Problems with 2003 Ford F-150 POWER TRAIN

Within a few thousand miles of purchase, we began noticing a sporadic grating noise from the rear end. more distubing is the hard shifting between 1st and 2nd gears that is also sporadic. the shifting problem happens on long trips of 150 miles or more. it will usually happen about once a day but of course we never know when. the grating noise is less frequent and can happen anytime. our vehicle is currently at the dealership for a fourth visit for these problems. ford has not been able to replicate the grating and hard shifting which makes sense but at the same time we are stuck with a vehicle that has not provided new truck performance. since the problem has become more frequent, it will probably lead to transmission failure once it is out of warranty. i have considered selling it but that would be unethical since the next person would eventually experience the same problems. ford needs to step up and replace the transmission. there is one other similar complaint in the data base. *la

Purchased new ford harley pickup. loud noise in rear, shop could not identify. rear axle broke in curve and rear wheel on driver side was several yards from where truck finally ran off road and overturned. total loss. *nlm

2003 ford f-150 king ranch "howl". nar 07/28/2003.*mr driveline vibration. dealer notified. *cb

Drive train wine between 47 mph and 55 mph in my 2003 f-150 supper crew. the ford dealer replaced the rear drive shaft but the problem still existed. dealer called ford and ford said because i have a sliding rear window, tonneau cover and 3.73 rear end gearing these items are causing the wine. the ford dealer said that if tried to run this problem through warranty again ford would deny it. the dealer also said i should take this problem to another dealer.*ak

We own several ford f-150 trucks. in the last 3 months we had four separate problems with the rear axles. one truck the axle broke and the wheel came completely off. another truck the axle was destroyed and had to be replaced. the last truck is brand new with less than 2000 miles and experienced the same problem yesterday. *jb

Purchased the 2003 f-150used from hertz rental at 22,00o miles. within 2000 miles, a grating sound began to occur periodically. basically, after you are at a stop or complete a turn, the truck will make this grinding sound as you accelerate. it lasts for a second or so and sounds and feels like you ran over a cattle guard. it does it sometimes and not others. also, the truck will sometimes drop its idle to 100 while stopped and almost die. also the air conditioning makes a loud groaning type while when you first turn it on. you have to turn the truck off and back on to make it stop. ive had the vehicle 3 months and its been in the shop 8 times. each time they tell me they cant find a problem. i dont beleive this considering theres many others on here with the same problems. ive called customer assitance and they just say go to the dealer. its got 30,000 miles on it. my warranty time is running out. i cant sell it because id have to take a loss on it. ford has hung me out to dry. please please help. my wife and i cannot afford this kind of financial hit. i dont expect a new truck, i just want my truck fixed so i can trust it.*ak