Rusted Axle, Drive Shaft and Exhaust System on 2023

[moultrie83]

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

Incoming dumb question: did you use spray paint or a brush?

 

[taxgod4u]

rattle can just to hide it so it wont bother me. Would take decades to do any structural damage. Most on teh rear end was just rusty rain splash from the large mild steel ring at the rear of the drive shaft.

 

[Tremor14]

rattle can just to hide it so it wont bother me. Would take decades to do any structural damage. Most on teh rear end was just rusty rain splash from the large mild steel ring at the rear of the drive shaft.

I was watching a video last week of a guy doing the rear brakes on a 48 DeSoto. It reminded me of this thread because the rear end was covered with rust, but looked like if you took a wire wheel to it, you could get it back to shiny metal.

 

[Malachi]

Update! I traded in my Tremor after 7 weeks. Aside from the rust I have already had the A/C stop working mid drive and the back window got stuck in the down position. The A/C reset itself and has worked since and the window was a bad part in the driver's window panel. Regardless, I just couldn't stick with it. After taking it on a road trip to New Orleans I decided it wasn't the right vehicle for me and have since moved on. The plus side is I traded it in for $2K more than I paid for it and got the tax credit for the next vehicle so it was a financial win.

As for Ford stepping up to fix it, it was still sitting in limbo as a customer satisfaction ticket so who knows if it would have ever been handled. For those who said the rust was not a big deal or was not a safety concern...I can assure you that the hangers of the exhaust system were crumbling and the welds on the Y joint had holes and were breaking. It was not normal surface rust. Type in Ford trucks rust in google and you will find media articles written about it how bad it is on some vehicles. It is clear Ford & their suppliers had inventory parked outside and it impacted their vehicles. It's a shame because this was my 4th Ford and I have never had any concerns or issues. But sometimes you have to move on from a brand because they don't get it right. They will circle back around though and will continue to make quality products in the future.

 

[Spooder]

I spray the entire underside myself about once a year with Fluid Film (lanolin oily goo) which I also use on my saltwater boat to keep the transom and engine elements from corroding. Takes about 2 or 3 cans, then touch up on high wash-off areas once in a while. Much easier if you have access to a lift, which I don't. Just make sure when you bring it into the shop you tell them you did it, my last trip to the dealer ended up with them searching all over for an oil or ATF leak. I buy the spray cans 6 at a time on Amazon. Great stuff. Thought about buying a commercial sprayer, but the spray cans work just fine. Mandatory here as we have saltwater flooding on the street sometimes, and if it's not that, it is the marine salt air which attacks everything carbon steel. Another reason to like the Ford aluminum body and bed. The Fluid Film works better than any supposedly permanent undercoating which is expensive and will corrode at the edges and underneath.

 

[Larry]

I purchased a 2023 Tremor last week. Got it home and found the entire undercarriage was rusted out. I should have caught it before purchasing but who thinks the undercarriage is rusted on a brand new vehicle. Plus, I bought it at night and didn’t see it. The dealer is working with me and Ford Corp to come up with a solution. I’m not happy about it and concerned that it is greater than I see.

The dealer did tell me that Ford stopped coating the drive shaft and axles so it’s not unusual to see some rust but mine is worse than they have ever seen. I questioned how it made it out of the factory and passed a dealer PDI with this level of rust and pitting. of course, they have no answer. The pics look like the parts have been sitting outside in the snow and elements for years.

Has anyone had this issue with a new Ford? Does anyone have an experience they can share and how it was handled? Were you satisfied with the solution? I would prefer not to have Ford buy it back but I also don't want problems two years down the road.

Any feedback on how to proceed with the dealer & Ford?

Hello, new to the forum, I too have a rusted suspension, exhaust, etc, just bought it 3 days ago, I showed it to the salesman, he showed to others, they acted like nothing they can do, my , I am going to take more pictures for now, I forgot to take a picture of the axle before I started painting it, turned out good took me 3 hours for that,I think they need to give us a new exhaust, also a skid plate is fully oxidized, my build date was Nov. of 2022, I live about 30 miles from the Dearborn truck plant. I am sure this is on more than just the tremor, ford had 40,000 f150's parked all over South eastern Michigan
a few months back, with chips, sill plates, emblems, and other things missing,they were parked where ever they could abandoned shopping malls, and yes muddy fields, a lot of them were just driven there with day labor drivers, built in the winter driven there on salty roads, and sat for many months with the salt all over the bottom of it, makes me said, I just retired from them after 39 yrs, I hope others contact ford about this.

 

[Tremor14]

Hello, new to the forum, I too have a rusted suspension, exhaust, etc, just bought it 3 days ago, I showed it to the salesman, he showed to others, they acted like nothing they can do, my , I am going to take more pictures for now, I forgot to take a picture of the axle before I started painting it, turned out good took me 3 hours for that,I think they need to give us a new exhaust, also a skid plate is fully oxidized, my build date was Nov. of 2022, I live about 30 miles from the Dearborn truck plant. I am sure this is on more than just the tremor, ford had 40,000 f150's parked all over South eastern Michigan
a few months back, with chips, sill plates, emblems, and other things missing,they were parked where ever they could abandoned shopping malls, and yes muddy fields, a lot of them were just driven there with day labor drivers, built in the winter driven there on salty roads, and sat for many months with the salt all over the bottom of it, makes me said, I just retired from them after 39 yrs, I hope others contact ford about this.

Your location shows Michigan also. Won't you be driving on those same salty roads? Some of the descriptions I've seen on this, I'm expecting to see parts falling off. When the customer goes to the dealer, they write up a customer satisfaction ticket. That indicates they are trying to make that customer happy. If it was a real concern, it would be on a warranty ticket if pieces were ready to fall off as one person claimed.
Based on the pics in this particular case, it appears 3 hours of work fixed it.

