what i mean by that is that the outside sheetmetal of the door which is bent and grimped under the door has a paintable automotive sealer/chaulking to protect it from rust. the screws do not have that. this is where my doors were starting to rust. what happens then is that the outside sheetmetal moves and vibrates against the inside metal which eventually rusts. my fathers 2001 supercab does have that auto sealer all the way around the door top to bottom, my screw doesn't. all vehicles experience the dirt build up under the doors as you are refering too and the only way to clean that is to actually clean it by hand. like i said i have rust protector sprayed up inside the doors thru the drain holes.

 

What I was told is that Ford used a hygroscopic sealer inside the doors and they rust from the inside. My doors looked fine until then they started to bubble, rust under the paint does that. My 2000 was built in Oct. 99 and all 4 doors are rotted. Noticed it too late. Used POR 15 to help but it kept getting worse. Replacing the door skin is not an option unless the door frame is repaired. Another spot is the cab corners.

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wouldnt say its just screws as my 97 f150 XL has it on both doors and the tailgate and its BAD its started to poke through on the outside, you can see a dime size rust spot, im gonna end up having to replace them all as its pretty bad.

 

Don't bother with the POR-15. A full day, wrecked shirt and stains of the driveway the rust still returned.
A friend with a body shop recommends wire brushing off the rust and applying 3M Drip-chek followed by under body coating.
I will advise after I give this a shot.

 

i have had the same problem on my 97 reg cab and my 98 ext cab and all i did after cleaning up rust and painting it is to get the weatherstripping like what they use when you put a cap on and seal the gap so that no water or mud gets into the door crack. as well as washing the gap every time you wash your truck.

 

Sounds like good advice, Jim!

 

ive done it on both my trucks and the rust hasnt come back

 

I did the POR-15. It just slows it down. Ford had a TSB on this and an official repair procedure. Mine will get fixed when I do the rockers. I am thinking a Dark shadow grey rocker and lower door will look good on my black truck.

 

Anyone have the TSB?

 

I know this is a "common" problem for the '97-03 F150's... I've seen quite a few here on the board and on some F150's I've seen out on the road.

My driver and passenger sides are barely just starting. The supercab doors are fine. I try to keep them as clean as I can in the winter...

 

My '02 Lariat has the same issue. I was told by my body shop that newer vehicles typically have a bead of silicone caulk running across the lower door seam. My truck never had this done and my passenger side door looks like crap. The only way it can be fixed is to break the spot welds, unfold the seam, sand it down, coat it, and refold the seam. Then caulk it up.

 

Anybody come up with any good fixes/solutions to the rust? Here's what mine looks like:

 

UPDATE: had the doors done shortly after I posted this originally.......cancer is back and in the same spots......I think I am Line-X'ing the inside bottom of the doors......see if that will work.......

 

Came across this thread while looking for information about rust on F-150s. I'm looking at a 2013 FX4 w/ 41K miles that came from Ontario and is now in Cincinnati. Since I'm a few states away I asked for additional photos showing any dents/scratches/etc not visible in the listing photos. The two photos attached show what looks like could be a little rust on the bottom inside of the doors. The photos I received showing the chassis look pretty good but would appreciate any thoughts about how bad the rust on the inside of the doors looks.





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