Hi guys
I own a 2005 f150 4x4 5.4 with 57890 miles on it. had it in the shop today for a flywheel replacement and the mechanic found that the frame on both sides in the back in line with the gas tank are actually rotted through. they are estimating that i have 2 years left on this frame. I doubt anything will come of it but i am taking this issue to ford corporate because i don't understand how a truck that has been driveway and garage kept and driven an average of 5-6000 miles a year could be this bad. im just trying to get a feel on how common of a problem this is in areas like mine where they use salt on the roads ( i know this will play a factor in their response) ive had many ford trucks that have gone through a whole lot more salt/corrosion abuse than this one and didn't have this issue just baffles me i suppose. so show of hands how many have had an issue with this body/ model truck

 

In the tech section of this section I know there are some tips about this, ford does make a stand off kot, personally I will fab my own up once I have my truck if it has this set up, I would suggest looking into the stand off mod

 

Im not sure a stand off kit would of helped in this situation. If I did this right here are pics of the frame (both drivers and passenger side) and then photos of the truck itself.

 

That's horrible! I think ford should reframe your vehicle. All the hype of how strong these were when new. Keep us posted as to what happens

 

well ford has basically said sorry you wasted your money on that truck. because its out of warranty there is nothing we can do. that persons supervisor said the exact same thing (perhaps its scripted) so after an hour or two on the phone with corporate and getting no where i have emailed mark fields ( that email took some digging to get)

 

After seeing a post similar to this last summer I went out with a hammer and screwdriver and went over my entire frame. After 10 New England winters and about 110k mi mine had some surface rust but was solid. Considering the salt and other nasty chemicals they use around here I feel very lucky. I have had other corrosion issues. I have had to replace much of the hard piping under the truck and had the bracket holding the center bearing on the drive shaft let go because of rust.

 

well all I will say is when I get my truck (hoping today) i will be checking for these issues, it kinda has me worried!!! and the fact that the dealer has no frame pics on the site for the truck also concerns me some as I wonder if they are hiding the possibility of frame issues!! sorry to hear Ford is just telling you to bad so sad, they should relize all it takes is a few posts and a few tweets or FB posts and the bad side of things is instantly all over the world!!

one thing i would suggest is look and see if your local news station has some type of customer advocacy reporter (like what we have here which is called "wave 3 problem solver") and maybe see if you can contact them, some times getting the word out in the news is great!

 

Is it localized in the one area or is it in other parts besides? I know you said both sides inline with tank ...
... but how long are the affected areas?

Pics look like a lot of water or salty water was long standing inside the frame? I ask because if it comes down to it, you may reach the point you either decide to fix it and keep or simply write it off.

It is a 10 year old truck (and mine's 8 and I'ld be upset as I imagine you are as my '07 has just tripped 50K miles and I intend to keep it a long time) .... but that's still 9 or 10 winters. In 1970, a rusted out 1960 PU was not unusual and they use more salt now.

"Just Saying".

If it's localized, and if I was planning to keep it anyway (I have had my '77 since '86) .... I'ld drop the tank .... and completely box the affected area well back into good sound frame both ways with some 3/16" plate .... or I'ld open up a wrecked but sound frame and use same pieces to split and wrap my rusted areas with extending well back into sound metal. Might add 50 pounds and cost a couple hun $$$ but it could be made stronger than oem if localized.

My '07 ..... no rust at all and even my '77 that has surface frame rust is sound (but it's frame is open channel).

My FIL's '77 F-250 4x4 (was a really nice truck when he had it) that my wife's brother ended up with and took to Ga. apparently had been in some deep mud that was left un cleaned as it rotted out behind the front fuel tank (that truck had two) on driver's side frame rail bad enough that it just "broke" one day .... it was maybe 1994 and he didn't know how to salvage it so he sold it to a next door farmer "cheap" ... and that farmer just plated it and drove it for a few years afterwards and when I'ld see it, I often wished he had let me know he was gonna sell it so cheap (I'ld borrowed a buddy's rollback and gone and got it, was low miles, 400, 4 spd and had a nice body) .... (and the farmer may still be using it, my BIL moved twice since).

 

it is somewhat localized to that section of frame on both sides of the truck and primarily on the inside of the frame. the frame sounds and feels thin when you tap on it about 1-2ft forward of where the holes are. I wouldn't be quite as upset if the truck had truly seen that many winters. this truck was originally bought to haul a trailer for motocross races. as far as winter driving maybe a couple of times when the rds were really bad. over all its life up to this year. this truck has seen maybe one entire season of winter driving in all. I did take it in to a guy today to have him look it over his ball park estimate till he can get it up in the air and scrape down the frame. is above 400.00 and below 1k. wouldn't be so bad if I didn't just sink 1k in it three days ago for the flywheel.

 

A flywheel already at 58K miles?

I was figuring if one had the needed tools and used his own labor ... but I know there was a time I too would have been looking at farming it out. I know that guy has labor and his liability insurance to pay, and up on a lift it may look different ... but that do seem a little high ... but then the fuel tank does need to be dropped as well and maybe the moving of some wires and lines until done.

I understand ..... truly ..... I do feel your pain. I imagined finding that on my '07.

I think what perhaps sets us up for this is the frame is a rectangle in section where my older truck's frame is a open channel. If a bunch of water sets in there it can lead to rust out.

If it's mostly on the inside, I'ld fix it before taking a chance on it falling down on me in 6 months. It's not gonna get stronger on it's own.

Once fixed though ..... it'll be good!

 

yeah my issue is i don't have the tools. and im not really comfortable with doing it because i don't have the experience. last thing i want to do is do more damage or not do it properly and one day have the frame break. the flywheel threw me a bit too. was missing 3" of teeth. they thought maybe a bad starter but the starter looked fine. (replaced it anyway just in case) Im thinking i got a truck built on a monday.....

 

you don't get damage like that from setting in the garage. Somehow a LOT OF WET salt got on the area. Possibly being in the garage it stayed damp and allowed the salt to eat away for months / years at the area. I have not seen that kind of damage on a daily runner. Of course you are in NY. I think its somewhat of a fluke with the NY weather / lots of setting time / and garage climate.

 

My 2000 Michigan truck was like that about 3 years ago. The body looked good but the frame was loosing parts so I got rid of it.
Most trucks in the salt belt will have this damage at some point.
The manufacturer can not keep them clean.

 

so its all fixed. the frame shop plated the frame. drivers side needed a 39" long plate and the passenger was 24" long. came to about 1000.00.

In a last ditch attempt i had contacted mark fields at ford. his assistant contacted me and did offer a discount on a new truck but that was all they could do. (honestly I wasn't expecting anything from them) I explained to her that I was mainly looking to make sure that ford was aware of the issues I have had with this truck and our escape I wasn't really expecting them to help me out financially on the repair of a 10 year old truck. gotta say Im impressed they even called me let alone offer a discount on a new truck.

 

Probably some stronger than new now!

It was certainly worth what it costs.