bedliner thing. Then it won't rust anywhere near as quickly.

 

Thanks for the info, but this is a daily driver. I don't think a body off restoration is in the future for this truck. I think I would sell before it came to that. I found coil spring towers at Jeff's Bronco Graveyard, $95 (new). They're only a couple miles from my home. Back to repairing.

 

Well, there is frame off restoration, and the quick and dirty way. By all means, repair everything you have to.. then invite a few big friends over for some beer and steaks, and lift the bed off, and raise the cab on blocks or 2x8's. You don't have to have the cab 25 feet away on your lawn... just off the frame enough that you can prime and paint it thoroughly. With six guys, I had my crewcab 10" higher off the frame in about 3 hours... took another 2 hours to unhook all the lines and wires from the frame, then I primed it, that dried in 30 minutes, primed again, another 30, then painted it twice. The next morning we droped the cab and bed back on...
Mine's my daily driver too... though I need to put the dashboard back in

My friends and I each host a once a year "slave manpower" party, where the host gets free labor in exchange for food, drink, and good cheer. Plus they're fun. Mine's probably this June.. swapping in a twin-turbo 500cid stroker

Manpower makes jobs like this go quicker... you can do it yourself but it will take you 3 hours to actually paint the frame... and 6-7 on either side to assemble and disassemble the body off the frame and get it 10" in the air. That's assuming you care... you can also tape off the body from underneath, and just spray the darn thing that way. I've worked on other people's vehicles where the cab was one color, the frame was say, dark blue, as was the fuel lines, wiring harness, transmission, fuel tanks, pretty much everything. Not the way I'd do it, but hey, its quick and dirty. If you don't prep the fuel tanks and such, the paint will fall off anyway. But its much easier to sand the top of the frame with the body up a bit. At least you can get a vibrational sander in there rather than wrapping sandpaper around a paint stick. *That* is the pits... and I've done that before.

My friends and I have this "manpower party" down to a science, we've been doing this for two decades. Essentially the "host" who provides the project, and the food/drink and good cheer, assigns everyone tasks and everyone else follows that person's leads. Minimal engineering on the fly, and very little disorganization. Projects go quicker and get done well this way.

Nothing is worse than management by consensus Anyway, off-topic I know, but thats how my pals and I do major work without taking things to overpriced shops. Plus, its an opportunity to hang out for a weekend and tell tall tales of beautiful brunettes...