The bar right under my spare tire in the picture. It says Frame or Frame Rail on it. I was just wondering if this piece is able to be removed without jacking the truck up or anything. It looks like it is held in with 2 bolts, one on either side. Could I just undo the bolts and take this bar off? Could I take if off if I jacked the truck up at first? Also, what is this bar called? If any additional information is needed, let me know.

Edit : The bar in the pic that I want to know about is between the tire and rear differential case in the picture.

 

That's a track bar. It keeps the rear axle centered under the truck. You can remove it without jacking up the truck, but DO NOT drive the truck without this bar.

 

If you are removing the track bar for rear diff fluid change, it can be done with bar in place. I have done mine twice so far and did not have to remove the track bar.

 

No, It is getting kind of rusty under there and im going to wire brush it and put a new coat of protective paint on it to slow down the rust. I really wish someone could help me with doing this so they could be there and tell me what I can and cant take off for this. This is my mom's truck, and my dad on a scale of 1-stupid is challenged when it comes to cars, so I don't have anyone to learn from. Last time he tuned up a car, it was his dad's(my grandfather's) and it went from running to wouldn't crank. He is still on that level.

 

For around $120 or so you can buy a brand new one that comes with new bushings and a new paint job.

 

Not a bad idea. I've done similar projects. Take a look on the inner side of your bumpers. I would bet they probably have some good surface rust on there as well.

For protection, here's what I'd do:
Wire brush off remaining paint and brush. A power drill attachment is nice for this.

Use a product called Naval Jelly and follow the directions for using it on rust. It will kill it/stop it and it turns white over night. Really good stuff IMO.

Lastly, if you have access to a local professional automotive paint shop, see if they have a product called Chassis Saver. You can get in a flat (I think it's actually called satin black) black that looks really nice. You can spray it or brush it on. I was told buy some cheap throw away brushes and wear latex gloves when using - and they were right. It gets on the skin and it does not come off easily! Anhow, it applies nicely. Just go slow and do super thin coats. Let it dry and sand with 400 grit sand paper and paint again. Wha-la. Good as new.

You can do the whole project easily for under $75 depending on what you need to buy. The Chassis Saver paint will be the most expensive part, but after you stock up all the products will last you a good long time. The brushes will be the only thing you need to keep buying.

 

Thanks alloro, but this is my mom's truck and I am just doing some maintenance that my dad does not do, AKA anything. Last time he "did" anything to help this truck, it was got its oil changed. He took the Synthetic Oil I put in with all the stabilizers and after 400 miles decided that he wanted to get it changed without asking me. Guess what? He got barreled conventional put in it and it was a quart under where it should have been. I was PISSED when he told me he got the oil changed, because I wasted $80 of my money.

As for the under body rust, he does not believe it needs to get painted because it isnt that bad yet. Aren't you supposed to paint it to PREVENT the rust? I really dislike my dad, and the fact that he does not do anything to keep his vehicles running makes me dislike him even more.

I ninja'd your post 97expguy, but that actually sounds really good. I might have to go out and buy some of that paint, because right now I am using rustoleum, which obviously is not going to be up tot the task, but will fend rust off for a little while. I like that you can use a brush too, i wont have to remove a ton of parts thanks to that. Thanks for the advice

 

You are welcome. This method has worked really well for me so when I read your post I figured this would help a lot. Yes, I would avoid Rustoleum as well. It's a quick fix paint but it won't do the job you are looking to do. A friend of mine used it to cover some rust over a wheel well and within a few months it started bubbling through again. Overall, the underside of the vehicle does not look too bad from the picture. Just under there with a garden hose and wash it frequently. That's a good method to keeping a vehicle's underside from rusting out as fast. (At least here in IL it helps because we get A LOT of road salt during the winter time and that's what kills vehicles around here)

Just to make sure we are on the same page, here's some links to the products. I'm sure you already found these, but it doesn't hurt:

Chassis Saver
http://www.magnetpaints.com/underbody.asp
The can on this page with the yellow Camaro is the exact same thing I bought. "Antique - Satin Black" on the label is the stuff you want. You can get it in silver as well. Be sure to click the blue link and watch the YouTube video as well. It gives you an idea of what you are working with. IIRC, he used a foam brush in the video - both will be fine.

Naval Jelly
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/produ...id=47&plid=169
Good stuff. You will use another throw-away brush for this as well. Good news is you can wash out the brush with water and save it for another application. I think I did two applications on Naval Jelly before painting.

Wire brushes
http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...gkw=wire+brush
http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...gkw=wire+brush
http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...gkw=wire+brush
Take a look at these. They come in different levels of coarseness. I'd recommend a thick and medium coarse. My local Ace only had two kinds so I bought a a few various kinds. It helps having different styles depending on the piece of metal and amount of rust.

Lastly, drop the spare tire and take a looks that the metal carrier it butts up to. Mine had all kinds of rust on there and its a good time to get it off and fix. Don't let your dad get to you. Some people just don't care about vehicles and figure they will buy another one and keep going. But, that's not the attitude around here. Most of us want to keep our vehicles in tip-top shape.

Tom

 

I did not even think about dropping my spare, thanks for telling me to do that. Yea my dad just lets vehicles die and buys new ones when they do. I like the expedition though, people always tell me its gigantic and that they feel safe in it. If anyone else wants to tell me parts that need to be derusted, let me know. I plan on doing the differential cover and the outside of the axle and whatever that other piece that goes up vertically in my picture is. If anyone wants to let me know what that is, feel free to say so.

 

If you think thats rusty, come to new york!

 

Check your local autoparts places also. If you can find POR-15 locally, that stuff is a really good 1 step option also.

 

Everyone know im talking about the red piece correct? I just want to make sure, because the yellow piece seems to be the track bar. Whats is the red piece if it is not the track abr and can i take it off just like I can the track bar?

 

yellow piece is your sway bar link, attached to the sway bar, which attaches the body to the axle to negate body roll.

red piece is the track bar, which as pointed out before, centers the axle under the frame.

you can remove them both and clean / paint / replace. driving without either or both is very dangerous.

 

x2 on the POR-15. One of their popular demos is the battery tray. They just use a handheld wire brush to get rid of the loose stuff and then brush on the product. Once it's cured, they whack it a few times with a hammer. The battery tray bends, but the POR-15 doesn't crack or chip off. Pretty impressive.

 

F75Z5808AC .. Rear Track Bar / Use without Overload Suspension / Fits: 1997/02.

MSRP: $139.98 // FTE sponsor Y2KFORDPARTS.COM price: $100.79.
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F75Z5808BA .. Rear Track Bar / Use with Overload Suspension / Fits: 1997/02.

MSRP: $149.98 // Y2KFORDPARTS.COM price: $107.99.
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YL1Z5K484AA .. Rear Stabilizer Link / Fits: 1997/01.

MSRP: $31.65 // Y2KFORDPARTS.COM price: $22.79.