What is this part called? (F150) (updated)

[Sho'Nuff]

Cliffs: Pic below is of part of the undercarriage of an F150. What is the part to the right of the rough country part (strut?) called? The one with the bulb on the distal end and the l shaped threaded part on the proximal end.

full
So I am considering buying a 2003 F10 XLT Super crew cab. Checked the vehicle out a few days ago and it looks like it is in very good to nearly excellent condition. Interior is immaculate (looks like no one has ever ridden in the truck). Body is also in great shape, with the exception of a small (<1") rust hole in the bed. Frame is solid. Rockers are original and solid, etc. All features (4wd high, low, AC heat, power options, etc.) work. Has relatively high mileage (166k), but has been regularly maintained based on the seller's records. Looks like it is the proverbial "needle" in the haystack of overpriced junky old pickups. Asking price is $6600.

That said, my hackles are up because I think the truck is worth more (based on competition I'm seeing in this price range) and the seller doesn't seem like an idiot. So I figure their must be something wrong with the vehicle that the seller isn't coming clean about. I've put a deposit on the truck and told the owner that I would buy it subject to a mechanical inspection, which will take place this weekend. Prior to the mechanical inspection, some rusty parts I saw under the truck are bothering me, partly because I don't know what they are called and thus might not be able to describe them to the mechanic who will be inspecting the truck.

The part in question is shown in the image below, down and to the right of the rough country garage part. The one with the rubber bulb like structure on one (the distal) end and an L shaped threaded part on the other (proximal) end. Anyone know what that part is called? The undercarriage of this vehicle is pretty much immaculate with the exception of those parts at all four wheels - they are showing some significant rust damage.

Thanks in advance.



update in post 23

 

[jlee]

The outer tie rod end?

 

[phucheneh]

Rubber bulb? Distal and proximal ends?

...uh...circle it, I'm thinking. I got no clue what you're referring to. The only rubber I see is the ball joint and tie rod end boots. The accordian-lookin' think it the bellows boot for the steering rack.

I doubt the truck you're looking at has 'rust damage' at the wheels. There just happen to be a lot of parts that are iron and steel that commonly acquire surface rust. Significant rust damage is more likely to occur at the rear of the vehicle, particularly on thin steel parts.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Rubber bulb? Distal and proximal ends?

...uh...circle it, I'm thinking. I got no clue what you're referring to. The only rubber I see is the ball joint and tie rod end boots. The accordian-lookin' think it the bellows boot for the steering rack.

I doubt the truck you're looking at has 'rust damage' at the wheels. There just happen to be a lot of parts that are iron and steel that commonly acquire surface rust. Significant rust damage is more likely to occur at the rear of the vehicle, particularly on thin steel parts.

Done. See below. I know what surface rust is and what I saw was not that.

 

[phucheneh]

Heh, okay. jlee got it.

More technically, it's the outer tie rod, then the inner tie rod threaded into it. The actual spherical joint for the inner tie rod is inside that bellows boot, right next to the end of the rack gear- a.k.a. a big flat gear, which engages the pinion gear that is rotated by the steering column. Hence 'rack and pinion steering.'

edit: also, sorry, but I had to laugh at 'distal' and 'proximal.' Such foreign words to me. Made me think 'this dude probably knows a lot more than me about something, but it's not cars.' ...doctor?

 

[Sho'Nuff]

edited to incorporate into next post

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Heh, okay. jlee got it.

More technically, it's the outer tie rod, then the inner tie rod threaded into it. The actual spherical joint for the inner tie rod is inside that bellows boot, right next to the end of the rack gear- a.k.a. a big flat gear, which engages the pinion gear that is rotated by the steering column. Hence 'rack and pinion steering.'

edit: also, sorry, but I had to laugh at 'distal' and 'proximal.' Such foreign words to me. Made me think 'this dude probably knows a lot more than me about something, but it's not cars.' ...doctor?

