Please re-read the thread. The truck was anally maintained cosmetically from day one.

 

thats what she said!


all my trim pieces look like crap..painted my bed caps and..well the paint is rubbing off because i slide so much crap in and out of the bed it just rubs off..shoulda left them faded instead of cheetah black and faded gray

 

Then I am missing something here, you say you "anally" maintained your truck from day one, yet deterioration occured more heavily on your 6 year old truck than someone else's 13 year old truck? I'm sure there's a huge hole in your post. For instance, when a bed rail starts to fade, maintenance is not limited to spraying on some clear coat of protectant, but sanding, color respray, then some kind of cover coat. Makeup on an ugly girl only hides the ugly, which shows when the makeup runs off.

 

Mine too was well maintained. The point being made is that trim pieces 2 years old, well maintained should not fade and the plastic "die". Mine did and my expedition did not. Also, the rubber ends on the cowl pieces deteriorated to the point of rotting off in 3 years. This should not happen, even if neglected, in my opinion. I don't necessarily blame Ford as much as I do their suppliers. Some of the parts are made of junk. So, I paint them and go on, and I still love my truck. So much so, I chose to keep it rather than buy the 09 as was in the plan. Does not change the fact that some of the parts on it were inferior.

One other thing, you guys with the King ranches that are holding up perfectly don't have the same issue. If you have not noticed, your plastic pieces are a different color(LOL) and even appear to be a different texture. They hold up much better.

 

Exactly. Bottom line is, I guaran******tee you the materials are different, and whatever was used on the older trucks is obviously the higher-quality stuff.

Debate it all you want, I KNOW there is a difference.

 

mine are faded but not bad....have back to blacked them a bunch but a pain to do every month or so.

I will do what should have been done by Ford...and Paint them with Krylon Gloss Black just like I did my grill, running boards, door handles, mirror caps, badges, fender flares and wiper cowl.