Rivets in roof

[jarvay03]

I took delivery of my 2021 Expedition in December after waiting 3 months for it to be built. Given it was in the middle of winter, we had a ton of snow and ice. Now that everything is melted, I noticed that you can see the welds/rivets in the roof under the roof rack as shown in the picture. Its like that on both sides. Does anyone know if this is normal from manufacturing or should Inraise a stink about it to be fixed? Given the indentations and such, I see this as a problem down the road.

 

[maxxplatinum9137]

Mine does not have those. That is bizarre

 

[Retiredusps]

That is spot welds. look under hood where other panels meet you will also see them. I would document it with dealer, or send photos to ford. Possible area to leak later on, Quality control or lack of!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[aggiegrad05]

I took delivery of my 2021 Expedition in December after waiting 3 months for it to be built. Given it was in the middle of winter, we had a ton of snow and ice. Now that everything is melted, I noticed that you can see the welds/rivets in the roof under the roof rack as shown in the picture. Its like that on both sides. Does anyone know if this is normal from manufacturing or should Inraise a stink about it to be fixed? Given the indentations and such, I see this as a problem down the road.

You might check out this thread: https://www.expeditionforum.com/thr...trim-pieces-under-the-bars-on-the-roof.40853/

We had some back and forth, but apparently early builds had a trim piece that covered that area (from what I can tell from your picture. A lot of the pics from that thread are gone (too old I guess?) but I know several folks could see spot welds and whole line welds...mine has a trim piece that covers it, as did several others.

 

[Motorcity muscle]

Normally would not have exposed spot welds on exterior sheet metal. Hard to tell from picture but can you see this from standing by side of truck?

 

[sjwhiteley]

Normally would not have exposed spot welds on exterior sheet metal. Hard to tell from picture but can you see this from standing by side of truck?

I have those welds, too. You cannot see them unless you are about 8 feet tall. They are in the recess under the rails. As noted, there should be a trim piece which covers them up (I do not have any trim in a 2019 max).

 

[drw1926]

I personally would not request a dealer to "fix" them. The cure may be worse than the disease.

 

[maxxplatinum9137]

@aggiegrad05
There is supposed to be what looks like some sort of squishy sealant that covers both sides the entire length of the recessed areas under the roof rails. Both of my 2016s have it and so does my 2021. Looks like a quality control issue. That area is going to be an area to leak and rust in no time if you leave it as is. I’d go have that fixed ASAP @jarvay03

 

[NukeLife]

Wow. How does that get missed?

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

Our 2019 Expedition has black plastic trim pieces covering that recess with the spot welds. All things considered, this is probably the very first Ford vehicle we've owned that no new features added in later model years had us regretting we hadn't waited a model year for the "improvements." There have been very few additions, mostly subtractions. Each subsequent year, many features included in our build specs have been either de-contented or placed in extra-cost packages.

 

[ygfvdrrtffy]

I took delivery of my 2021 Expedition in December after waiting 3 months for it to be built. Given it was in the middle of winter, we had a ton of snow and ice. Now that everything is melted, I noticed that you can see the welds/rivets in the roof under the roof rack as shown in the picture. Its like that on both sides. Does anyone know if this is normal from manufacturing or should Inraise a stink about it to be fixed? Given the indentations and such, I see this as a problem down the road.

guys goes into the Dr. and says, "every time I touch this area, it hurts", Dr. says, "quit touching that area!"

Stop looking. It's normal. Looks to be covered and not corrosion. Perhaps, for your own peace of mind, you can peak at it once a year to make sure it looks the same, but it will. Double check it b4 your corrosion warrant expires. Yes, it's okay to put a calendar notice 5 years in advance. If it bothers you, figure out how to get one of the trim pieces that others have. IMHO

 

[DWs-TTEB]

my '19 has these as well (no plastic trim hiding it).

 

[maxxplatinum9137]

@davidpacificnw it’s obviously not normal if more have them than not. To me that’s an area someone could easily overlook when these trucks were built and it’s also an area where water pools for long periods of time. These areas I can see rusting away just like the rocker panel areas in older 3rd gens. I’d either take it to dealership and have them get the trim or buy the sealant and seal it myself.

 

[sjwhiteley]

Not much ‘rust’ will form, there, considering it’s aluminum. The problem would be water leakage (which I do not think is likely). The trim piece does not solve any problem beyond hiding the seam.

However water runs toward the front and rear of the vehicle along the gully where the seam is and the rails mounted. Leaks where the rail mounts are more likely.

 

[mrmustang]

I took delivery of my 2021 Expedition in December after waiting 3 months for it to be built. Given it was in the middle of winter, we had a ton of snow and ice. Now that everything is melted, I noticed that you can see the welds/rivets in the roof under the roof rack as shown in the picture. Its like that on both sides. Does anyone know if this is normal from manufacturing or should Inraise a stink about it to be fixed? Given the indentations and such, I see this as a problem down the road.

Those are not rivets, but the area where the two panels are joined via spot welds. That is what you are seeing, and if you look at panels adjoined to one another, you'll find them all over the unibody portion of the Expedition.


Bill

 

[chuck s]

Look like spot welds to me too.

-- Chuck

 

[Michael D Morris]

My 2019 Limited has lots of these spots and no trim piece to cover them.

 

[Jerald Cook]

I have visible spot welds in the exact same spots on my 2020 Max.

 

[Pete Costanza]

Our 2020 XLT has the same visible spot welds. Doesn't seem to be a problem and I would never had noticed had I not hand-washed the Expedition. I agree that its shoddy not to cover it though.

 

[aggiegrad05]

Our 2019 Expedition has black plastic trim pieces covering that recess with the spot welds. All things considered, this is probably the very first Ford vehicle we've owned that no new features added in later model years had us regretting we hadn't waited a model year for the "improvements." There have been very few additions, mostly subtractions. Each subsequent year, many features included in our build specs have been either de-contented or placed in extra-cost packages.

It does seem like the 2018 had a bunch of stuff later 4th Gen MYs don't (engine cover, a cd player, covers under the roof rails, etc.). But we also had halogen puddle lamps we had to swap for LEDs on our own, we got to deal with the dancing side mirrors, we had the plastic oil pan, etc...so there are highs and lows.