Does your front lower valance have rivets or not? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Does your front lower valance have rivets or not?

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City, State
Rochester Hills, MI
Year, Model & Trim Level
11XLT202A 17Sport401A
I did a search but found nothing regarding the lower valance coming off.
I know that there is a TSB out there.
Early builds had the valance detaching fairly easily, then they added these ugly looking four plastic rivets, which they currently are installing on the truck after built.
Rumor has it that for 2012MY, they will go with a concealed/hidden rivet as opposed to the current fix.
Does your lower valance have or not these four rivets? Mine does.

It will be interesting to see with the 2012MY if indeed they get rid of these four plastic rivets.
 



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I did a search but found nothing regarding the lower valance coming off.
I know that there is a TSB out there.
Early builds had the valance detaching fairly easily, then they added these ugly looking four plastic rivets, which they currently are installing on the truck after built.
Rumor has it that for 2012MY, they will go with a concealed/hidden rivet as opposed to the current fix.
Does your lower valance have or not these four rivets? Mine does.

It will be interesting to see with the 2012MY if indeed they get rid of these four plastic rivets.
I don't recall seeing any posts about the lower valance becoming detached. If the plastic rivets you are referring to are the two on each corner, then yes, mine has those. After reading your post, I had to go out and look to see if I had them and actually didn't even realize they were there. I don't mind them at all.
 












anyone have a pic of what you mean? i don't think i have them but i may be looking in wrong spot....
 






I'm guessing if the valence does come off, it's because you hit something like a curb when you're parking. That was the only reason mines would come off.
 












Hilarious... i had to go to my garage to check... yep got em. second time this week... yesterday i went to my car and stuck my head under the seat to check on the 'ugly car seam under the front seat' issue.

i dunno... but just doesnt really seem that noticeable to bother me... guess thinking valences arent suppose to be pretty and get messed up anyways. or guess i just have the thought that it's a very nicely put together car... but not expecting lexus attention to detail?

 






thx for pic. i definitely don't have rivets, ordered my limited in oct 2010, build date 1/21/11...
 






I have them. 2/17 build. I hate looking at them all the time. They look horrible.
 






I've got them. 4/30 build. They don't bother me at all, not that they are even that noticeable in the first place. Maybe the fact that the valence is black and they did a good job of making them look nice and even helps, but they do not look out of place at all.
 






i've got them. 4/30 build. They don't bother me at all, not that they are even that noticeable in the first place. Maybe the fact that the valence is black and they did a good job of making them look nice and even helps, but they do not look out of place at all.

+1
 












I've got them. 4/30 build. They don't bother me at all, not that they are even that noticeable in the first place. Maybe the fact that the valence is black and they did a good job of making them look nice and even helps, but they do not look out of place at all.
+2 (except that mine's a mid-February build)
 












Hit about a 4 in tall concrete wheel stop in a local parking lot today and sure enough, one of these rivets popped off and now the valance is loose on one side. I was a little disappointed since I've only had my X for 2 weeks. I didn't realize that the valance was so low to the ground. Anybody know of a part # for these rivets?
 






Hit about a 4 in tall concrete wheel stop in a local parking lot today and sure enough, one of these rivets popped off and now the valance is loose on one side. I was a little disappointed since I've only had my X for 2 weeks. I didn't realize that the valance was so low to the ground. Anybody know of a part # for these rivets?



After this, I feel better that I got an early build then with no rivets. Only early builds have them and the TSB that it kept coming off made them put rivets. For me, the valence kept popping off but that's because I struck something of some sort. I guess it's better in that it gives in instead of holding in place and getting ripped off entirely. Those rivets are not strong enough to keep the valence in place... Back to the drawing board I think.
 






I have rivets (3-17 build) but would rather have them than have the valance keep snapping off. I have brushed 1-2 curbs while parking and nothing has snapped loose yet!
 






don't have the rivets, but ours has popped off at least 5 times - doesn't take much at all to knock it off - even touching one of those bumper curbs in the mall parking lot will do it - terrible design - would rather just take the whole thing off.
 






don't have the rivets, but ours has popped off at least 5 times - doesn't take much at all to knock it off - even touching one of those bumper curbs in the mall parking lot will do it - terrible design - would rather just take the whole thing off.
The early builds apparently did not have the rivets. Once the problem was identified then the rivets were used on the later models. The valance forms part of the aerodynamics of the vehicle.
 



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don't have the rivets, but ours has popped off at least 5 times - doesn't take much at all to knock it off - even touching one of those bumper curbs in the mall parking lot will do it - terrible design - would rather just take the whole thing off.

If I was you, I would request the dealership to add the rivets under the TSB out there for "lower valance coming loose":
LOWER VALANCE COMING LOOSE TSB 11-3-26
 






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