How do you feel about the truck after you had it for a while?
Overall I am happy with the truck, but being a used vehichle with 129K on it, well its not perfect. I have two things to take care of, one not such a big deal the other could be a bit difficult to deal with.
This truck originally came with only the back up proximity sensors, or so I thought. But I noticed when I put it into reverse the 4.3 inch Synch display read no back up camera available. After some poking around I found what looks to be the harness to the back up camera under the bed frame. Someone looks to have changed the Ford emblem on the back to the non camera one, and did not put the camera back. Perhaps they damaged the tail gate, perhaps there is a small fender bender that damaged the tailgate and camera. Car Fax does not show this, and this is a Canadian truck, so its possible the record is not available. There is no sign of it being repainted, so I cannot say for sure what happened, other than it appears the back up camera has been removed.
So I have spent the money for a new Ford emblem/housing for the camera, which was $56 off Ebay, a new harness as I am not sure if the original is in the tailgate, and finally a new OEM back up camera. The harness was $38, and the camera was $248, which was the best price I could find. Once I have the pieces here I remove the cover from the tail gate and plug things in. I am hoping I get signal to the 4.3 inch screen in the dash and I can button it up and call it fixed
The second issue is going to be more extensive. This is a truck from Alberta Canada. It's hard to find a clean truck here of this age and mileage for under $19K, so at $15.5 I thought I had done well. I knew this was a Canadian truck, and when I crawled under it I saw a small amount of surface rust on the edges of the doors rocker panels, and a bit on the frame rails. Not bad, I have seen trucks from Montana with far worse, including my Toyota Tacoma. But when looking at the camera issue I found a bit of it starting on the edge of the tailgate down on the end where it hinges with the bed. Its fairly light, but it is there. What I need to do is find a way to treat it now rather than later, and see what can be done to minimize the effects.
I was considering purchasing some POR-15 or Permatex 81773 for this job. It will not be seen since its under the body, and on the inside edge of the tailgate. Am I wrong in considering this to be a reasonable solution to dealing with a small amount of light surface rust?
Mechanically the truck seems to be in A+ shape, with no mechanical issues. It's comfortable to ride in, it drives well, and is reasonably nimble. Registration says its scale weight is 5,333 pounds, and driving around town with a lot of stop and go I get about 14 to 15 mpg. On the highway its close to 20 mpg. So I cannot complain given its size and weight.
I think I did all right, but I do have these two issues to address.
Cheers
Mister Pig