Rain Channel Paint Cracking

[MANDOS04]

Sorry for the rant.

Well havent been here in ages I own a 04 Expo (as u can see by my screenname) The paint has been cracking in the channels were the rain drains off. well they fixed it 4 months ago. I just took the truck again cuz the damn paint started cracking...again! Well its in the bodyshop (been there for a week) at the dealership getting fixed (should of been done on friday). I get call today (mine that its Tuesday) and they tell the problem is worse, they need to resand it, reprimer it, repaint it and rebuff it. For the SECOND TIME! They had the my expo ready for pick up on friday and the cracks reappeared. Im losing it ......they told me they are coming like that from the factory, so for all u 04-05 owners look at the top of your expeditions if you see cracks be ready for the nitemares to follow. Oh by the way did I mention I driving a chevy cobalt and trying to lugg around 6 of my family members for the week.....AARGHHHHHH

 

[smo0othride]

Sorry to hear about that. Hopefully I'm safe with my 03. Do you say 04 -05 because they changed paint for those years? How often do you wax? Does your expy sit in the sun all day?

 

[Guest]

I just got 03 Eddie Bauer - white - and gave it detail cleanup and wax. I also noticed that roof channels have minor cracks in them - especially along the inner corners in te front and in the back. The cracks look very shallow, almost superficial. I suspected that in the factory they used some flexible compound under the paint to soften the transition for the ends of the channels. When you have something that flexes underneath the paint, a little cracking is expected (just a theory...). I'll be monitoring those from time to time, but I don't expect them to get any bigger or to cause any problems, such as leaks, etc.

P.S. I would not be surprised if they ship them like that from the plant... Tom