What a lemon.. 1996 Ford F150

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Sorry, but when it comes to trucks I really think the Fords are great. My favorite truck was my 89 with a 302, 5sp regular cab 4X4 short box. This thing took one heck of a beating. I bought it with 100K+ miles and it lasted many years but you had to stand on the clutch to start it (factory theft protection :) and you had to smack the air cleaner to interupt the fuel pump relay when it was really cold to keep the battery from dying but it was abused daily and took it. I currently have a 96 F250 plow truck with a 351 that has 190,000 miles and is going strong and the last new vehicle I will every buy a 2003 F150 FX4 extended cab. Neither one has given any significant problems other than wear and tear and maintenance. With 200K+ I think you are doing good for any late model truck. Did you make sure there was no ice in your wheels for the shutter....just a thought.
 
I have two 96 Fords, mine is a Ranger and the wife's is a 5.0 Explorer with 208,000 miles on it. Little nagging problems for sure on the explorer, like the major coolant leak which could only be solved by a $110 water outlet from ford. But that 5.0 engine has been very reliable. My Ranger has had a few small issues, but with 112,000 miles it is also very reliable. What gets me is that now parts for these 14 year old vehicles are getting hard to come by, especially from Ford. They want us to buy new stuff I guess, but I wouldn't have one of those mod motors. we have enough problems with them at work.
 
Where I work we have a f450 diesel, its a piece of S***. We have spent $2800 in paper work alone, and its a commercial truck so lemon laws dont apply. ALL of the injectors have been replaced and it still has no power,new computer, its been through 7 starters, the heater/ ac doesnt work, windows get stuck down. We us this truck to pull our large machines.

We did just buy a new dodge cummins

thats why I always will buy only mopar
 
one thing that i always find interesting when poeple start slamming a brand is they are ussually complainiing about parts. a broken water pump? how in the hell is that fords fault? especially when you couple it with the statement the heater core went also, that spells lack of coolant changes to me. warped rotors? were they factory ones or cheap ones from Autozone or somewhere? doubt they were "good" ones from Napa or wherever. Bad starters, injectors etc. truck is making no power after new injectors/computer, sounds like something else is wrong, another part that was probably made by the same company that makes aftermarket parts for mopars. i have had plenty of fiends that have had mopars with the same issues, often times it is just whoever "fixed" it did not diagnose it correctly. i have always slammed chebbies, and after driving my Duramax for 3 years or so I am truly impressed with it. sure i have had some issues, and none of them, except for the transfer case having a wear hole at 100k none of them were chebbies fault.
 
inkjunkie said:
one thing that i always find interesting when poeple start slamming a brand is they are ussually complainiing about parts. a broken water pump? how in the hell is that fords fault? especially when you couple it with the statement the heater core went also, that spells lack of coolant changes to me. warped rotors? were they factory ones or cheap ones from Autozone or somewhere? doubt they were "good" ones from Napa or wherever. Bad starters, injectors etc. truck is making no power after new injectors/computer, sounds like something else is wrong, another part that was probably made by the same company that makes aftermarket parts for mopars. i have had plenty of fiends that have had mopars with the same issues, often times it is just whoever "fixed" it did not diagnose it correctly. i have always slammed chebbies, and after driving my Duramax for 3 years or so I am truly impressed with it. sure i have had some issues, and none of them, except for the transfer case having a wear hole at 100k none of them were chebbies fault.
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To put the blame on the person who works on the vehicle is wrong. The Water pump on my wife's truck that **** the bed was a brand new replacement FORD part purchased at the dealer. This truck (1st one) never had any heater core issues The heater core that went was a factory one(on the 2nd truck) and the problem with the core was that the 1st one that went was leaking at the hose barbs which were attached with rubber seals wrapped around a metal collar style fitting holding them to the core.(Bought at NAPA) The 2nd core I purchased had the hose barbs soldered to the core and this heater core has not had any issues.(bought at Autozone) The rotors were the factory rotors, on BOTH trucks. As I stated earlier, the issues with the brakes are a well documented issue on these trucks.The brakes on both of these trucks were always maintained at regular intervals and did not show any wear signs such as grooves or pitting/glazing. They were warped from heat. It was confirmed to me by a FORD mechanic that this is a common problem. The person who "fixed" the truck was not at fault when Factory parts were at fault, in fact the FORD mechanic who recently replaced the rotors on my wife's Bronco urged us to put slotted rotors on the truck to dissapate heat quicker so that this issue should not happen again.
 
