Rusted Axle, Drive Shaft and Exhaust System on 2023

[TremorLucky]

Mine looks a lot like yours. Most of the rust appears to be concentrated around the connection plate at the rear diff. The dealer I purchased from said it was nothing to worry about, but I'm not sure if that's true. I've since moved to another state and may have the local Ford dealer here take a look and give me feedback. If I do, I'll post an update.

So I sent the pictures from my previous post to my Ford service advisor at my new dealer (not the dealer where I purchased the vehicle). His response was:

"Doesn't look like anything to be concerned about, surface rust like that is normal for new vehicles and it's not going to negatively affect the parts in any way."

It still looks ugly though. Then again, I guess you don't really see it unless you're under the truck looking for it.

 

[TREMOR_K32E18]

Ya mine isnt much better. I also submitted a claim.

With your dealer or Ford corporate? Any updates on the result?

I feel like there’s a consensus around the idea that it’s cosmetic, and that’s all I need to sleep easy. I’ve read that coatings could enable rust to develop under the coating that could get really bad and one wouldn’t even know it.

I have it in writing that this shouldn’t affect any warranty claims down the road, so I’ll cross that bridge when (if) I get there.

 

[Tremor14]

So I sent the pictures from my previous post to my Ford service advisor at my new dealer (not the dealer where I purchased the vehicle). His response was:

"Doesn't look like anything to be concerned about, surface rust like that is normal for new vehicles and it's not going to negatively affect the parts in any way."

It still looks ugly though. Then again, I guess you don't really see it unless you're under the truck looking for it.

That's about what I'd expect.

 

[Killercat69]

Every is ridiculous on this subject if you buy a rusty 75k truck just saying dont be afraid and have the dealership fix it

 

[b-real]

So I sent the pictures from my previous post to my Ford service advisor at my new dealer (not the dealer where I purchased the vehicle). His response was:

"Doesn't look like anything to be concerned about, surface rust like that is normal for new vehicles and it's not going to negatively affect the parts in any way."

It still looks ugly though. Then again, I guess you don't really see it unless you're under the truck looking for it.

I mean, they are not wrong. The flange on the pinion for the rear axle while not pretty is not in any danger of breaking. Literally all of these pics, even the bad ones are just cosmetic, and nothing here is close to "rusting out". Quality control has definitely dropped at Ford over the past 3 years, but I am waaaay more concerned about the other issues that could come up that make the vehicle undrivable than surface rust. I am picky about my vehicles (and also about what fights I pick), so I always go under and wire brush and paint underneath myself. Should I have to do this on a $70k+ vehicle? No, but its not like we are buying Mercedes AMGs, and Ford dealers are not going to treat F150 buyers that way. You probably have to buy a new GT for that treatment. And I have a great relationship with my dealership based on the amount of fleet vehicles I buy from them. Rather than use up my goodwill with them on stuff like this I prefer to use it on things that actually matter to the drivability of the truck. As a side note, all of the fleet Fords (and Rams) we buy have this type of cosmetic surface rust, and we do nothing about it, and they are still running fine when we sell them off at 150k miles.

I might be in the minority here, but I dont see an issue worth trying to fight the dealership for. If they do something for you then that is great, but I am also not surprised that they view this as normal.

 

[Tremor14]

I mean, they are not wrong. The flange on the pinion for the rear axle while not pretty is not in any danger of breaking. Literally all of these pics, even the bad ones are just cosmetic, and nothing here is close to "rusting out". Quality control has definitely dropped at Ford over the past 3 years, but I am waaaay more concerned about the other issues that could come up that make the vehicle undrivable than surface rust. I am picky about my vehicles (and also about what fights I pick), so I always go under and wire brush and paint underneath myself. Should I have to do this on a $70k+ vehicle? No, but its not like we are buying Mercedes AMGs, and Ford dealers are not going to treat F150 buyers that way. You probably have to buy a new GT for that treatment. And I have a great relationship with my dealership based on the amount of fleet vehicles I buy from them. Rather than use up my goodwill with them on stuff like this I prefer to use it on things that actually matter to the drivability of the truck. As a side note, all of the fleet Fords (and Rams) we buy have this type of cosmetic surface rust, and we do nothing about it, and they are still running fine when we sell them off at 150k miles.

