F150 cab corner rust-why does this happen? Here’s the answer!

[@mkl5448]

Automakers are not in the business of making cars that last 10 years of more. They want you to buy another new vehicle, so shortcuts like the ones they all do are built-in to to make the vehicles shabby(rust). You'll take it to the body shop, get a huge estimate, trade it in on a new one. You know they have meetings upon meetings about how they can do this. Because all the obviously preventive measures are very easy to do, and would not cost much.

[@jimmydiamond75]

“Planned obsolescence “ is the term and yes I have witnessed it time and again. How about BMW claiming “lifetime transmission fluid”….according to them lifetime is 100k miles. Just total shit. As a mechanic I really get disturbed when someone brings in any car and says “well the salesman told me they only need oil changed every 15k miles!” It’s pitiful.

[@angrysheepdog9744]

I'm in the same boat just rebuilt the engine and new suspension. I thought it was due to the disintegrated riveted seam covers at the back corners of the roof.

[@MotorHead963]

😬 got same problem, I was thinking that water was getting to the 3rd brake light … but them sunroof drains are just brilliant 😵😵😵

[@jimmydiamond75]

@@MotorHead963 and the holes on the underside, near the frame, covered with……DUCT TAPE?!?! Wtf is wrong with these guys??? Couldn’t find some rubber stoppers or silicone tape???

[@jimmydiamond75]

@@MotorHead963 I’m gonna do mine in Neverrust fiberglass corners and rockers after I cut out all the rust. It’s just pitiful looking on what’s otherwise a pretty sweet truck

[@TonicofSonic]

It also happens because the third brake light gaskets leaks. You will see stains on the inside corners of the back headliner if this is the case. I would drill holes in the bottoms of the corners on a new truck.

[@jimmydiamond75]

Another good point! Somehow that didn’t happen on mine.

[@jimmydiamond75]

Also, check out the holes underneath on the inner side of the rocker panels….they used freaking duct tape instead of grommets🤦🏻‍♂️ I mean really, how cheap can they possibly be?!?! 😂

[@user-ve2up9pw2y]

Mine did the same thing with no sunroof

[@jimmydiamond75]

I’ve seen a few of them have that happen, but that is due to the duct-tape they chose to cover holes with underneath instead of using rubber or silicone grommets. It really is sad that there’s an automotive engineer out there that’s high ranking and says “sure, tape is good enough”.

[@Dsmwarrior1996]

Same here, no sunroof

[@Zinit]

@@Dsmwarrior1996 Cab 3rd light drain I think goes down there

[@jimmydiamond75]

@@Zinit I’m pretty sure the 3rd brake light doesn’t have a drain, that usually seeps down the back as the result of the gasket becoming dry and cracked.

[@johnpyle8027]

@@jimmydiamond75 I didn't see one when I replaced mine. No rust issues here I just wanted to update my truck with blacked out lenses all around. It still looks as good as when I bought it in 06. I'm just no ever going to be willing to spent the money on a new one! The main reason these and others rust is the sound deadening junk they squirt up in there and the rear wheel moldings. It gets wet or even humid, wet is wet. A little salt and there ya go. If mine ever rusts like that I will do the steel patch panels and body work myself. I've seen plastic ones that even come with the paint! Cut the rust out, coat everything with some Eastwood rust encapsulator and the panels glue on. Color matched. There is a guy on here from Canada that did them and it is pretty good and costs hundreds vs thousands.

[@patrickhoward4080]

If it hasn’t rusted out yet, would you suggest drilling a drain hole and add an extension to the hose and run it through a grommet or something like that? Spray some fluid film protectant up in there?

[@KITT-K2000]

wow and they call them self engineer, i need to do the same on my 2006 f150

[@mistamaccapone5150]

Thank you

[@Aerogrow]

yep... same on my f150... Replacing now with fiberglass Rocker Panels and corners; did fiberglass bedsides also do the stupid panel bound they used on them. Far cheaper then 6k.

[@jimmydiamond75]

What’s the panel bound? Did you order prefab fiberglass or is this all custom by hand?

