F-150 Cab Corner Rust

Here are a few things you can check to see if it's causing your rocker panels to rust out on the pre-2014 Ford F-150 trucks.

[RichardRecupero]

Same boat except I bought a 6 year rust protection package from the dealer. Once I noticed the rust I called them. They told me when I bought the truck they would fix the rust at no charge. Well they lied.

[cddsix]

Not a well known fact, but the sunroof on these trucks has four drain tubes, one in each corner of the sunroof. The two rear ones drain right into the cab corners and site there because there is no good drain system for the water to escape. I just found this out the hard way after rust set in. I re-routed the drain tubes so they drain outside of the corners/rockers.

[gramps]

If you ;fix the outside of the cab corners the rust will come right back through because it's rusting from the inside out. I tried it. I sanded, primed and paint the one corner and in not even a month a rust spot appeared again.

[jeremyheitzig]

Don't forget the inner rear fender wells. They will rust next. To clean them out you need to go up underneath from the rear of the fender well. Just washing where the wheels are doesn't get up above the well. Treatment there will help too after a good flushing out.

[atvbass]

Bought a 2010 F-150 SuperCab STX back in July 2017 from a private seller. It was used as a company fleet truck, apparently everything was "taken care of" by the company that the man worked for. So when I went to go look at it, naturally, I didn't think to look underneath for rust, I mean come on, its a 2010 Ford. So after about a week of owning it I just happened to catch a glimpse of something that looked like it was hanging from the rocker panels. I got up under there and looked it was like a nightmare. Not only were the rocker panels completely rotted out, but it was to the point where i could stick my finger through it like it was nothing. Well, 1700 dollars later I now have new rocker panels on both sides. The guy that fixed them was a real honest person and fixed it the right way, but said even doing so there is always a small chance of it coming back. But he said I should get a good 6 years out of them before I see any kind of return.

[jpowell]

Nice video, I sprayed rust inhibitor everywhere on my truck. Took the nozzle and sprayed directly in those holes for like 10 seconds. It's messy but in Canada where I live thats the only thing that works.

[brianproskin]

Spray Tremclad Rust paint in there till it pours out. The stuff is amazing for sealing off corrosion.

[jringo]

After neutralizing the rust you need to apply a rust preventive material like fluid film or I used cosmoline. The drain holes along that bottom edge need to be clear. I also wonder if that tape applied at the factory is preventing the moisture inside from evaporating
Fluid film has to be reapplied every year or so. A waxy film like cosmoline or SP- 400 is more for long term storage of metal and lasts years.

[Patrick-njwh]

I'm having this exact issue on my 2010 F150. I am replacing the cab corner with a steel replacement corner and am going to work on sealing up any holes that allow water in. I found a lot of dust/mud when I broke through the rust. I believe most of the water gets splashed up from below through the holes in the rockers. That would explain the combination of dust and water.

[broken]

I see you got rid of it dont blame you.for other people Fluid film comes in gallon or spray can, it will stop rust an creep in the seams look it up.. also yours is coming threw the rock guard which is under paint meaning water is just sitting in there, its already bad as far as the steel goes need to get access to cab corner bottoms and fluid film may have to drill 1/2 holes and plastic plug

[johntrincia]

Use cosmoline spray, it will stay put and no water will get under it. The military used it for years to combat corrosion in salt water environments.It’s a little expensive but it will save your truck.

[Imbored]

Kinda funny. My 2005 super crew with 166, 000 miles just started to do this in the same spot, and we live in Alaska! I had already decided I was going to get after it before its a hole. I may try impact resistant panel bond adhesive. Get the structural work done and let the body shop do the finish work. Cost me less to have them do than to try to fix mess-ups in my garage (considering the cost of paint).

[cowlumbus]

I’ve seen the videos with the terrible design of a drain tube dumping into there. I really want a truck but they cab and rockers rusting at 5 years is embarrassing. I got a Vw Touareg at 12 years and 200K and a 2003 Volvo pushing 260K and not a spot of rust on the body and almost none on frame. How frustrating! The amount of rust on American trucks is terrible.

[alexanderup]

hey the tubes were alredy there buy they were blocked with a taped so all the water was coming inside

[johntrincia]

My best advice is when you order a new truck tell the dealer to stick those moonroofs where the sun don’t shine. They are nothing but future trouble and will eventually ruin your truck. If you plan on keeping it for 5 or more years eliminate the problem . It is a Ford and other manufacturers planned obsolescence so you come back for a new one.

[stopherwilli]

I do appreciate the preventative action here though so this is very ejicashinal.

[Blasko]

So how did this all turn out for you, did it stop the rusting? I have the tiniest little spot of rust on the driver side on my 2013. Thinking about doing this same treatment.

[stanleykania]

I spray oil under my truck every winter.. painted everything with Rust-Oleum when I bought it in 2012.. covered up holes in the rocker panels with good tape.. Had rear bumper off, blasted and painted it.. Ford paint sucks.. My Mercedes Benz paint job 2009 is bullet proof..

[taylorh]

Washing the outside of your body doesn't stop rust stick that fuckin wash wond inside your cab corners rockers and back wheel wells and keep the insides well oiled and you'll never have rusty cab corners again.

[jringo]

I would go after that outer surface rust now. It will only get worse.