Hit 50,000 miles on my old truck's original suspension parts and nothing broke yet

I was changing the oil last Saturday and noticed the shocks still had their factory stickers on them, so I checked the odometer and sure enough this 1997 Ford F-150 rolled right over to 50,000 miles on the same leaf springs and struts that came with it from the factory in Detroit - has anyone else gotten lucky with old suspension components that should have failed years ago?

2 comments

2 Comments

sethtorres6d ago

My 2000 Silverado went 80k on the original ball joints before I replaced them just to be safe. Sometimes you just get a good batch of parts.

kelly_roberts6d ago

Yeah, that sethtorres guy mentioning 80k on ball joints is wild. I actually read somewhere that a lot of those late 90s Ford and Chevy trucks had leaf springs that were way overbuilt for what they needed to do. The factory struts on these things are usually trash, so you definitely got a good batch or maybe it's just that the truck hasn't been beat to hell. My buddy's old F-150 made it to 60k before one of the rear shocks blew, but he drove it like a maniac on gravel roads. You might be one of the lucky few who got the parts that were assembled on a Monday morning when everyone was paying attention.