Door trim misalignment with the dash

[Dr Plastic]

Peter...It is clearly not the dash

 

[peterk9]

Peter...It is clearly not the dash

Is the driver's side the same? If so, perhaps the dash is a little high. I'm guessing there is only very little that can be done in the way of an adjustment. Some members have had success while others have not. One way to tell if they actually replace a panel or not is to make a small mark somewhere that only you know about. Good luck.

Peter

 

[FordService]

... It was late and was pissed and did not want to deal with it at the time but I want something done...

I recommend returning to your dealership so they have the opportunity to make this right, Dr Plastic. How many miles do you have on your Explorer?

Crystal

 

[Dr Plastic]

13300 miles Crystal

 

[FordService]

13300 miles Crystal

Send a PM my way with your info, Dr Plastic; I'll escalate this to your regional customer service manager so they can help. In your message, please include your full name, best daytime phone number, VIN, mileage, and servicing dealership. I'll take it from there.

Crystal

 

[Dr Plastic]

Well Crystal....My dealer had the car today and just left a message stating that ford is not going to do anything about it...He stated that all the Explorers are designed that way!

I do not know what you people are smoking but it ain't tobacco!
This what it looked like in August before it was replaced

And this is what it looks like now

How is this considered NORMAL on a $40 vehicle???

 

[kirstenb]

Mine is a little off, but I can live with it. Anything mechanical, I will be going to our dealer pronto.

 

[Ecobeast88]

Took mine to the stealership Monday night for the dash gap on the drivers side and other issues which are NORMAL. Got a call back, there are two other Xs on the lot with identical gaps in the dash. I can fit my 4 fingers in between the door panel and dash. How's that normal? Whatever! Good thing I leased it. Hope the next 2yrs and 10 months go fast!

 

[Halwg]

Mine is like that on the driver's side. But it's a 3 year lease, into year 2, so I'm not doing anything about it. It doesn't bother me, and I don't even notice it now.

 

[elindo]

I have got news for you...The 2016s are no better.

 

[sheltonfilms]

Any car manufacturer has internal "visual inspection standards" or VIS. These are measurable specs that each car has to ("should") meet to be able to be shipped to a customer.

When you bring a vehicle in for something like this and Ford says it's suppose to be this way, tell them to show documentation by displaying their visual inspection standards. If they don't know what this is ask to speak to a warranty/field engineer.

All OEMs have these and they were agreed upon by the R&D group, the manufacturing plant, and the distribution company (the dealership franchise group.) These are all separate entities btw. CAP (Chicago Assembly Plant) sells the cars to the distribution group (something like "Ford USA") and then they sell the car to the dealer.

There is really no opinions for fit and finish. Every possible fit and finish has a spec.

I've worked for Kia and also Mercedes and both OEMs have set specs. I know Kia's pretty well because I was the engineer over the dash module.

Example: Gap between panels would be laid out as 0.5mm+/-0.5. So you could have 0 mm gap to 1 mm gap and would satisfy the VIS.

Robots may build the body but 90% of the car is put together by humans. When the dash is installed they use a lift assist device. Dashes have locator pins but again there are still some tolerances.

Doors are actually removed in the beginning of assembly and then reinstalled after majority of the interior has been installed.

Doors are always adjusted by people online.

Also, it has been statistically proven that 100% visual inspection by a human is only 80% effective. In other words only 80% off defects are usually found at the plant and corrected when inspected by a human.

 

[Halwg]

I have got news for you...The 2016s are no better.

To me, it's hard to tell if it dash fit, or door fit. On mine it looks like the door trim is low, but it could be that the dash is high. Personally, I don't want them messing with my dash. Most of the time when you start removing the dash it doesn't end well. You get squeaks, rattles, and all manner of issues. I have had those problems in the past.

Sometimes it pays to leave well enough alone, lest you create additional problems. As my dad always said, a drunk man, riding by on horseback, would never even notice it!

 

[elindo]

I agree with your Dad.

 

[Ecobeast88]

Fords great service advisors told me "it's not a "Rolls Royce" it's a mass produced "Ford Explorer". Thanks Ford!

 

[Ecobeast88]

# it's normal # designed that way # not a Rolls Royce

Heres some pics of the dash gaps in my 2015 sport that the dealer said its normal they are all like that and Ford designed it that way. Passenger side is fine, it's the drivers side is bad. Please Let me know what you all think! Thanks!

 

[Halwg]

Yours is better than mine!

 

[Ecobeast88]

Yours is better than mine!

Please post pics! Thanks!

 

[peterk9]

Heres some pics of the dash gaps in my 2015 sport that the dealer said its normal they are all like that and Ford designed it that way. Passenger side is fine, it's the drivers side is bad. Please Let me know what you all think! Thanks!

From what I can see, that is a bit of a gap on the driver's side but I don't see how the dealer can fix that without possibly shimming the door panel to move it in and that would likely cause other issues with the door..
Also, your pictures are waaaay too big. They should be in the 800X600 pixel range. We have to scroll L/R to see yours.
The attached pictures (resized) are the ones originally posted by ecobeast88.

Peter

 

[Ecobeast88]

Sorry Peter. I don't really post pictures on the forums much. Thanks for the help. Just wanted others to see the gap I have that's considered ok by their quality control.

 

[jhu8]

I definitely have some trim misalignment on my 17 Explorer. You can see in the picture the trim from the glove compartment, the silver trim sticks out about half an inch past the trim on the passenger. The picture from the outside shows the gap along the whole glove compartment. I can push it in too. I would think this is not right and a dealer trip is in my future? Anybody else with similar trim styling have this issue?