Rust lines on inside bottom on doors.

About 2 months ago I noticed some rust lines on the inside of my doors, almost near the bottom. It's about 1/2 inch from the inside bottom of the door, where there's a seam as the door sheet metal is folded over. On one door, the rust line is almost the length of the door, and on other doors, it's here-and-there, but always right on that seam.

The dealership told me the 5 year corrosion protection doesn't apply yet, because there's no actual perforation. They also said they've seen this before, but the rust hasn't penetrated to the "outside of the door" in the cases they've seen.

Any comments or experience with this? AND, suggestions on what I should do next? Seems like I should get this taken care of sooner than later, before it gets worse.

 

[MONMIX]

Rust never sleeps my friend. With it beeing on the inside it will not effect the apperiance , but it eventually will. Here is the factor. To repair it where it currently is will basically be the came repair as once it creeps to the out side.
Where the rust is , is likely the most common place for rust on all cars.

 

[EO]

Thanks, that's kinda what I guessed the answer would be.

Has anyone else noticed this on late-model Explorers? Trying to figure out if I'm in the minority.

 

[Crankcase]

I have seen that type of rust on beat-up late model POLICE Explorers. They rust there when run through a lot of salt on the highways, or water, off-road.

 

[ajevenson]

I ground the bottom inside lip of my doors off, cut bigger drain holes into the bottom and then rewelded sheet metal onto the bottoms to give it back its structural integrity.

The trouble with the current door design is that as dust, mud, gravel and water fall througyh the window seals, they sit on the bottom of the doors and cant drain out. Then once it gets wet it stays wet for a long time and rusts through.

 

[boilermakerfan]

I've also got the door bottom rust issue. Is there anything that I can do to stop/slow this down, short of cutting it out and welding on some new metal? Some of the paint on the inside bottom of my door has started to bubble a bit. Is this something I could sand down and then put something like POR-15 on it? (I think that's the stuff). WOuld that help? Any ideas are welcome!

TIA

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

I'm having the same issue. All 4 doors and the trunk have rust on the inside and its bubbling up. A product of my Ex spending most of its life in the salt-infested roads of Wisconsin and New York. I tried some naval jelly today to at least neutralize the rust a little bit but I think its a lost cause. I took it to a body shop and they told me that there's nothing I can do about it. He did say that I had probably 5 years before it'd show on the outside. By then, hopefully my Ex will be my 2nd vehicle ('06 Mustang GT here I come :-D) and I won't really care about the rust by then. But now, looking back, I wish I'd driven down south to find my Ex rather then buying one in Wisconsin. Oh well, shoulda coulda woulda as my dad says.

 

[expo5.0]

mine has done that as well, i had my painter sand it down good with a wire wheel and repaint. should be enough, in both of our opinions.

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

How bad was yours rusting Expo? Was it bubbling? And what did he charge you for all that? Thanks..

This might be a dumb idea, but would it be possible to get the inside of the doors line-x'd or something like that??

 

[hydroxy]

I have the same rust problem... scared me the first time I saw it. Expo's plan is a good one - just hit it up w/ some rustoleum primer first.

 

[Ryan1]

Hey expo5.0 are your dog legs going yet, after this past winter mine are starting to look horrible

also what painter do you use in the area

Ryan

 

[expo5.0]

he didn't really charge me because i was doing so much other stuff at the same time.

if you have a wire wheel you could do it yourself with a rattle can paint job (which is plenty nice enough for inside there where no one sees it for less than $50)

My dog legs are not going, nothing is going.

the painter i use is the chapter president over at ftw, dont' think your a member yet, but you shoudl come hang out with us at the next meet.

here is a picture of his work so far on my truck

 

[410Fortune]

Hey POR15 eats rust, if you catch it early you can sop it or at least slow it way down.
ON my BII the inner door lips have been rusting for about 3-4 years now, not cosmetic on the outside yet, and I have not done a thing about it yet.

