Rust is a sad reality for most vehicle owners, especially those that live in areas with harsh winters or near the salty ocean. But we expect our vehicles to last quite some time before rust starts to rear its ugly head. That hasn’t been the case for a few 2021 Ford F-150 owners, however, as many of them are already facing various rust and corrosion issues mere months after taking delivery of their shiny new trucks.
That includes Adam Daily of Spring, Texas, who recently told the Detroit Free Press that his 2021 Ford F-150 began showing surface rust on its axles and other underbody components within days of bringing it home. In addition to that, rusty water dripped off those parts and left brown stains on his garage floor. So far, he says neither the dealer nor the automaker has an answer for him.
“I’ve been getting ghosted,” Daily said. “Ever since I got this truck, nobody knows anything. My 2016 F-150 had 65,000 miles when I turned it in, and it didn’t look like this. This thing looks like it’s a few years old and driven in heavy snow-like conditions with salt on the roads. I didn’t know what to expect but I didn’t expect people to get ignored.”
“These parts look they were possibly sitting in water or somewhere where it’s wet,” Daily said. “People have images that are around the shock mounts, too. There shouldn’t be so much corrosion on a truck just built. I’m in quality control and I’m embarrassed I missed this. But I was so excited to get my truck.”
Daily isn’t the only person that’s expressed frustration with rusty parts, either. The Free Press spoke with 2021 Ford F-150 owners in seven different states around the U.S. who have also noticed corrosion occurring within days of taking delivery of their trucks. There doesn’t appear to be any discernable pattern to what trucks are affected, however, though Ford is currently looking into it.
“We’re looking, with our suppliers, into questions raised,” Ford spokesman Said Deep told the Free Press. “While some F-150 underbody steel components may show signs of surface rust, this will have no impact on part performance or life.”
We’ll have more on this as soon as it’s available, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford F-Series news, Ford F-150 news, and continuous Ford news coverage.
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I don't think there has been a vehicle built in the last oh, 100 years that had some degree of rust on the underside that started showing up when it was new in some form.
& you would be wrong. I owed many and zero rust when new.
Truer words have not been written. In fact, I would recommend those not believing this go to a Toyota dealership-bring your own creeper and do some inspections! Ford has bragged about how great their aluminum beds are "they don't rust", one may think they are anti rust-I guess not. What good does it do to make your bed out of aluminum, but pay zero attention to rust found all over the rest of the truck????
This is comment is pure hyperbole, Toyota fanboy. Also inaccurate: Many parts on post 2013 models are made from aluminum, not just the bed. Further, according to THIS article and others: There is SOME rust on SOME trucks. Not "all over the rest of the truck".
There could be a supplier issue as all OEMs face these from time to time (airbags, for instance). Ford will sort it out.
Ford has quietly incorporated aluminum parts for quite some time. Take the aluminum driveshaft shown in the picture, for example. I had a 2002 Ranger and was surprised to find it had an aluminum drive shaft. That 2002 Ranger was also flex fuel, able to burn E85 and E100 even though Ford barely mentioned it. It was several years later that GM engaged in chest thumping when they had flex fuel capability in some vehicles.
As far as Toyota goes, I have a 2005 Tacoma that rusted so severely on the grease-for-undercoating Dana frame that Toyota issued a customer satisfaction action on my truck in 2016, replacing the entire frame, fuel lines and brake lines. Unfortunately Toyota reinstalled some of badly rusted parts, such as the gas tank straps which broke and I replaced on my own. Toyota now uses better frame coating - it looks like POR-15 or powder coat - whatever it is, it no longer rusts off in a few months. I’m gun-shy about buying Toyota again. I had two Rangers that did not have rust issues.
It looks like Ford probably should have used more chromate plated fasteners. I’m not a mechanical engineer - there could be a reason the spring shackle bolts pictured aren’t plated.
Well Ford fanboy, they wont sort it out. Like the explorer I bought and the cam tensioner went destroying the engine under warranty that they wouldn't cover. They boned me and they will screw the people who buy this rust bucket. Never buy a ford.
royl It took me half an hour to stop laughing enough so that I could type. If you're going to throw a brand name out for reference, at least do a cursory google search first. Try Toyota frame rust, then view a series of recalls approaching 10 billion dollars and extending for a decade on Tundra, Tacoma, Sequoia. From the looks of it, if you go under one with a creeper, use blocks and wear a helmet. Thanks for the laugh though, needed a chuckle.