I might be in the minority here, but I dont see an issue worth trying to fight the dealership for. If they do something for you then that is great, but I am also not surprised that they view this as normal.

I'm with you 100% on this. You can look under just about any vehicle in use and find this kind of surface rust. If you have a dealer that will address something like this, they are probably good and trying hard to keep you happy. What they'll likely do is wire brush and rattle can a little paint onto it.

 

[TremorLucky]

I mean, they are not wrong. The flange on the pinion for the rear axle while not pretty is not in any danger of breaking. Literally all of these pics, even the bad ones are just cosmetic, and nothing here is close to "rusting out". Quality control has definitely dropped at Ford over the past 3 years, but I am waaaay more concerned about the other issues that could come up that make the vehicle undrivable than surface rust. I am picky about my vehicles (and also about what fights I pick), so I always go under and wire brush and paint underneath myself. Should I have to do this on a $70k+ vehicle? No, but its not like we are buying Mercedes AMGs, and Ford dealers are not going to treat F150 buyers that way. You probably have to buy a new GT for that treatment. And I have a great relationship with my dealership based on the amount of fleet vehicles I buy from them. Rather than use up my goodwill with them on stuff like this I prefer to use it on things that actually matter to the drivability of the truck. As a side note, all of the fleet Fords (and Rams) we buy have this type of cosmetic surface rust, and we do nothing about it, and they are still running fine when we sell them off at 150k miles.

I might be in the minority here, but I dont see an issue worth trying to fight the dealership for. If they do something for you then that is great, but I am also not surprised that they view this as normal.

Agreed. I wasn't trying to fight it with the dealer, but I did want to confirm it wasn't a serious issue. If it's cosmetic, I'm not too concerned. It's not a visible portion of the truck unless you're specifically looking.

 

[TremorLucky]

On the topic of undercarriage rust, what's everyone doing in the winter to wash the underside of their trucks? I've been going under and spraying mine with a hose using the hose nozzle on the "jet" setting, but I'm sure there better methods you all may be using.

 

[tolson37]

On the topic of undercarriage rust, what's everyone doing in the winter to wash the underside of their trucks? I've been going under and spraying mine with a hose using the hose nozzle on the "jet" setting, but I'm sure there better methods you all may be using.

I’m surprised there’s no spray on application for preventing rust. I know it’s not this simple but I’ve used rust oleum on rusty things before and seems like it really sticks.

 

[Malachi]

Bought mine last week and have just as much rust as Malachi. Went to my dealership yesterday and they are going to make it right by cleaning it up and undercoating it for me tomorrow. I could tell they are also frustrated that Ford has put them in this position. Shame on Ford for doing this to the consumer and putting people in this position. Love my truck, but not happy that this even has to be discussed.

How did you get them to cover it? Mine are saying it is not a warranty issue.

 

[Malachi]

Many of those parts have no paint or a light dusting of paint, so they'll get surface rust quickly. I see this as simply an appearance issue. I've owned 50-60 year cars that all of those components are completely rusted over and still work fine. If the appearance is important, wire brush or wire wheel the heavy stuff off and apply a rust control primer and black paint. You can go a step further and coat with something like POR-15 available from Eastwood and you'll never see rust again.
As far as the exhaust goes, isn't that stainless?

The concern is what I don't see. Further. When paying $65K for a vehicle that was built on month previous it should have no rust of this caliber.

 

[Malachi]

“Surface rust on carbon steel components of these vehicles is not out of the ordinary. It will not cause any warranty issues. PDI will not do anything to remove this rust.“
- Dealer

No luck on my end. I will do what @TremorLucky is doing and just bug the dealer any time it’s in for service. As long as any impacts from the rust are still covered under warranty, I’m not too worried about it. I imagine it would like this after a short while anyways. Not pressed on getting it to look pristine for a few months then looking like this anyways.

