Scotty, very excited for your forum here!

I have a very concerning issue with my 2009 f150 king ranch. It has the 5.4 triton and only has 92k on the engine. Automatic.

When going up a moderate incline, in drive or reverse, at low roms and under slight load, a knocking sounds begins and the engine starts to shake. No check engine light. 

Took to a local mechanic in Tennessee recommended by my boss. I replicated the sound for him and he disconnected the vct solenoids. Upon disconnecting one or the other, the shaking stopped. We replaced one vct solenoid, because he said "if one tire is busted, you wouldn't replace them all" which I wanted to disagree but didn't because I wanted to trust his judgement. Anyways, after that, the issue persisted and he recommended I drive with the vct solenoid disconnected. I got 12 mpg vs. 17 and it felt like I was driving a v6. 

I'm making payments to my uncle in sc for the truck. He owns a towing company and knows a bit about cars and has an in-house mechanic who was the mechanic that worked on the truck when he had it. Some context on the truck, it was originally ran into a tree by the original owner. Front right of the truck has chassis damage and it had other lights on the dash like, abs, brake, tpms, traction control, and airbag. So I knew it had issues and I knew the 5.4 triton is troublesome but I wanted to upgrade from my 1999 accord to a full size truck and my uncle rarely drove this truck, he's a workaholic. 

So anyways, he offers to treat the truck like his own and fix it. His mechanic recommends timing chains, guides, and tensioners. Those are replaced, I go to test the truck, and I hear a faint knocking like when it wanted to get rougher and start shaking. I think the solution may be to replace both vct solenoids with oem solenoids. We have yet to do it because my uncle, being a workaholic, hasn't had time to tell me if that's what he wants to do. 

So, do you think that's worth doing? What do you think I should do? I'm very frustrated and discouraged because I'm 23 and trying to figure my financial stuff out and I'm taking risks, like getting this truck, in hopes of the gamble paying off and it hasn't. 

Thank you for the time you've put into your videos and for taking the time to answer questions. 

That's pretty much all I got. If vct solenoids don't fix it, I'll probably ask my uncle to take the truck back and I'll jump into my wife's 2016 ram 1500 (which I don't prefer, shorter wheel base/squirrelly, 2 door instead of 4 door, 4x2 instead of 4x4) Wife isn't a fan of a money pit truck and I don't blame her. 

Thank you again! 

Sincerely, a grateful and inspired young man.