Patent lawyer specializing in medical devices, chemistry and materials. In medical devices every piece of a device is located relative to something. E.g., distal/medial/proximal to X.

No argument re: your comment about my car knowledge. I know how to change a tire, headlight, battery, oil, etc. But other than that all I know about cars and trucks is that they are magical contraptions that warp me from point a to b.

I'm seeing a lot of corrosion of the jam nut and outer tie rod. How bad can it get before I have to replace them? And when I have to replace them, how much can I expect to spend? From youtube vids it looks like replacing the outer tie rod and jam nut are relatively easy, but that it will be necessary to do an alignment after the repair.

 

[jlee]

I have yet to see a tie rod failure caused by rust. Not saying it never happens....but I would imagine the rest of the truck falling apart well before that became a concern.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I have yet to see a tie rod failure caused by rust. Not saying it never happens....but I would imagine the rest of the truck falling apart well before that became a concern.

Interesting. The rest of the truck is definitely not falling apart from rust. Its in remarkably good shape. The outer tie rod on the front left (if my memory serves me) looked like it was chewed up. I assumed rust, but it certainly could be something else. I'll try to post pics if and when I buy/see the truck.

 

[skyking]

Typically, the harder the steel the more it will show the effects of salt on the roads. The jam nut and rod are machined hardened steel.
The underbody sheet metal has several coatings on it to mitigate the formation of rust. The hard parts either have some paint or at very best, powder coating. Powder coating is great until it gets nicked.
Then it serves to trap the moisture/salt against the steel and accelerates the process.

 

[phucheneh]

Impacts will usually bend the inner tie rod. I've never seen damage to the outer, other than just play in the joint inside the rubber boot. It's pretty thick, sturdy metal. Corrosion can lock the inner/outer together and prevent adjustment. Acetylene torch usually shows them who's boss, though. But I'm sure it's frowned upon by the car (and parts) manufacturers. Changing the properties of the metal and whatnot.

 

[phucheneh]

Random google for 'rusty tie rod'...this is a decent illustration.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/687/rust2.png/

None of that rust is really structural, except for that lumpy, eaten-up adjusting sleeve between the two tie rods. You don't have one of those.

But the tie rods themselves, the steering knuckle, and all the other hefty chunks of metal are still what I would call 'surface rust.' It's a LOT of it, but the stuff's not going to break.

 

[dawp]

tie rods will usually wear out long before they rust out. when you have a lot of play in the steering it's time to change the tie rod, usually the outer will wear out before the inner one.

 

[DaTT]

Random google for 'rusty tie rod'...this is a decent illustration.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/687/rust2.png/

None of that rust is really structural, except for that lumpy, eaten-up adjusting sleeve between the two tie rods. You don't have one of those.

But the tie rods themselves, the steering knuckle, and all the other hefty chunks of metal are still what I would call 'surface rust.' It's a LOT of it, but the stuff's not going to break.

That picture looks like the tie rod is bronzed.

 

[exdeath]

I see no significant rust in that pic besides the brake rotor.

 

[Jimzz]

I see no significant rust in that pic besides the brake rotor.

His pic is an example from a online Mag not the truck he is looking at.

But yea outer tie rods usually don’t rust out. That and they are cheap and easy to replace. There’s a reason why every dirty alignment shop says they are bad on every car they see. Very little time to replace and a lot of markup.

So if the worst thing you find is a rusty tie rod then sounds like a good truck. In trucks the main things I look out for are transmission and differential issues due to towing and overheating the trans. Most other common stuff is easy to fix.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Aren't tie rod ends pretty much the same price as a whole remanufactured rack?

 

[Jimzz]

Aren't tie rod ends pretty much the same price as a whole remanufactured rack?

No tie rods are much cheaper. That and reman racks usually do not come with outer tie rods, just inner.

