Dog Leg replacement??!! | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Dog Leg replacement??!!

Cb87

New Member
Joined
August 10, 2020
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City, State
Newfane, NY
Year, Model & Trim Level
2006 Explorer XLT 4.0
Hey guys, just picked up an '06 XLT 4.0 with 97k original miles on it. Body and interior are immaculate with the exception of the wonderful pass side dog leg. There's a hole about the size of a dime and a little surface rust. Driver side is just surface rust so that can easily be sanded and fixed. The body shop that gave me an estimate told me it would be cheaper if i can find a replacement dog leg panel myself as opposed to him sourcing one. Needless to say after hours of searching, the are ZERO replacement dog legs for 4th gen explorers, it all stops at 2005. Theres also no info i could find on what else to do, which i find crazy given that it's a 14 yr old truck. It seems ridiculous that you would need to buy and replace and entire quarter panel just for that tiny spot. The rest of the vehicle is spotless so i definitely want this fixed, PLEASE HELP!!
 



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So the only option is a complete quarter panel replacement? That sounds insane. From what i can see online it doesn't even look like the dog leg is part of the quarter panel.........
 






Hey guys, just picked up an '06 XLT 4.0 with 97k original miles on it. Body and interior are immaculate with the exception of the wonderful pass side dog leg. There's a hole about the size of a dime and a little surface rust. Driver side is just surface rust so that can easily be sanded and fixed. The body shop that gave me an estimate told me it would be cheaper if i can find a replacement dog leg panel myself as opposed to him sourcing one. Needless to say after hours of searching, the are ZERO replacement dog legs for 4th gen explorers, it all stops at 2005. Theres also no info i could find on what else to do, which i find crazy given that it's a 14 yr old truck. It seems ridiculous that you would need to buy and replace and entire quarter panel just for that tiny spot. The rest of the vehicle is spotless so i definitely want this fixed, PLEASE HELP!!
**UPDATE***
spoke with a local ford dealer who advised there was a place called Keystone that made patch panels. Called Keystone, they no longer carry them. Called Ford directly, was given 3 phone numbers for companies that carried "vintage" body parts from the 1950s-current (had to laugh at that one. 2006 is "vintage" now), no luck with those guys either. As far as i can tell the part just doesn't exist because the rear quarter and rocker panel seem to be all one piece, there's no break. Decided to get creative and called some local junkyards. Found one an hour and a half away that was willing to cut the piece i need from a donor truck for $275. In the end if that's what i have to do it is what it is, it's the only rust on the truck and i want it fixed but i still cannot believe after 14 years with how many of the 4th gens rust in that exact spot, that Ford hasn't addressed it, especially given the availability of 3rd gen dog legs.
 






Just curious....what would you expect Ford to do about it?
 






Just curious....what would you expect Ford to do about it?
Well if you produced hundreds of thousands of a specific vehicle that clearly had a defect in a very specific spot, the responsible/common sense thing to do would be at the very LEAST to produce a patch panel. Same as a recall. For a manufacturer of that size, with the resources they have at their disposal, it could be done very easily and would probably do that much more to retain loyal customers to a manufacturer that is already on shaky financial ground.
 






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