Modelcarguy
Well-Known Member
What you are seeing is aluminum “rust”. Aluminum doesn’t actually rust it oxidizes into a white powder.
My 08 suffers from the same ailment that you have. In fact I address the problem every three or four years or so. My body guy “repairs” the damage by addressing the spots with vigor, reapplying aluminum primer (the green stuff like on planes) and then a thin skim coat, base coat and clear.
You’ll see the same thing happening on your hood if you look very carefully.
Not much you can do to eliminate this problem other than doing as my body guy suggests - remove the drain plugs you’ll find at the bottom of all the doors and the rear gate. For some reason Ford made the interior water tight but forgot to seal the outside water entry points. This will drain all moisture out rapidly and slow down the oxidation. Then they compounded the problem by plugging all the drains that wouldn’t let the water out. (Right after I got mine - I heard a slouching sound coming from the back seat. Turns out when I removed the plug on the bottom of one of the rear doors over a gallon of water poured out. I never put the plug back in!)
Then, find a good body guy and have them check the entire body over once a year. This part is called maintenance. It will save you tons of $$ in the long run by catching problems early and repairing them before the whole part disappears.
My 08 suffers from the same ailment that you have. In fact I address the problem every three or four years or so. My body guy “repairs” the damage by addressing the spots with vigor, reapplying aluminum primer (the green stuff like on planes) and then a thin skim coat, base coat and clear.
You’ll see the same thing happening on your hood if you look very carefully.
Not much you can do to eliminate this problem other than doing as my body guy suggests - remove the drain plugs you’ll find at the bottom of all the doors and the rear gate. For some reason Ford made the interior water tight but forgot to seal the outside water entry points. This will drain all moisture out rapidly and slow down the oxidation. Then they compounded the problem by plugging all the drains that wouldn’t let the water out. (Right after I got mine - I heard a slouching sound coming from the back seat. Turns out when I removed the plug on the bottom of one of the rear doors over a gallon of water poured out. I never put the plug back in!)
Then, find a good body guy and have them check the entire body over once a year. This part is called maintenance. It will save you tons of $$ in the long run by catching problems early and repairing them before the whole part disappears.
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