Took my truck to dealer today to get door crack repaired. They had been promising they would do it for over two years. The dealer sent me to there contract body shop. The body shop manager said that he had fixed many ford doors in the last few years and even with the new Kit they have for repair and everyone of them broke again in about one month. He said Ford should put out a recall and it affects s 97 throught present model. He didn't want to repair the door as he said it was a design error and the repairs just didn't work and he didn't want the responsibility. I told my dealer this and he said nothing. Any one got a suggestion?

 

Not that I'm willing to settle about the whole door crack deal, I'm also not going to rush out and get this "fix" they have anytime soon either. Unless, Ford will do the work for free, but that's not gonna happen!!

I just have not seen the proof that the "fix" actually works. When this happens, maybe I'll think about it.

What I am doing to minimize the damage already done is just watch how many times I roll the window all the way up. I'll drive with it down, but if I park and leave it, I'll leave a half inch "crack" at the top, so the door panel dosen't flex. Especially, if I know I'll be rolling them down again soon. I've also gotten into the habit of when I do need to close it all the way, I'll put the palm of my hand on the outside of the door and press with an equal amount of pressure to "hold" the panel in place as the window seats itself.

I don't like the fact that I have to do this, but I would rather do this then drive a Chevy (or Dodge) any day of the week. I respect all owners of Chevy's and Dodge's, and I'm not saying they "suck" at all, but just don't want one myself.

Sure, FoMoCo is being an A$$ about the whole deal, but it's not enough for me to get rid of my rig!

JMHO.

 

My thoughts exactly Mitch, I even put on ventshades so's I don't worry about rain getting in.

Who thinks the door crack issue will ever become a recall item............... yeah, that's what ithink too

 

These door cracks are such a wide spread problem that there is zero chance of Ford getting away with avoiding responsibility. Even years from now they'll be fixing or replacing doors. I was looking around http://www.lemonaidcars.com last night and they are still paying for poor factory paint jobs they did in the early '90's. Eventually they are forced to correct their poor designs.

Someday Ford wil give me a new door

 

well my truck went to fall river ford this past wed, and i will get it back after the holiday...

well i'll see how well the fox works, oh, and i didn't have to pay anything

under factory warrenty...

 

My guess is that Ford will eventually be forced to face this issue and repair/replace the faulty doors.

I just bought my '97 and thanks to this site discovered the door cracks within a few days of purchase. Unfortunately, the truck was not bought from a Ford dealer, is well out of warranty, and I am the third owner. Neither of my two local dealers offered any hope of Ford helping cover the repairs.

Today I went and walked over the lot at my closest dealer and checked every used truck on the lot. ALL the '98's and '99's on the lot had at least one door cracked, and most had both cracked (and much worse than on my '97). Even their Ford parts delivery truck (year unkown) had the driver's door seriously cracked.

Is it just raising and lowering of the window that causes this type of flexing? Since noticing the cracks, I've been cautious to gently open and close my doors, but so far no one has mentioned that normal door operation is a cause for concern. I've also been admonishing my wife to close her door gently, but I will ease up on her if door slamming is not an issue!

 

I just bought my 1997 F-150 in June 2001 with 61000 miles.It was not until Aug that I noticed the doors cracking. I took it to a Ford dealer and they told me that because I was not the first owner and that I did not buy an extended warranty I would have to pay the repair cost of 668.00 to get it fixed.I think we need to take this a step higher and all complain to Ford and NHTSA ( National Highway Traffic Saftey Administration ) and make them do a recall.

 

I just had mine (97 F250) fixed last week after about a two year wait. I WOULD NOT ruch out to do this as I'm not very satisfied with the solution / appearance.

I brought my truckin last Monday for what was supposed to be a 2 day fix. I ended up renting a car for the two days since FoMoCo would not supply one. (Although I had reported the problem while still under warranty, I was not the original owner. Therefore, a loaner would not be supplied. I was told that I should be happy that Ford was doing the repair at all!)

Well, the shop overbooked for the week and I finally got the truck back on Friday afternoon. (They did end up picking up the cost of the rental for the extra 3 days.) I had tried to pick the truck up on Friday morning but was told to come back later since they were "washing it".

When I got the truck back, it was obvious that it was not washed. There was a ton of dust and tape crap on both doors.

I tested the windows before I left and they both went up and down although the passenger side appeared to be straining on the first half of the trip down the window slide.

The door still bends a little bit when the window is raised all the way. Not as much as before but still noticeable if you are looking for it. The crack on the driver side is still visible but looks like it merely had some paint thrown over it.

This morning (it was quite a bit cooler), the passenger window would not go down at all. (I guess that's one way to prevent future cracks...)

I would not do it again if I had to.

 

Ahhrrrgg! Another fine example of ford excellence

 

I had my '97 done in late July. They did a fantastic job! It looks great. I went by while they still had the door panels off and saw the support brace they applied on the inside. They did it while I was on vacation. Excellent paint job, too. It was the same dealer where I bought it used in December 1999 with 34k miles on it. I registered the complaint shortly after that and we have been waiting for "the fix" to come along. I can't say that this fix will hold forever but they certainly took care of me with no complaints.

 

i bought a 2001 supercrew new in nov 2000. i was wondering where the door cracks, why it does, where would i look for the crack and what is the cause? i am just hearing about this and would appreciate any help. i have had problems with my truck lately and have been hammering the dealer to fix all the stuff. so if it is cracked it's just another thing to add to the list.
i still love ford though. curt

 

My truck has now been at the dealers 10 days. They had difficulty finding a body shop that would apply "B" proceedure. The body shop contacted in the beginning refused to do the work as they repaired several and the crack reappeared in about a month. They said they didn't want the responsibility for fords doors. The dealer finally found a body shop to repair the door. I hope I get my truck back in a few days and I will post how it turned out.