I bought my 2007 F150 on Jan. 2, 2007. It has been great and trouble-free and it only has 35,000 miles on it. I change the oil every year whether it needs it or not . My state inspection is in December so that's when I get the oil changed. I had been noticing a suspension noise in the last two uses of the truck. Then while working on leaves in the yard I found a hard, cracked/broken small rubber bushing at the end of the driveway - I thought maybe it had come from a random vehicle going down the street.
So, waiting for the call to come get the truck after the inspection/oil change, I did get the call but it was to tell me that the truck needed sway bar end links. So that old bushing was mine, and when I drove it home, it was like a new truck. Those bushings must have been hard/compressed for a long time.
I take this as notice that I need to be checking a lot more stuff in that truck to avoid any unpleasant surprises, like a coolant hose cracking.

 

Yep, mine is on its third set of tires, none of which were worn out - they developed deep cracks and failed inspection. At 8 years on the original set, I had a blowout one day on the interstate. The tire split radially from the bead to the tread. I have never had a vehicle this long. This XL is a 'base model' which was advertised for $12,888 in December of 2006. It has the 4.2L V6 and manual 5 speed along with PS, PB and A/C.

 

The best 'rule of thumb' is to inspect your tires for cracks because conditions are different in all locations. Here in VA, if the cracks show woven material they will fail inspection.