Was wondering if anyone else has this much rust on their truck? I bought it brand new in July, 2015 and it has 4000 miles on it now. I am at a loss for words how a vehicle that has never seen a winter can look like this. Had a 2004 I traded in on and it looked better than this 2014.

 

What you have is completely normal. The parts that have surface rust on them are designed to operate without any type of surface finish and indeed with a good deal of rust over time. (You will note that all of them are under the vehicle and out of sight.)

So why didn't Ford - or anybody else - paint or otherwise finish them? The short answer is cost. The undercarriage of a vehicle is a tough place to live with all of the crap being tossed around by the tires. And almost nobody sees it. So any finish you might try down there would take a beating. And any finish that could stand up to that beating would be very costly. You think your F-150 is expensive now? Wait till you see what it would cost with all of that stuff finished and pretty.

 

I have a hard time accepting that this is "normal" What happens in 5 or less years when I go to sell the truck, who's going to want to buy a rusty truck? I sure wouldn't. To spend the kind any amount of hard earned money that we spend on these trucks we should get a great product. I understand there can be defects that arise but I would hope it would be fixed.

 

Yes, this is normal.

If you want it gone, you can opt to get it undercoated.

OR

You can sit underneath it and spray it up with Rustoleum or Fluid Film.

 

I'd invite you to look at any Ford (or competitive) vehicle and find anything different. And it's been that way for as long as I can remember.

 

My 2014 F150 looks the same way. My buddies brand new 15 Canyon looks the same way. My other buddies 13 Ram looks the same way. Factory undercoating is the best way to beat this but if you opted out like I did then Rust Check Coat and Protect or as someone else said Fluid Film is your best and cheapest option.
As for resale when someone gets under your truck they are looking for a rotton frame not bare metal parts with surface rust.

 

By the time the frame gets that bad, chances are the rest of the truck is in questionable shape. 1/2ton and above frames last a long time.

But I've seen some good ones in my short lifetime.

 

I appreciate all the replies, just a hard pill to swallow when you spend good money.

 

If it will make you feel any better, 99.99% of car (and truck) shoppers never look underneath a vehicle. And you ought to see what vehicles look like up where where we use tons of road salt.

 

As others have suggested, certain vehicle surfaces are designed to rust on the surface, as any king of surface protection would either be ineffective or too costly.

Ever seen the bridge that was designed to rust?

http://officialbridgeday.com/new-riv...s-rusty-steel/

People drive over it every day and never give it a second thought.

 

None of the parts under these trucks are made of that type of steel, so that's not really relevant. No offense, by the way.

 

Don't look at the seat pan then either

 

Could have painted it when new .... it's bare steel and iron .... it happens .... but it's normal and I've yet to see any axle pumpkins or yokes or driveshafts or spindles or axle shafts rust away. Judging by the nice even patina ..... those parts aren't likely to rust much more ..... they are about done rusting.

That driveshaft tube might generate a little more color though.

On the brighter side, believe it or not .... you got the makings of a good base for multi coats of black enamel followed by touch up once a year or two.