And replace them with what?? Not another faulty emblem.. I do like that old Thrush Muffler logo with the woodpecker with the cigar and attitude!!! that would look good!

 

This hits the nail square on the head. It's all about the suppliers and materials used by each one. The cowl and bed caps on my '04 have held up well over the last 6 years.

I understand how some wouldn't like how the faded caps look but you have to keep things in perspective. The '04-'08's are light years ahead of the '97-'03's in every way. Prioritize the good points ahead of the bad.

 

Just a thought - when we get older and grey or fat is that an EPIC Fail on God's part?

It's life LOL - We take care of our trucks better then ourselves most times. EVERYTHING gets older in time.

Just be happy that you still have a FORD, it could be a Toyota......

 

My front emblem on my 06 FX4 grille was starting to look like crap, too. I covered it and the tailgate emblem with Patriot stickers. Then I swapped the grille for a FX2 grille.

I've seen this posted before about 06 emblems not lasting.

Back to the original post; It's black. It's plastic. And it's being subjected to the environment. Mine is 4 years old and still looks good. Even the cowl. I certainly don't expect it to look good forever, though. As others have pointed out. Far from an "epic fail" imo.

 

all you have to do is take em off, scrub em and give em a few coats of paint and bam they look brand new...did it to mine.

and yea i look the OBS trucks and they always look great when people have taken care of them...ford definitely cut some corners with the 04-08's

 

Just redye them and protect them using a good UV protectant, problem solved. Black exterior trim is black exterior trim, they all fade over time, no matter who made it. If his 97 was in good condition, then he was using something on it.

http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Black-.../dp/B000FOIJXQ

http://www.amazon.com/Aerospace-Prot.../dp/B00063JM5K

 

Holy people, you're taking the whole 'epic' thing a little too literally. It's internet lingo, move on.

I don't expect them to look good forever, not even close. But 2 years later they look like my ***, and his look PERFECT after 13 years?! C'mon now, that's a little ridiculous.

From fixing the 3rd brake light leak, replacing cam phasers, COPs, the whole sprak plug fiasco, leveling it, etc, etc, etc (I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot), it just gets old fixing all Ford's mistakes. The one simple thing, like putting decent plastic trim on it, should have been the one thing they could have gotten right. lmao

I love my truck, don't get me wrong...just sayin'..

 

04-08 Light years ahead of 97-03 in every way??? haha thats pretty funny right there

 

familiar with the lingo; this is just the least-epic 'epic fail' we've seen.

 

trade that 04 for a 03 and all your problems will be solved

 

I have a NBS 2004 truck with 125K miles and so far I never had a 3rd brake light leak, haven't replaced any cam phasers or COPs. I did have 2 plugs break during the plug change at 95K but if I have more break at the next plug change at 200K I will still think I made out pretty good for so many miles between 2 plug changes.

I agree that the plastic on the door handles, cowl and bed rails suck cosmetically but a simple paint trick is the fix after a couple of years of use.
I owned a 2001 F150 I think Ford made progress with the NBS truck compared to previous model which I still love.

 

Yeah, mine look like crap as well.

Sucks.

ETA - On a side note, my wiper cowl panel looks great. Fit is good, ain't warped or jacked up like so many of them. Go figure.

 

Epic Fail? Because someone doesn't know how to take care of their truck before something goes horribly wrong? I'm sorry but when you see your plastic even start to fade then something should click for you to use some kind of UV protectant or other chemical to keep her clean if you cared enough. No vehicle, regardless of the year, make, or model, will ever hold itself up.

 

If the truck is still under warranty they should replace them, my cowl went band and I got a new one, no charge. Recently, my bed caps went, around $80 and both replaced. Easy, just pull the old ones off and snap on the new ones. One thing I did notice, the caps are not black through the plastic, when I cut them up they had a greenish appearance in the center.

 

Ford must have switched suppliers halfway through the build of your truck.