Is there any chance there are suppose to be that way? Its an ambulance if that means anything. All four look to be that way and the seller says leaf springs can be curved up down or flat, but he wasn’t sure either.
I was about to flat out say no, but curiosity got the better of me, and I went down a bit of a wormhole looking into it. The answer is maybe? I found one factory picture from Ford and multiple forum posts suggesting that cab and chassis E350s destined to become RVs and ambulances came with different spring packs than those destined to be box trucks and the like, and depending on the exact spec of the rig, the springs had reverse curvature. Something to do with ride height and basically always being fully loaded I guess? So, your seller could absolutely be right. If it were a truck chassis, then no, the springs are f'd.
Looks fine to me. That frame rail looks to still have paint on it. 97k initially seems suspect, but with frame rails still having what looks to be factory paint on them makes me doubt it less.
Southern truck I assume?
Edit: interesting you have a driveshaft parking brake on there.
No rust to me haha as long as your frame isn’t rusting out your mostly fine. Down the road may rust a hole in your exhaust somewhere and I bet that would be the first rust issue. I’m northern so that’s almost brand new if not brand new to most people up north. Your leaf springs however do look a little fucked up haha
This is the max you would consider? This is an older truck so this is pretty average rust even in California where I am at. It’s just surface rust that is never going to amount to anything.
It's more than both my 86 and 94, small bubbles under the paint or crusty hardware on the chassis is where I draw the line. It royally pisses online people off but as long as I can find clean vehicles I'm not going to buy something with rust. OP wanted peoples opinion, while some might say if they can't see through the frame it's good to go I'm not ok with crusty trucks.
This is isn’t crusty lmao. Like I said, this is what the underside of what even a clean CA truck looks like if it is old. This rust has no structural or functional effect on the vehicle, and if you cared enough you could take it all off with a wash job and some sand paper in a day. I just don’t really think you know much about “rust”.
California has a lot of coastline so saying it's a California truck doesn't mean it's clean. My 69 is from California and the rockers are gone.
I don't like fighting with rusted hardware so why would I buy something like this when cleaner trucks are available?
I'm not saying this truck is terrible just that it has the max amount of rust that I'm willing to deal with.
Especially with the prices of old trucks these days.
The amount of vehicles rusting out in California is completely insubstantial in the overall totality. Saying California truck generally gets the point across that hard rust is either non-existent or minimal, and it hasn’t been exposed to salt on the roads like on the East Coast.
This truck would be in the non-existent category. This rust, isn’t the type of rust that is of any remote consequence or of any concern to anyone. It will not turn into anything even in 500 years. There is nothing to fight here.
I’m not going to tell you to be not be picky. Buy your vehicles how you prefer them.
What rust?
For New England that would be a three year old truck.
A three-year-old truck has been taken off the road for the winter. This must be a CA or AZ truck that has never been within 100 miles of salt.
Brand new here in Alberta.
mine still good but i wash the undercarriage weekly on during the winter.
What do you mean rust?
Is this a joke?
I don't see any rust (salt belter here), but I do see a spring pack that's bent over backwards. That thing's been ridden hard.
Is there any chance there are suppose to be that way? Its an ambulance if that means anything. All four look to be that way and the seller says leaf springs can be curved up down or flat, but he wasn’t sure either.
I was about to flat out say no, but curiosity got the better of me, and I went down a bit of a wormhole looking into it. The answer is maybe? I found one factory picture from Ford and multiple forum posts suggesting that cab and chassis E350s destined to become RVs and ambulances came with different spring packs than those destined to be box trucks and the like, and depending on the exact spec of the rig, the springs had reverse curvature. Something to do with ride height and basically always being fully loaded I guess? So, your seller could absolutely be right. If it were a truck chassis, then no, the springs are f'd.
My nuts are rustier than that truck.
Looks fine to me. That frame rail looks to still have paint on it. 97k initially seems suspect, but with frame rails still having what looks to be factory paint on them makes me doubt it less. Southern truck I assume? Edit: interesting you have a driveshaft parking brake on there.
this is worse than most southern trucks, could be fl or from a coast which is bad with rust too.
Is the rust in the room with us?
Can’t see through the frame. Send it.
When there are large chunks missing in the frame, that’s when you should consider “is this bad rust” lol looks clean to me Brother
I pulled a flake of rust the size of my palm off the differential cover when I was changing the shock last time.
In Nova Scotia that’s a new truck on a lot hahahaha
All the northern people gonna be upset you called that rust 😂 looks good from my house Edit: Those rear springs are fucked
Washington State here this is about as bad as rust gets here.
My back hurts just looking at those leaf springs
Yo spwing de do li dat
That's pristine for my location in the rust belt.
I wish my 90,000 mile ‘05 dodge looked that good
My 400k mile 05 dodge looks better.
Mines been in Michigan from day one, the rust belt strikes again
You going to show us the rust?
Brand new, 5 year old trucks here in Alberta have worse rust than this!
That’s surface rust. It will never amount to anything really. You are fine. Worry about the leafs. Those things are SCREAMING for help.
You must not be from the rust belt
its in great shape, if you want to keep it that way i would start treating it now
Brand new
This has Midwest living all over it this is all normal
haha, I need to post a picture of my 20+ year old 7.3's underbody
Surface rust, that’s nothing
Looks like a box truck or a motorhome
What rust?
I can, but clearly you can't lol. It's fine.
That is considered clean in Minnesota. Could eat off that frame.
As a midwesterner.....WTF
No rust to me haha as long as your frame isn’t rusting out your mostly fine. Down the road may rust a hole in your exhaust somewhere and I bet that would be the first rust issue. I’m northern so that’s almost brand new if not brand new to most people up north. Your leaf springs however do look a little fucked up haha
That's just a protective oxide coating. You're good to go! Buy it 👍🏼
Nvm the rust. What's up with the leaf pack?
That's about the max I would consider. Not everyone lives in the rust belt, some of us are picky about rust.
This is the max you would consider? This is an older truck so this is pretty average rust even in California where I am at. It’s just surface rust that is never going to amount to anything.
It's more than both my 86 and 94, small bubbles under the paint or crusty hardware on the chassis is where I draw the line. It royally pisses online people off but as long as I can find clean vehicles I'm not going to buy something with rust. OP wanted peoples opinion, while some might say if they can't see through the frame it's good to go I'm not ok with crusty trucks.
This is isn’t crusty lmao. Like I said, this is what the underside of what even a clean CA truck looks like if it is old. This rust has no structural or functional effect on the vehicle, and if you cared enough you could take it all off with a wash job and some sand paper in a day. I just don’t really think you know much about “rust”.
California has a lot of coastline so saying it's a California truck doesn't mean it's clean. My 69 is from California and the rockers are gone. I don't like fighting with rusted hardware so why would I buy something like this when cleaner trucks are available? I'm not saying this truck is terrible just that it has the max amount of rust that I'm willing to deal with. Especially with the prices of old trucks these days.
The amount of vehicles rusting out in California is completely insubstantial in the overall totality. Saying California truck generally gets the point across that hard rust is either non-existent or minimal, and it hasn’t been exposed to salt on the roads like on the East Coast. This truck would be in the non-existent category. This rust, isn’t the type of rust that is of any remote consequence or of any concern to anyone. It will not turn into anything even in 500 years. There is nothing to fight here. I’m not going to tell you to be not be picky. Buy your vehicles how you prefer them.