rear body panel crack? who has it!! | Page 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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rear body panel crack? who has it!!

Funny the last few weeks I had my ex I put a band-aid over the crack, I wish I would have taken a pic!
 



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My crack is fine on a hot summer day...

but in the winter it is disastrously large.

I think I may try to fix it myself in the spring, cant make it look much worse than it already does.
 






I dont have a crack in the panel on my 04, but it does have a great amount of expansion and contraction.

Here in FL the panel will pucker out on the top just below the wiper. You can almost look down behind it.
But on a colder day, it sits flat with no pucker.
 






I dont have a crack in the panel on my 04, but it does have a great amount of expansion and contraction.

Here in FL the panel will pucker out on the top just below the wiper. You can almost look down behind it.
But on a colder day, it sits flat with no pucker.

Mine does the same thing, in the bright sun the crack will open up close to 1/4". At night it expands and the crack almost disappears.

I always though that the constant expansion and contraction in different temperatures is what always caused it to crack.

At least Ford stopped at alumnium and didn't try and make our hoods out of the same material.:confused:
 






Dont expect Ford to do anything. Dodge didnt fix any caved in Dashboards on all their trucks and PT loosers. Ford will certainly not fix a cosmetic issue on a body panel. Actually, they did fix it, its called the 4th gen hatch. I am having a local shop make me up a panel to go over the cracked panel. It will have a cutout for the emblem and be contoured the same as the hatch panel. It will be either brushed aluminum, stainless, or what I want if the wife lets me is diamond plate, maybe textured black painted. It will either be as wide as the handle opening which would cover my crack... or maybe as wide as the whole hatch, haven't decided. Simple double sided tape install and no more cracks, ever. They said they would consider a production run if it turns out to be something they can mass produce.
 






I've often thought about getting a 4th gen hatch and replacing my entire 3rd gen hatch with it.

Problem SOLVED

Although a bit over kill. Nevertheless it solves the problem.
 






Dont expect Ford to do anything. Dodge didnt fix any caved in Dashboards on all their trucks and PT loosers. Ford will certainly not fix a cosmetic issue on a body panel. Actually, they did fix it, its called the 4th gen hatch. I am having a local shop make me up a panel to go over the cracked panel. It will have a cutout for the emblem and be contoured the same as the hatch panel. It will be either brushed aluminum, stainless, or what I want if the wife lets me is diamond plate, maybe textured black painted. It will either be as wide as the handle opening which would cover my crack... or maybe as wide as the whole hatch, haven't decided. Simple double sided tape install and no more cracks, ever. They said they would consider a production run if it turns out to be something they can mass produce.

:ttiwwp:

please!
 






I have two cracks in that rear panel, one comes down from the top to about an inch off-center of the emblem and stops. Then theres one about two inches to the right of the emblem that goes clear from top to bottom of that panel. Annoys the piss out of me... Has anyone gotten Ford to pay for a fix yet?
 






Thats my problem, I have to go down to that shop to get it fabbed up, then I can take a pic of it. I am going on a trip for 6 weeks and it has to wait until I get back. :(
 






Yup, my moms got one on her Aviator.
 






Here we go again !

Well, my rear window just shattered while lowering it down ! The window did not just shatter, it exploded and an ambulance was called to pull the glass out of my hand ! Just so everyone knows the only reason the ambulance was called is because a cop witnessed the glass shatter.....
So has anyone seen any resolution when calling the number? I found this recall information about the rear and side windows... DEC 11, 2007 | Recall ID# 50045 .....

Needless to say I will call the number as well as the glass maker in the recall to see what can be done. This damn rear window aint cheap and I DOUBT my insurance will cover it !!

I have to say that, i bought a 1991 Eddie Bauer and had NO problems with it and its still running today. However this explorer just doesnt seem to be made with the quality of the 91. I mean hell, rear windows explodes, rear end makes noise !!! :thumbdwn:
 






I was sitting in the drive thru today, and sure enough, the 4th gen (i think), sitting in front of me had it, right between the handle and the glass. Completely random, but I thought of this thread
 






I was sitting in the drive thru today, and sure enough, the 4th gen (i think), sitting in front of me had it, right between the handle and the glass. Completely random, but I thought of this thread

Must have been a 3rd gen. The 4th gens have a different design and don't use a panel between the handle and window like the 3rd gens.
 






Mines been cracked for a few years now, I've heard that if you replace it with the stock one, it will usually break again as well. I might try making my own out of fiberglass, aluminum, wood (LOL), etc...As another poster said, it already looks like crap, it's not like I can do much worse...
 






The shop that I am using to shave and paint mine claims that the glue used from Ford is the culprit. They replace them using a urethane glue and it is supposed to fix the problem.
 


















yes post pics and let us know how it does ill have to order 2 of them
 






Great price considering it's already painted!

I'm anxious to see how well the adhesive tape is going to hold over time. Heck, if it last 3 or 4 years, it's as good or better than the original panels that crack.
 



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yes post pics and let us know how it does ill have to order 2 of them

Wow thanks! thats a great price, includes painting too. I know the stealership wanter about $400 to fix mine.

I have just let my crack be for the past couple years. But this product looks promising, plus the price is very reasonable.

I just might buy one of those soon from that distributor the next couple days.
 






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