[@Aerogrow]

@@jimmydiamond75 ordered pre-fabs; bedsides were like 2k and the rockers where cheap; like 300-500 area. Panel bound is what ford decided to use for bedsides / wheel well; so it traps a bunch of salt/sand/dirt in the sandwich layer and rusts the wheel wells out from the inside.

[@jimmydiamond75]

@@Aerogrow did you use Neverrust brand?

[@Aerogrow]

@@jimmydiamond75 yeppers; couple other brands but neverust was cheapest. Not show quality fix; but for a truck maybe worth 15k; more then good enuff.

[@ZainesElectricTrainz]

Right there with you. Just dropped my 2013 f150 off last week to the body shop. 6 grand

[@jimmydiamond75]

What state are you in? I could only find one place wiling to tackle it in STL.

[@jimmydiamond75]

Did you find a place easily, and does $6k include paint? Happen to have any pics of before and after?

[@EvanFagerty]

I’m sorry but 6-8 grand is a down payment for a brand new truck. I’d keep the one you have for work or whatever if it paid off and the new one for family

[@jimmydiamond75]

I hear what you’re saying, and I’ve considered it. Unfortunately, I’ve spent so much at this point, on top of paying it off, that to me it seems reasonable if I stretch my limits just a little. I’ve got about $9k in HP engine parts on this , plus another few grand in tires and suspension. I don’t want to have to do all this again!!! And I don’t have $100k for a newer one that will match the performance of this one. I’m going to try a few OG body shops and see what I come up with. Ime older guys are more likely to take on a challenge , and for a better price. These mega shops and younger managers just say “sorry, we don’t do cab corners”, or they say it’s around $12k. Only interested in profit. Also, imo, these have much better built interior, which I know isn’t saying much, but it doesn’t feel like the dash, door panels, console, wheel, and switches came from a toy factory.

[@holeshot1721]

So in other words if you have this truck and your can corner is not rusted out go under there and drill a relief hole! So the water can drain out

[@jimmydiamond75]

Exactly. Also make sure to paint the hole so the exposed metal from drilling doesn’t start to rust. I’ve seen many guys use rubber grommets like a Jeep has in Jeep floorboards. Personally I would swap out the nozzle on a can of rust oleum with one that can utilize a straw (like on Wd-40) and shoot a bunch up inside as well after your certain it’s dry. There’s also many products that are made for sealing interiors of body panels, check out body shop supply stores.

[@james-op9ep]

Im also starting to notice this on my 2013 f150, its the most infuriating thing ever lol.

[@jimmydiamond75]

Nip it in the bud before you’re also looking at new inner and outer rocker panels! IF you’re even able to find a shop that will touch it, it’s expensive as hell, and the results are rarely perfect.

[@jeremybennett5547]

Even the ones without a sunroof have a water drain in the cab corner. It is a poor design though… if auto makers actually cared about the longevity of their product and the consumer they would put a product similar to 3m cavity wax in areas like this that have always been the “rot” spots on their vehicles

[@jimmydiamond75]

Precisely. God forbid they go the extra mile! I still can’t believe there’s a department at Ford that passes this off as a completely fine manufacturing process.

[@billibarra4631]

How much was it to fix?

[@jimmydiamond75]

$6k 🥲

[@Anthony_Spilotro]

Ive noticed that white vehicles rust much quicker than any other color...is there some reason for this?

[@jimmydiamond75]

I think it’s because they don’t show visible dirt and gunk as much as darker colors, so people don’t wash them as often as they should. That’s just my theory

[@Anthony_Spilotro]

@@jimmydiamond75 makes sense to me.

[@bogdanjacques7641]

EIN FAHRZEUG JEDE WOCHE IN WASSER ZU ERSÄUFEN,MACHT FÜR MICH KEINEN SINN .🤔🤔🤔

[@abczxy1864]

All truck cab corners rust out because there is no air movement inside the enclosed space. Install small computer fans in each corner to keep the space dry.

