December 11, 2023 - Metamora, Illinois 2023 Truck Report (1990 F150) Odometer on December 11, 2023:   200,542 miles. This is 1023 miles since this time last year, and 87,726 miles since July 24, 2010, when purchased. Gas mileage was 15.3mpg - up one-tenth from last year. 200,000 miles on April 28: Service this year: September 19, 23: Replaced rear brake lines, rear brake hose ($47.75). Replaced battery ($229.94). October 2, 3, 4: Replaced water pump, thermostat, serpentine belt, heater core, heater hoses, antifreeze ($202.27). Replaced front right parking light/turn signal assembly ($29.88). December 5, 6, 7, 8: Replaced upper and lower ball joints, all tie rods and adjustment sleeves. Replaced front radius arm brackets and bushings. Front wheel alignment. All this by Sancken Automotive (Shop Fee $67.15 + Services $1343.00 + Parts $656.38 + Tax $54.15 = $2120.68). All repairs to the truck this year occurred after I returned home from my bicycle trip. The truck wouldn't start, so I put the charger on the battery. When it did start, I found that there were no brakes. The front-to-rear brake line had rusted through. I ordered parts and replaced all the lines rear of the RABS valve using nickel/copper (NiCopp) lines. Now that the brakes were working, the truck once again wouldn't start. I checked my repair log book for how old the battery was. I came up with the battery was replaced on August 3, 2012. Could that be right? Over eleven years ago? I double checked that referring to past truck reports. Eleven years was correct. Time for a new battery! I definitely wanted the same brand/type, which was Duralast Gold 65-DLG from AutoZone. It was getting dark, but I got the truck started with help from the charger, and made it to AutoZone in Pekin before they closed. I changed out the battery in their parking lot and was on my way. brake lines: new right rear brake line: I finally figured out the reason the serpentine belt was coming apart. The truck needed a new water pump. I'd known for a few years now that the heater core needed replacing. Doing those projects together worked out well. I also finally replaced the broken front right parking light/turn signal assembly, which busted when the truck hit an ice-covered tree branch in January 2021. That job was more involved than I would have thought. It required removing the front grill and the headlight housing. new water pump: old and new heater core: broken and new parking light/turn signal assembly: Both Farm & Fleet and Sancken Automotive had previously noted that the ball joints on my truck needed replacing. I called Sancken's to get that done. The list of items they found that needed attention was long - so long that they suggested maybe putting that much money into this old rusted truck wasn't worth it. Their estimate was three to four thousand dollars, which also included new front brakes and lines, and rear shackle mounts. So I looked around some for older manual transmission trucks for sale. There weren't many. Mangold Ford had one listed - a 1999 F150. I checked it out, but it was a mis-listed automatic transmission truck. In the meantime I'd asked Sancken's to provide an estimate without the brake work (which I could do myself): $2300. I went with that. Replacement of the rear shackle mounts wasn't done either, but I ended up with a lower-than-$2300 bill. new tie rod end and ball joints: new radius arm bracket and bushing: So, this coming year I'll do the front brakes and lines, and have the shackle mounts replaced. Another project for next year will be replacement of the tailgate and its hinges. I already have the tailgate, but it's primed black. Plans are to paint it matching white before I install it. It's looking now like the eventual demise of this truck will be due to its rusting frame :-(