I just got 2 outer tie rods for $7 shipped for my BiL's car. A rack would be a lot more and not come with outer tie rods.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

He was referring to inner tie rods.
Nvm
He was talking about outer.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

His pic is an example from a online Mag not the truck he is looking at.

But yea outer tie rods usually don’t rust out. That and they are cheap and easy to replace. There’s a reason why every dirty alignment shop says they are bad on every car they see. Very little time to replace and a lot of markup.

So if the worst thing you find is a rusty tie rod then sounds like a good truck. In trucks the main things I look out for are transmission and differential issues due to towing and overheating the trans. Most other common stuff is easy to fix.

Thanks for the info. Everything with the drive train seems solid. Transmission fluid looked clean and was recently changed per the owner. Truck was overdue for an oil change, but oil looked relatively clean. No smoke emitted during ignition, etc. Literally the only issue I saw was with the tie rods.

Ah well, we'll see how good the truck is tomorrow when I have a ford mechanic go through it.

 

[railer]

Is that a 4x4? Pretty good price if so. I know when I was looking to upgrade my 2001 F150 a few weeks ago, I was shocked/amazed/horrified to see what the going rate for 10 year old 4x4 F150's was. You can drop 10k on a 2004 F150 crew 4x4 with 150k on it pretty easily. But the trucks are pretty bulletproof....I had a 97 F150 prior to my 2001, both well over 100k, and they just keep on going.

 

[drnickriviera]

Yowza, I got a steal then last month. 05 Lariat, 2wd Scab, 156k. $8600.

Sho'Nuff, what's the spark plug situation on that engine? I just got finished replacing mine. 4 of 8 snapped of in the head. I just have to laugh at what a stupid design that was.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Update -

Had the truck inspected by a ford mechanic last weekend. Good news and bad news. Good news is the truck is in generally good condition . . . EXCEPT for one thing (i.e., the bad news). Turns out the center/radiator core support is rotted out. Dealer said that truck would not pass inspection without that part being replaced, which I understand is quite involved. Other than that, truck will need one ball joint and front brakes. The ball joint in question is "getting some play" but is within Ford specs. As for the brakes, they should cost nothing to fix as the owner has lifetime brakes through a local shop.

I'm going to call a few local body shops and get a ball park figure for what it might cost to fix the core support. Some folks on the net have said that the ford dealer will likely charge ~$2k for the repair, but that a local mechanic might charge much less (~$600). Since the rest of the truck is in such good shape I might buy it if the repair isn't too expensive. But if its $2k I'm going to walk away and keep looking.

Thoughts anyone?

Dr nick - owner said he's replaced 4 of the 8 coil packs in the last 2 years. That said, my understanding was that the f150 spark plug fiasco arose in model year 2004. So I'm hoping that this truck doesn't suffer from it. As for your '05 price - the value on the 2WD models is much less than 4WD - absurdly so if you ask me. I could get an 05 2WD for my budget, but 4WD is pretty much required in the New England winter.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Is that a 4x4? Pretty good price if so. I know when I was looking to upgrade my 2001 F150 a few weeks ago, I was shocked/amazed/horrified to see what the going rate for 10 year old 4x4 F150's was. You can drop 10k on a 2004 F150 crew 4x4 with 150k on it pretty easily. But the trucks are pretty bulletproof....I had a 97 F150 prior to my 2001, both well over 100k, and they just keep on going.

Yeah its 4x4. The trucks do hold up really well down south. But up here in New England they tend to rust out bad from all the salt and calcium used on the roads during the winter. I've looked at ~30 10 year old trucks over the past month, and this is the only one that didn't have major body corrosion (core support excepted).

 

[Jimzz]

The radiator core support can be had for less than $150 shipped. Find someone on the side to replace, it does require soem tack welding so make sure they have a basic welder for that. Does take a good deal of time but also a good time to clean the front end up and check the headlights and other front gear.


If replacing any ball joints just replace them all and the outer tie rods. Parts are pretty cheap for that truck and if one is worn then the others are not to far behind usually.