I have had a 81, 85 and 96 Bronco. 67 F 100, 2- 79 F150, 67 F600 and a 85 F 700

I love driving the 85, the 96 was a low mile one owner truck. i was never real happy with it. But it never had a brake problem, jus a water leak in the back. I think I got it fixed before selling it. My 85 was so much more comfortable, this might be one reason i didn't care for the newer one

My 95 Dodge 2500 4x4 had brake problems from the beginning, brake line rusted to rear brakes, cracked rotors on the front a few years back, rusted fuel filler tube (HOW STUPID IS THAT) and they wanted $300 for new one and couldn't find a used one for a diesel. the transmission cooler rusted out (again another $300 + and a pain in the *** to change) Starter needed replaced (replacement prices from $179-$220) had mine rebuilt for $80. Need to change the switch for the headlights. When the steering wheel is tilted the low beams sometimes go off (more stupid S*t) OH I have also had to change the switches on the passenger door for the windows and locks

But I LOVE MY TRUCK

Age has as much to do with it was the miles. A vehicle that is 14 to 15 years old will always need something done if driven daily. I just turned 122,000 miles today. It was built in Dec of 94 so it is 15 years old this month.
It can be concidered low miles for it's age

It is going on a 2,200 mile trip next week.

I work for Ford and would say that maintenance wise they are all about the same. A buddy has a 95 F 350 4 door dually and he has had less trouble than I have, but he still has had to fix stuff. In 2007 we both had about the same mileage. In the past year I have put about 12,000 miles, the most in any one year since it was new.

ANY VEHICLE WITH 200,000 MILES IS NOT A LEMON IN MY BOOK
 
Sorry guys, I didn't mean to open a can of worms with this thread..

Turned out to be the inner wheel bearing on the drivers side, not the calliper like I originally thought. Pulled the rotor off, and the inner bearing wasn't even in existance anymore.. should have taken pictures.. The race had a HUGE groove in it, the edge of the rotor was scored a little from the dust shield, and the outer race in the bearing was basically welded to the spindle. I grinded both sides of the race, and then heated it with a cutting torch until red hot, and the damn thing still didn't pop. Had to carefully chisel it off, then use a file and sand paper on the spindle until smooth again. Actually did a very good job, didn't hurt the spindle at all. Got the new setup all together, did the passenger side bearings, and it was good to go. Did some christmas shopping, no more wheel problems.

Next is the heater, the weird clutch fluid problem, the incredibly loud squeak in the steering wheel, the check engine light, and the tranny noises.
 
make sure you got the bearings right, they are somewhat sensitive in there adjustment, least bit loose and you will have the same issues, to tight, and well....
 
dustermaniac said:
To put the blame on the person who works on the vehicle is wrong. The Water pump on my wife's truck that **** the bed was a brand new replacement FORD part purchased at the dealer. This truck (1st one) never had any heater core issues The heater core that went was a factory one(on the 2nd truck) and the problem with the core was that the 1st one that went was leaking at the hose barbs which were attached with rubber seals wrapped around a metal collar style fitting holding them to the core.(Bought at NAPA) The 2nd core I purchased had the hose barbs soldered to the core and this heater core has not had any issues.(bought at Autozone) The rotors were the factory rotors, on BOTH trucks. As I stated earlier, the issues with the brakes are a well documented issue on these trucks.The brakes on both of these trucks were always maintained at regular intervals and did not show any wear signs such as grooves or pitting/glazing. They were warped from heat. It was confirmed to me by a FORD mechanic that this is a common problem. The person who "fixed" the truck was not at fault when Factory parts were at fault, in fact the FORD mechanic who recently replaced the rotors on my wife's Bronco urged us to put slotted rotors on the truck to dissapate heat quicker so that this issue should not happen again.
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like i said, i have over 250k on my f150, never had rotors issues or water pump/heater core issue. you might not have understood what i meant. it was in regards to the diesel truck. for example, you take your truck to the shop, it is down on power. the tech diagnoses it as a bad injector pump due to low fuel pressure. replaces the pump and truck still runs like crap. along comes a second tech, throws a new fuel filter on and truck runs great. how in the hell is that the brand names fault?????? (sounds more like a poorly trained tech on the first go around) don't ask me how i know about this......:toothy10:and as far as the parts being at fault, I seriously doubt that Ford makes there own rotors in this day of outsourceing. i had a bike that is based on a Harley, and all of the Harley parts I ever bought for it have said made in China/Japan/mexico or what have you. i hope you understood this time....
 
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