[@kenj.8897]

Lol

[@jimmydiamond75]

I’ve actually heard of this but never seen it

[@Dsmwarrior1996]

I dont even have a sunroof and my corners are gone too

[@gene2200]

Man that does suck, what a shitty design, picked up a clean 14 last summer, no sunroof but light maybe leaking or water will definitely get in from behind where ford scotch taped all the holes in the back of the rockers. One corner has lil bit of surface rust in the anti chip paint they use, Dads 81fairmont had that along the bottom, factory or dealer does it idk, Luckily all tape was on mine still, gonna use 3M cavity wax then tape holes up with gorilla tape. Was a lease to a contractor from enterprise, was well maintained, they usually only haul paychecks anyways. Hopefully a 3M roloc ceramic pad will get rid of rust but no metal then ill use phosporic acid, prime and paint it. Didn't know about this problem till after. Those coyotes do run like a mofo!

[@jimmydiamond75]

Great plan and I was as stunned as you probably were the first time I had it on a lift and saw peeling black duct tape 🤬🤬🤬 unbelievable

[@gene2200]

Just tapped on mine other day, have same hole just driver side tho. Was covered with anti chip paint. Unless light leaked, didn't look like it, replaced the gasket, sliding window seal may have let water in otherwise IDK, maybe the vinyl strips on roof leaked? Passenger side is solid and both rockers I treated. Reached in tool bucket, grabbed my tin snips and cleaned it up. Time to dial in new Lincoln mig, Miller was stolen, worked great on sheet metal. Got handful of galvanized sheets off the job site ready to be used. I'll get a little phosphoric acid in there and maybe try weld through primer over it I saw on here. Oh and gonna drill a 1" access hole behind it to rust proof it or whatever needs to be done afterwards.

[@alb12345672]

Have the same truck and the bed corners are rotted. Can't win..

[@nickfromdasack]

$6000 to high get the raptor

[@jimmydiamond75]

Lol with the 6.2 and a blower thrown on it!

[@I_Am_Free.]

Horrible design! Ford needs to reimburse us. My Expedition has the same problem.

[@jimmydiamond75]

Completely agree. I wonder if there was a class action lawsuit?

[@allenfrankenfield2143]

That's why I don't drive a Ford

[@jimmydiamond75]

No, that’s why Ford switched to aluminum. What’s Chevy and Ram made from? 😂

[@EvanFagerty]

My Ram is doing slowly doing this

[@bogdanjacques7641]

MEIN TRUCK 2011 XL 5.0, HAT GAR KEIN ROST. WIE FRISCH AUS DEARBORN . ""MIKE SANDERS"" SEI DANK . BUILT FORD TOUGH 💪💯💪

[@americanchauvinist1210]

What if you have no sunroof

[@jimmydiamond75]

Then you’ll still have probs, although not as bad, and not as soon, bc they literally used black duct tape to cover the holes in the lower cab, supposedly “sealing” it from water infiltration. It was a total fumble for the engineers. Just terrible.

[@americanchauvinist1210]

@@jimmydiamond75 yes I’m pretty much done with ford at this point being a lifelong ford guy all American sucks next Truck will be Toyota

[@jimmydiamond75]

@@americanchauvinist1210 I feel the same way at this point. I rented a 2021 F150 Limited with the messaging seats and all that, but everything felt kinda cheap compared to my 2012. I rented a 2021 Tundra, and all I thought was “all this needs is a supercharger and maintenance, and I might die before it does”…. I originally bought my F150, the first Ford I ever personally purchased and owned, because the Ecoboost was supposedly ok on gas and supposedly easily modified….nothing has been easy nor has it been economical. You can see my other couple videos for my build; I’ve literally improved everything possible besides the HPFP. I get 18mpg highway and about 9-10 city. It’s fast as hell now, and can tow a house, but a $12k body shop quote on a 10 year old truck is ridiculous and could’ve been prevented with proper engineering.

[@bogdanjacques7641]

​@@americanchauvinist1210ICH BEHAUPTE DAS GEGENTEIL . BEI REISKOCHERN WIE TUNDRA ODER TITAN,PLATZEN DIE MOTOREN BEI WASSERDURCHFAHRTEN. ...😂😂😂😮😮 MEIN FORD HAT MEHR ALS 400 K KM UND KEINE!!!!!!!! REPARATUR.....NUR ÖLE,FILTER,BREMSBELÄGE&SCHEIBEN .