 

[Larry]

Your location shows Michigan also. Won't you be driving on those same salty roads? Some of the descriptions I've seen on this, I'm expecting to see parts falling off. When the customer goes to the dealer, they write up a customer satisfaction ticket. That indicates they are trying to make that customer happy. If it was a real concern, it would be on a warranty ticket if pieces were ready to fall off as one person claimed.
Based on the pics in this particular case, it appears 3 hours of work fixed it.

Basically i was trying to explain why a lot of these trucks are rusted more than normal, driven to a parking area in winter in Michigan and sat for months waiting for parts, they were not driven there on a trailer, driven down salty wet roads to there resting area. its not just the rear end, the entire exhaust system is oxidized and rusted and front skid plates are oxidized,

 

[Qbeam76]

WOW!!!! It looks like something got on the undercarriage and destroyed the anti-corrosion rust inhibitor that comes on them. I have a 2020 here the deep south been in saltwater and worse and doesn't look that bad. Ford needs to swap that truck out something went wrong.

 

[Spartangoalie35]

Hello, new to the forum, I too have a rusted suspension, exhaust, etc, just bought it 3 days ago, I showed it to the salesman, he showed to others, they acted like nothing they can do, my , I am going to take more pictures for now, I forgot to take a picture of the axle before I started painting it, turned out good took me 3 hours for that,I think they need to give us a new exhaust, also a skid plate is fully oxidized, my build date was Nov. of 2022, I live about 30 miles from the Dearborn truck plant. I am sure this is on more than just the tremor, ford had 40,000 f150's parked all over South eastern Michigan
a few months back, with chips, sill plates, emblems, and other things missing,they were parked where ever they could abandoned shopping malls, and yes muddy fields, a lot of them were just driven there with day labor drivers, built in the winter driven there on salty roads, and sat for many months with the salt all over the bottom of it, makes me said, I just retired from them after 39 yrs, I hope others contact ford about this.

What Product did you use? looks good.

 

[Larry]

What Product did you use? looks good.

Rustoleum Satin 3- coats, takes some time to dry between coats, it still looks good, the paint will travel to other areas that's why I covered it, the exhaust is oxidized bad, found nothing to clean it, anything you try makes it worse.

 

[Alexmp87]

I had my tremor in my garage last night for the first time to go over it, picked the truck up a couple weeks ago. This is my 4th brand new 150 and I’ve never seen rust like this on any of the previous, not even before I traded. I’ll post some pics later but this is terrible, weather or not it will have any affect on it I don’t know. But the quality control has gone to shit over the years.

 

[Escape Hatch]

Rustoleum Satin 3- coats, takes some time to dry between coats, it still looks good, the paint will travel to other areas that's why I covered it, the exhaust is oxidized bad, found nothing to clean it, anything you try makes it worse.

Some Bar Keepers Friend won't work? Stiff does amazing work on stainless steel.

 

[CAMDENN]

I had my tremor in my garage last night for the first time to go over it, picked the truck up a couple weeks ago. This is my 4th brand new 150 and I’ve never seen rust like this on any of the previous, not even before I traded. I’ll post some pics later but this is terrible, weather or not it will have any affect on it I don’t know. But the quality control has gone to shit over the years.

While unsightly, it’s only surface rust and no, it won’t have any affect on the vehicle or how it operates.

 

[Alexmp87]

I spray the entire underside myself about once a year with Fluid Film (lanolin oily goo) which I also use on my saltwater boat to keep the transom and engine elements from corroding. Takes about 2 or 3 cans, then touch up on high wash-off areas once in a while. Much easier if you have access to a lift, which I don't. Just make sure when you bring it into the shop you tell them you did it, my last trip to the dealer ended up with them searching all over for an oil or ATF leak. I buy the spray cans 6 at a time on Amazon. Great stuff. Thought about buying a commercial sprayer, but the spray cans work just fine. Mandatory here as we have saltwater flooding on the street sometimes, and if it's not that, it is the marine salt air which attacks everything carbon steel. Another reason to like the Ford aluminum body and bed. The Fluid Film works better than any supposedly permanent undercoating which is expensive and will corrode at the edges and underneath.

Looking to do this, how much of a mess does it make? is it constantly dripping off your truck? Just dont want oil all over my driveway if thats the case.

 

[Sully]

Took deliver last summer on a '22, and the two areas beyond surface rust-

View attachment 17613
View attachment 17614
Same response from dealer so far ("not a big deal").

That is surface corrosion

 

[BillfLang]

I purchased a 2023 Tremor last week. Got it home and found the entire undercarriage was rusted out. I should have caught it before purchasing but who thinks the undercarriage is rusted on a brand new vehicle. Plus, I bought it at night and didn’t see it. The dealer is working with me and Ford Corp to come up with a solution. I’m not happy about it and concerned that it is greater than I see.

The dealer did tell me that Ford stopped coating the drive shaft and axles so it’s not unusual to see some rust but mine is worse than they have ever seen. I questioned how it made it out of the factory and passed a dealer PDI with this level of rust and pitting. of course, they have no answer. The pics look like the parts have been sitting outside in the snow and elements for years.

Has anyone had this issue with a new Ford? Does anyone have an experience they can share and how it was handled? Were you satisfied with the solution? I would prefer not to have Ford buy it back but I also don't want problems two years down the road.

Any feedback on how to proceed with the dealer & Ford?

How many miles on it when you bought it, and what state and where did it come from like built dear born ? looks like salt damage ! /0

 

[Netranger6]

Mine was built in 11/23. Bought Jan 24. Had surface rust as well. Just hit it with some spray. Been fine since.