I've seeen several references to the "orange peel" effect on our trucks. I have the 2004 Lariat SCrew and all along the bottom of my truck, there is an an area about 2-3 inches wide that is rough (I guess you could say very similar to the texture of an orange peel). It is along the entire length of the truck on both sides except for the wheel wells. Is this not a normal thing? Or is the Orange Peel you guys are referencing something totally different? I thought the effect on my truck was normal and intended. I figured it was Ford's way of "protecting" the bottoms of the paint from chips and scratches or at least to hide the effect of chipping and scratching down there.

Can anyone clarify? This isn't a defect is it?

 

vtn98,

What you are describing is consistent with what I have on my truck. The paint texture in that area is like a really bad case of orange peel. I'm not sure if the diferent "texture" there was intentional, or if they are just more careless in their paint application process for that area because it is less visible.
The orange peel on the rest of the truck is most noticeable when the paint has been polished and waxed really well...then it stands out because of the reflective surface. I feel pretty good when the surface of my truck looks so good that the most noticeable issue is the orange peel. At that point, I've done about everything I can do. As the truck surface gets dirty and the reflectivity is reduced, the orange peel is less noticeable.

 

What you are both seeing is not actual orange peel - even though it looks like an extreme case of it. There is a band of "chip guard" along the lower edge of your rocker panels that is designed to prevent chipping from stone impacts. Without it, you'd see much more chipping of your paint from the inevitable impacts. Real orange peel is caused by the paint not fully laying down (leveling) before it dries. The effect looks like the outside of an orange - hence the name. Hope that helps!

 

Thanks for the info. 2stroked!

John

 

That's what I suspected it was. It looked too uniform and intentional to be a defect across the entire bottom of the truck.