ONe of the next projects on my long list is the body, with a BII and with so many problem area's I may end up buying another truck just for the body (can find a straight body BII for $2-400)

If you catch the rust on the inside of the panels early, just grind it out, treat it and paint it. Can buy you many years

 

[Irishfan]

About 2 months ago I noticed some rust lines on the inside of my doors, almost near the bottom. It's about 1/2 inch from the inside bottom of the door, where there's a seam as the door sheet metal is folded over. On one door, the rust line is almost the length of the door, and on other doors, it's here-and-there, but always right on that seam.

The dealership told me the 5 year corrosion protection doesn't apply yet, because there's no actual perforation. They also said they've seen this before, but the rust hasn't penetrated to the "outside of the door" in the cases they've seen.

Any comments or experience with this? AND, suggestions on what I should do next? Seems like I should get this taken care of sooner than later, before it gets worse.

I have the same thing. Ford really screwed this up and other areas too. Their design of the backup camera is an issue. It allows water to get into it and eventually shorts it out. It will start with intermittent functioning, then it will go blurry, then it will tell you to take it to a Ford dealership (how convenient) Everyone I know that owns a ford with a backup camera has issues with it. I had to replace mine. Also, their sunroof design is a problem. Water gets into the ceiling panels and drips down inside the cabin. I had to replace that too. They made their drain holes in the sunroof too small and they get clogged very easily. Ford needs to do better, their prices keep increasing and their attention to details keeps decreasing. This will be the last Ford I own.

 

[peterk9]

I have the same thing. Ford really screwed this up and other areas too. Their design of the backup camera is an issue. It allows water to get into it and eventually shorts it out. It will start with intermittent functioning, then it will go blurry, then it will tell you to take it to a Ford dealership (how convenient) Everyone I know that owns a ford with a backup camera has issues with it. I had to replace mine. Also, their sunroof design is a problem. Water gets into the ceiling panels and drips down inside the cabin. I had to replace that too. They made their drain holes in the sunroof too small and they get clogged very easily. Ford needs to do better, their prices keep increasing and their attention to details keeps decreasing. This will be the last Ford I own.

Welcome to the Forum.
Water getting into the camera is not a common occurrence on the 5th gen. I did a Search of the 5th gen forum and did not find a similar incident.
As for the moonroof drain tubes, there are several posts on that in the 5th gen forum. The most common complaint is about clogged tubes but also disconnected ones. Usually when the drain tubes fail, water will pool in the footwells. Not very many complaints about the water getting into the headliner. That sounds more like a moonroof seal issue. Check out the 5th gen forum for more info.

Peter

 

[CEH68]

Thanks, that's kinda what I guessed the answer would be.

Has anyone else noticed this on late-model Explorers? Trying to figure out if I'm in the minority.

Our Escape had the same problem. Ford wouldn’t repair it until it perforated the outside. At that point, it cost $6000 to fix but our lifetime rust warranty only covered a total of $5000. The dealer still took months before they did anything after saying they would. I will never pay for that sort of rust warranty again. I have noticed the same thing starting on our Explorer.

 

[peterk9]

Our Escape had the same problem. Ford wouldn’t repair it until it perforated the outside. At that point, it cost $6000 to fix but our lifetime rust warranty only covered a total of $5000. The dealer still took months before they did anything after saying they would. I will never pay for that sort of rust warranty again. I have noticed the same thing starting on our Explorer.

Welcome to the Forum.
There are some threads in the 'Discussion' subforum as well. Here is one that shows some really bad rusting.

Rust!

Wife’s 2014 explore sport. Noticed this back in the fall and hasn’t majorly changed over the winter but the car is only four years old (and outside of rust warranty on miles). Worried about rot in the future as well as effect on trade in value. Now my first thought is to sand and paint...

www.explorerforum.com

Peter

 

[LuckyRabbit]

This is why I do a full touchless wash with underspray a couple times a week in the winter

Also why there is a special place in hell for anyone who has anything to do with salting roads

This stuff is also good to hit areas that are prone to rust

Amazon product ASIN B000P1C8UO