The drivers side pretty metallic material than runs vertical on my FX4's dash is rubbing off. My leg sometimes rest up against it. I have kept and eye on it because I was afraid it would start to show wear. I noticed it today, it is like it happened overnight. Any suggestions on like some stick on carbon fiber or something to cover it up? I have had the truck over a year, anybody else had this problem? I am beginning to think that maybe some of the "OFF" mesquito repellant I had on me rubbed off of my leg and did it.

 

I got in my truck today and nailed my knee against a grey metallic looking dash panel by accident. Upon looking at my knee I noticed a big grey metallic mark on my jeans! I looked at the side of the dash that I hit and the grey metallic portion was gone and is now black!!

So I think it had nothing to do with the "OFF"

 

Do you guys have the center console and is that where you are having the problem?

 

I do have the center console, but I rarely rub that. I'm speaking about the area to the left of the steering wheel. Down by where the e-brake release is located. I hit that when I was "climbing in" today.

 

There's a service message pertaining to this, detailing repair procedures for this. Involves masking off the dash, stripping and repainting the silver portions.

 

Thanks Quintin. I am really suprised Ford is trying to address this. Next oil change I will have them take a look at this. Now, if they could just get rid of my intermitant steering shimmy. Do you know anything about the adjustment other forum members have talked about regarding the rack and pinion? I know the TSB'S like the back of my hand and they do not address this. Thanks.

For those who asked if I have the center console, yes. My paint is coming off where my right knee lightly rest against sometimes. I am sure I have bumped it a few times though.

 

I've never adjusted one. The latest level part has a tighter backlash between the rack and pinion gears which are supposed to isolate the steering wheel from road imperfections better. The few that I've done were mostly fixed with new rack and pinions. Disregard the green dot on the barcode on the rack.

 

ford has always had trouble with the coatings on their plastic parts. on my ranger, the black plastic on the door handles (inside) was actually painted black over the black plastic, and it scratched off with my ring. on my same ranger, the silver paint on the dash bezel (FX4) became soft and started to peel off. it SHOULD be a warranty issue, if you check the rest of the bezel, particularly corners and edges, you may notice that its pretty soft and it comes right off with your fingernail. take it to the dealer and try, if it doesnt work, check out www.phoenix-image.com for alternate coatings, man, they do some good work

 

Quintin, I hate to ask you this but you are so willing to help. Review the information I posted below a while back when I got the latest rack installed. Can you find out if there has been a new rack released other than the one below. Thanks. I wish you worked at my dealer. You are a much quicker responder.

Replace Steering Gear. Refer to the part application chart below.
NOTE: DO NOT REPLACE THE STEERING GEAR IF LATEST LEVEL IS ALREADY INSTALLED. THE LATEST LEVEL CAN BE IDENTIFIED BY A GREEN PAINT DOT ON THE BAR CODE LABEL LOCATED NEAR THE RIGHT SIDE BUSHING BRACKET, AND/OR BY THE FIRST 5 DIGITS OF THE SERIAL NUMBER ON THE BAR CODE LABEL. IF THE FIRST 5 DIGITS OF THE SERIAL NUMBER ARE GREATER THAN: 21003 ALL CREW CAB AND SUPER CAB EXCEPT 133" WHEEL BASE, OR 21603 ALL REGULAR CAB AND SUPER CAB WITH 133" WHEEL BASE, THE STEERING GEAR IS THE LATEST LEVEL.



PARTS APPLICATION CHART
Vehicles Part Number Part Name
Super Cab & SuperCrew 4x2 4L3Z-3504-AB Steering Gear
Super Cab & SuperCrew 4x4 4L3Z-3504-BB Steering Gear
Regular Cab 4x2 4L3Z-3504-CB Steering Gear
Regular Cab 4x4 4L3Z-3504-DB Steering Gear

 

I can check and see tomorrow.

And FWIW, you might want to go back and edit your post to remove or summarize the TSB information; that stuff's copyrighted. The part numbers are okay, specific TSB and SSM text belong to Uncle Henry though. I know, I've posted it in the past, but I got lectured about doing that by higher powers before. In paper form, Ford doesn't care, in electronic form, well, just for the sake of F150online.com...

 

Thanks Quintin.

 

In regards to this silver paint coming off...

Has anyone used double-sided tape on the silver portions of the dash, then removed it for whatever reason? And if so, did any paint come off?

I'm going to add satellite radio and the only good locations appear to be on the silver part. My initial install may be double-side taped to the dash and if I decide to move it, I don't want to screw anything up.