I like the most dependable truck I can find and my old ford is a 2003, no problems at all and no rust none because I take care of it, I even drove a tundra but I couldn't stand looking at the stupid thing, all tundra's now only have a twin turbo v6 and there's reports of turbo failures at 400 miles, guess what, the cab must be removed to repair them, I wouldn't have a toy for free. g m has afm lifters, ram is junk so ill paint my differential with rust oleum and drive on. the Toyota was nice however and very fast.
stop with the fake content! first the trucks body is made out of aluminum so its scientifically proven to not corrode or rust. second I have owned one for a week now and no rust on the under carriage.
Give it another week. Fix Or Repair Daily. I own a 2013 F150 with 48000 miles and has trans problems. F.O.R.D
I have had a ford f 150 since 1991, now have a 2019 and 2021 and have had zero issues. For those who do not understand how this works here is my 10 cents. The supplier is responsible for the parts paint, most likely PPG and you can be sure ford will deal with it. Its been an issue with Honda Canada also. So blame where it counts
I have a 2002 Ford F150 354,000 miles on it with practically no problems at all throughout its entire history. Should be good for another couple of hundred thousand miles. As far as the acronym for Ford, just about every make and model has a choice acronym associated with it. Ford F series trucks have been not only the best selling Truck in the world, but the best selling "vehicle" in the US. There is a reason for that.....There just that good!!
I was a loyal Ford customer for 35 years. I purchased a New 2008 Expedition King Ranch and buy the end of the first years my hood and rear tail gate paint started to bubble due to oxidation. Ford refused to cover it and by the 2nd year it looked like I had a 10 yr old vehicle. I went back to Ford dealer to trade it in and they wanted to take $5000 off my trade in because of bubbling.
I decided to keep it and put a sign in my back window advertising what a new ford will look like after 1st year of purchase not covered by ford.
I was flagged down by a couple Lincoln navigator owners having same issue on their new 2016 models. Fords failure to correct paint failure they know was a problem after 8 years tells me they don't care and why I won't buy another ford again.
Uhh.. Aluminum does corrode, it is called aluminum oxide and looks like a white powdery coating on untreated aluminum. Iron rust is reddish in color, aluminum rust is white in color.
Google Explorer Hood corrosion. It's been a very common issue.
No where are they talking about body. Its all undercarriage parts.
A week wtf does that tell you can we get a straight answer from you folks .I just purchased the new f-150 now i'm worried or does anybody have an answer? Did you or anyone hear back from ford on this issue and will the fix any rust that will occurs?
a $5 can of rustoleum will stop the light surface rustI got my 2023 f150 6 days ago and it had the rust on about 1/2 the rear differential I knew that because I inspected it before buying, with 11 miles on the clock I painted it and it took about 10 minutes no problems the truck will last me 20 years.
Aluminum can corrode, but won’t corrode if handled and maintained correctly. It is very important to use proper fasteners with aluminum. Untreated steel bolts may cause aluminum to rot out around the bolt heads. I have an aluminum body Honda Insight and the shop manual is very emphatic about using the correct fasteners. Corrosion resistant bolts have a dark gray tri-metal coating. I’ve seen the unfortunate results on cars where the owners carelessly reinstalled plain steel bolts after doing work on their cars. The good news is that light scratches on an aluminum body panels are usually self-limiting.
Pete You must have gotten a good one my 2021 f150 with 500 miles on it has surface rust on about 20 spot on the steel frame , the front muffler has many pits in it and the dealer is going to replace the ds rear brake fitting next to wheel because it is rusting, aluminum body and steel frame , Fords E coat system sucks.
What was shown in the photo's is not at all an issue as these parts a thick casting and extrusions or fasteners almost never removed.
I agree, it would be nice of Ford and their suppliers would powder coast these pards but that is expensive and of little value.
Well said.
