My 2000 expy went through 1 ball joint ( got really squeaky) and 2 tie rod ends @ 65k. The sway bar end links are also crap, I was talking to a friend in fla on the phone telling me of his experience with his used expy missing the end links. I had a customers car in the shop and looked underneath the front end , bam, no end links. Went to the parking lot and looked under my truck , bam again, I had one missing and just the top of the bolt in the bar on the other side. My truck had the 6/75k warranty which just expired may 31. On 7-11 i hear a bad bearing noise , transfer case is shot! Should have gotten rid of it last winter before the warranty was out! $1950 for that transfer case and labor , front u joints were gone too! I just hit 70k miles!

I neglected to mention that both sway bar links had popped through the end of the sway bar. I attributed that to the violent bouncing/shaking when the tie rod let go. The factory links appeared to be stainless as I cut them off with an air cut off tool. Why couldn't I run the nuts off with an impact wrench? Because the idiots at the factory have the nut exposed at the bottom of the A-frame with at least a half inch of thread exposed to the elements to insure that the nut will never come off again. I actually spent almost as much time messing with the sway bar as I did with the tie rods.

Fords run forever if you beat the piss out of them.

Take care of them and they'll lose respect and break on you.

You're not doing enough burnouts.

Tie Rods prematurely wearing out is an issue on the big Fords, especially the 250/350/'s from 99 on. Expect the ball joints next.

Wannabe

I have all Fords,I have an 97 5.0 explorer with 140,000 and only had one ball joint need done,my second factory one is starting to feel a little loose,did the first at 130,000 not bad mileage I think,I have a 94 f-250 that has 214,000 on it and the lowers are still factory and still check out OK.The uppers have been doe so they have grease fittings now,lowers do not.
I say its all luck and driving style,I hjave had chevys and dodges with same results.
I refuse to buy a any other that american (well most of it is!!)

I believe these are direct quotes from the Ford manual, correct?

I bought a Navigator in 98 because it was not much more than the Expedition and came with free service until 80K. At 80,004K had a tie rod failure that happened lucky me in a parking lot and not going fast. The dealer refused to warrantee the repair because I was 4 kilometers out of warrantee and complained to Ford and discovered the dealer did put in a claim and billed me as well.

My biggest complaint apart from the air filter in my Excursion being a expensive beach to change, is Fords components that wear over time fail early. Front rotors to tie rods!!!

They all have brake problems!! I have a 05 astro for work and the rotors were just all replaced at 18,000 miles!! All 4 rotors were pitted and pulsating!!

My '92 F-250 dropped a tie rod.

True, I have a 04 Ranger that I just changed the brakes on with around 18K miles on it. Seldom use this vehicle its primary usage is yard work!!!