how are the 150's holding up against rust? I have heard about the door and tailgate problems - has Ford changed anything to stop this problem? What about the rest of the body, how are the 97's, 98's etc. holding up? Seems like I read somewhere most of the body panels are galvanized or zinc primed or something?

 

I personally have a 98 and live in Michigan where we bathe our roads in salt six months out of the year and I honestly haven't seen rust on the body. I do have a few bolts in the bed that are rusty but not the sheet metal. I don't keep my truck in a garage and wax it usually twice a year once in late spring and again in the fall. So far so good.

 

They're doing a much better job with the anti-rust protection (galvanization) but, it's not perfect. Even galvanized metals rust.

I have an 01 that is rarely exposed to road salt here in Kentucky (but when it is, they go haywire with brine coating and rock salt). No problems to report on my end...

RP

 

I too have an 01 no problem with rust. I live in New Hampshire and this is the second winter with it with plenty of salt on the roads.

I would say that it is important if your in an area with salt, either on the road or from the ocean just insure you wash it on a regular basis and always rinse the undercarrage good as well as the wheel wells and you shouldn't have much problems.

I think you will find that most, not all, but most people with rust problems just don't take good care to keep their trucks as clean as they should.

 

I kept mine as close as possible to pristine clean, and it still rusted on the doors and tailgate. I think some trucks just got skipped over for a certain process or coating. In my case the rep. let on that my doors had absolutely no seam sealer on them. NONE, nada!! I was a little shocked as you could guess, but they covered it for only $100 under the extended warranty.,,,,98

 

One of the reasons I got rid of my 98' F150 STX was due to the under the door rust. The other three reasons were leaky rear window, cracked drivers door and hefty payment.

 

I have a 97 with some rust on the bottom / inside of the doors & tailgate. I've just continued to drive it & blamed it on NY roads. I hasn't gotten any worse in 3 years. It's just kinda there. I doubt this rust will affect the exterior of the truck in the next 3 years.

Currently I'm at 115k miles with some major neglect to the paint & exterior. I'm rather impressed with how well it has held up.