I’m using X-Plan, so I’m sure the dealer isn’t scrambling to “make the customer happy” as they’re not making much on the deal.

Same here. I purchased mine under the X-Plan. Fortunately, the dealer got a new GM right after I purchased it and he is pushing hard to get Ford to provide coverage.

 

[Malachi]

Here is the latest update. Ford rejected initial complaints as "surface rust". The dealership has a new GM so he spoke with the regional service rep in person when he visited and showed him the pics directly. The service rep agreed it looked above normal surface rust. He showed it to a Ford engineer who also agreed (unofficially). They have elevated the complaint through some internal customer satisfaction portal. I also reached out to a Ford contact I have through my work as a national fleet manager. Still no action taken so far though.

 

[TREMOR_K32E18]

Here is the latest update. Ford rejected initial complaints as "surface rust". The dealership has a new GM so he spoke with the regional service rep in person when he visited and showed him the pics directly. The service rep agreed it looked above normal surface rust. He showed it to a Ford engineer who also agreed (unofficially). They have elevated the complaint through some internal customer satisfaction portal. I also reached out to a Ford contact I have through my work as a national fleet manager. Still no action taken so far though.

If you do get Ford corporate to agree to something, others may be able to use your pics and case as a precedent.

 

[moultrie83]

So I picked my tremor up in Charlotte on Saturday and didn’t look underneath until I read this thread yesterday. I appear to have the same issues - though I doubt my eye can grade the severity. Should we be worried about this? Would you bring to a local dealer to assess even though I didn’t purchase from them?

 

[TremorLucky]

So I picked my tremor up in Charlotte on Saturday and didn’t look underneath until I read this thread yesterday. I appear to have the same issues - though I doubt my eye can grade the severity. Should we be worried about this? Would you bring to a local dealer to assess even though I didn’t purchase from them?

After I moved to a new state, I had a local dealer (not the one I bought from) take a look at the rust when I was in for service. They said it was not an issue and posed no problems. Not sure if that's true, but that's what I was told.

 

[NomadA32]

I mean, they are not wrong. The flange on the pinion for the rear axle while not pretty is not in any danger of breaking. Literally all of these pics, even the bad ones are just cosmetic, and nothing here is close to "rusting out". Quality control has definitely dropped at Ford over the past 3 years, but I am waaaay more concerned about the other issues that could come up that make the vehicle undrivable than surface rust. I am picky about my vehicles (and also about what fights I pick), so I always go under and wire brush and paint underneath myself. Should I have to do this on a $70k+ vehicle? No, but its not like we are buying Mercedes AMGs, and Ford dealers are not going to treat F150 buyers that way. You probably have to buy a new GT for that treatment. And I have a great relationship with my dealership based on the amount of fleet vehicles I buy from them. Rather than use up my goodwill with them on stuff like this I prefer to use it on things that actually matter to the drivability of the truck. As a side note, all of the fleet Fords (and Rams) we buy have this type of cosmetic surface rust, and we do nothing about it, and they are still running fine when we sell them off at 150k miles.

I might be in the minority here, but I dont see an issue worth trying to fight the dealership for. If they do something for you then that is great, but I am also not surprised that they view this as normal.

Could not agree more, there is no issue of failure. I have done corrosion testing for years at blue oval and we expedite and simulate corrosion testing. These are trucks not trailer queens.

 

[TremorLucky]

Could not agree more, there is no issue of failure. I have done corrosion testing for years at blue oval and we expedite and simulate corrosion testing. These are trucks not trailer queens.

That's great to hear - thanks!

 

[moultrie83]

That's great to hear - thanks!

Seconded. Thanks fellas for the input.

 

[taxgod4u]

I hit my surface rust with matte black rustoleum paint and it is no loner a visable issue.