I”m not so sure the that the leaf spring seats welded to the axle tube pictured are that invulnerable to rust. I agree the cast iron differential case is probably no big deal, though it would be prettier if painted. I still have the original rear axle assembly in my 2005 Tacoma after the Frame recall and the differential cover is a giant piece of rust. I can’t get the drain plug loose, and I’ve been soaking it with Deep Creep about once a week for a few weeks. I’m a little nervous about trying to crack the threads loose by hitting it with a torch. If I get the drain bolt loose, I plan to replace it with a bolt with a hex socket bolt instead of a protruding bolt head. Or maybe just get a whole new diff cover.
The pictured shackle bolts may be plain steel for an engineering reason.
It's just whining. A little surface rust on a few bolts and diff housing is nothing. I guess the guy could just hit it with a Rustoleum rattle can if he cares that much. No one else does. This is hardly what you'd call "newsworthy" I'm charitable to the writer here.
Spot on
Disagree. I don't think it's whining to ask for a corrosion free product that costs 50 to 80 thousand dollars.
Agreed.
That’s like buying a brand new house, and then walking in to find all the faucets rusted. “It doesn’t affect the water running, it’s just cosmetic.” “Just hit it with a little Rustoleum.” Would you accept that? That’s not whining, that’s expecting a new product to look...NEW.
I first thought Ford might be using core-ten steel (purposely rusts down1-3mm for a protective layer then stops) on some of those parts, but, it wouldn't drip rust, and would be a more expensive alloy than just painting steel or cast iron parts. The rear axle looks like it bypassed the paint booth...
Those parts should have been coated. My outside driveway parked F250 didn't look that rusty anywhere underneath until year 5 or so. Live in Tennessee so weather pretty good here. If I were this person I would take a few photos around their car lit as well as at Car Max just to prove my point before raising He_l
I was planning on heading over to the local Ford dealer to buy a new F150 tomorrow morning.
I guess I wait it out and see if Ford steps up to the plate to resolve the issue.
As to those individuals numerous comments regarding the rust being a minor issue, well they must be either naïve, have way too much money or both.
I would definitely be upset having acquire a new vehicle with the beginnings of a corrosion issue not to mention rust stains appearing on my new $18000 concrete driveway.
There's surface rust (Normal) and real corrosion. Have you ever looked under any vehicle driven in snowy condition? Any vehicle driven in winter / salty environment will quickly show some level of surface rust on the fastners and such on the under carriage. It's normal.
My 2017 F150 displayed similar rust. I sanded the surfaces and repainted. The front bumper support also rusted, as the rear leaf spring hangers. Buy a wire brush and more paint.
Yeah, we should all just buy wire brushes and paint it out. Maybe Ford can put that in their sales brochure. No big deal...everyone likes purchasing a brand new vehicle, taking it home, and then crawling underneath for a few hours to fix what should have been corrected at the factory. Whaaaat?
I have a 2015 Ford F150 and it have a rather sound when I am driving it and I would like to know what caused it .Please send me a email to let me know what it is
So axle manufacturers are not making enough money to properly coat their parts? Whether it affects performance or not, you shouldn't pay $25k-$80k on something and it look like the axle was swapped from a 77'.
I absolutely disagree with most of the comments. I’d be p*ssed! I ran out and crawled under my 2018 truck (the “C” brand) and it has over 19,000 miles on it. Barely a speck of rust, and I was able to actually just wipe it off with a Terry cloth towel (4 or 5 swipes). I live in Florida, but I’ve driven it to N. Georgia twice since I’ve had it. We don’t buy these things because we have an extra $62,000 laying around. We love our trucks and work hard for ‘em. I, personally wouldn’t want a NEW TRUCK that’s already lookin’ like the makings of a “barn find”.
I absolutely disagree with most of the comments. I’d be p*ssed! I ran out and crawled under my 2018 truck (the “C” brand) and it has over 19,000 miles on it. Barely a speck of rust, and I was able to actually just wipe it off with a Terry cloth towel (4 or 5 swipes). I live in Florida, but I’ve driven it to N. Georgia twice since I’ve had it. We don’t buy these things because we have an extra $62,000 laying around. We love our trucks and work hard for ‘em. I, personally wouldn’t want a NEW TRUCK that’s already lookin’ like the makings of a “barn find”.