1992 Ford F150 Flareside review from North America

This is the most expensive vehicle (in repairs) that I have ever owned. What you will find when you ask Ford truck owners about the quality of the vehicle is that they are either in denial or stupid. Most of the repairs are things that I have never had to replace, but from Ford truck owners, the answer is always "Oh yeah, that always goes"! They just won't tell you this until your truck has that problem. I have worked on my own vehicles for 25 years and I am sick of the intentional poor quality parts that Ford continues to use. My truck is used 90% of the time as a passenger vehicle and it currently has 103,000 miles.

It will begin at about 55,000 miles. The universals (3) will fail ($150). The dealer was surprised I got that many miles! The shop manual will tell you that if they have been replaced, they will have grease nipples (the originals did not). This is key to the reason they fail. I don't have a lift, so I had Ford replace them. The second set failed after 25,000 miles. I went to NAPA to buy universals that Ford does not use. The good ones were $3 a piece more. I installed them and they currently have 28,000 miles with no problems.

I have had 2 air conditioners fail ($600) - both during the winter. The air conditioning compressor comes on when the defroster is used so that it de-humidifies the air. Both compressors seized and damaged the electric clutch that engages the compressor. The first time, the clutch caught on fire and I had to put it out with snow. Fords' response was essentially "too bad".

The truck has dual fuel tanks with internal fuel pumps. The front fuel pump failed three years ago ($250). When it was replaced, the front tank began pumping gas to the rear tank. The service department told me that Ford used to have problems with the $25 external in line check valve so Ford "Had a Better Idea" and they moved it to the $250 fuel pump so it can fail as part of the integral unit. This past summer Ford issued a safety recall because of this problem and I have had to waste several trips since November as they have attempted cheap fixes. They have now concluded that they need to replace both fuel pumps (which should have been the original fix).

The rear gas tank ($350) has recently developed a leak because it has rotted out. When I told the service department, they told me which tank it was "because that always happens". Hasn't Ford heard that there are new materials out there yet so that a gas tank does not rot out?

From the second year I owned the truck, the vehicle inspection has told me that ball joints will fail before the truck is five years old. Both did ($350) about two years apart. From the service department, you guessed it, "they always fail in about that time".

The last one is almost laughable. A spot on the oil pan will rot out. It is a challenge to get something to rust out that is filled with oil, but Ford has found a way. There is a plug weld on one side of the pan. I am guessing that it has to do with another model. It appears that the weld filler is flawed as it is the source of the rust. The spot will eventually let go and empty your oil pan. The engine has to be lifted to get the oil pan out so I've used a fiberglass gas tank patch as the temporary fix. The service department says this a common problem and my truck is the most successful repair job that they have ever seen. The replacement cost is about $400.

I have had numerous other unusual oddball repairs (e.g. the ends corroded off of several spark plug wires after three years, the throttle position sensor failed, etc.) but I have never had a vehicle require the type of maintenance above. From what I have been told by other Ford truck owners, I can expect that the exhaust manifold will crack soon. The integral slave cylinder to the transmission for the clutch will also fail soon and the transmission will have to be dropped to repair it.

As I talk with other Ford truck owners, the above items are not unusual. People just don't want to admit that they are being ripped off. Ford means the same thing that it did 25 years ago - Fix Or Repair Daily. By comparison, in 110,000 miles on a 1987 Mazda B2000, the only unusual repair I had was a blown head gasket.

It had good acceleration for a truck when it was brand new, but it is not much now. The Flareside model looks good and I received a number of compliments on it when it was new.