At the Milan Michigan meet, I had the opportunity to look at someone who had the door crack and WOW! I was thinking it was barely noticeable, was I ever wrong. For anyone who is not sure if they have it or not, if you do, and your looking in the right area, you'll know for sure, if you are not sure, you don't have it.

If I develop the crack, I am not sure what I will do, at the very minimum, I'll get the bondo because of the horror stories I've heard about only replacing the outer shell of the door and re-using all other components from the old door. That's what I want, to have a service mechanic learn how a door is assembled using my truck!

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David
'99 F150 XLT SC, STYLESIDE
4X4 ORP 5.4L, AUTOMATIC,
139wb, Rhino, K&N,
BugGuard, RainGuards
Superchip

 

I did not realize ford had a problem with doors. This is my first time on this thread. I will go check mine very closely though. I thought only GM vehicles had this problem. I have noticed alot of them. They use some type of adhesive instead of nuts and bolts. The adhesive apparently doen't stick well and they sometimes literally fall off.

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1997 4x4 5.4 ORP XLT extended cab Dark Toreador red Westin nerf bars tint HARDER THAN A ROCK AND FASTER THAN A HEART BEAT

 

I guess I'm lucky too. My '97 Lariat has a 3/96 build date and no apparent cracks in the doors.

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'97 Lariat 4x4, 4.6L, 3.55LS

 

I looked at mine and it has the crack on the drivers side.

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1997 4x4 5.4 ORP XLT extended cab Dark Toreador red Westin nerf bars tint HARDER THAN A ROCK AND FASTER THAN A HEART BEAT

 

This sucks.... I would have never known if I didn't read this thread. You can put me in the Crack camp. It is very small though and the passager side looks ok. Looks to me that the best solution would be to weld the small area. Mine is less than a 1/4 inch long.
47,000 miles

 

eom

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97' F150 Lariet s/c long bed 4x4 4.6L auto...SuperChipped More mods as $$ allow

 

I have examined this, On the drv side the sheet metal does distort more than on the pas side. Although the drv side does get more use than the pas side. 6 of 6 used 150's at the local dealer had drv side crack and 3 of 6 had pas side crack.

**NOTE*** I'm in the process of coming up with a form with a pic. to put under the windshield of 150's we see through out our day(keep a stack in your 150). This will give unsuspecting owners a heads-up. It will also give them a chance to contact Ford. This will increase the number of complaints and hopfully lead to a REAL SOLUTION. With 3/4 of a million of these things being sold a year, this problem should not exsist. Contact me a bonofiglio@nscl.msu.edu to give input on this and to get a copy of the final word file.

See ya!

Jon "Don't make me come to Dearborn" Bonofiglio

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One question I've had but never seen reference to. Has anyone had a door crack that does not have the door sheetmetal distort when the windows closes tight?

I know it's in all the models & someone has it with manual windows, but I still believe this is a major factor in the doors sheetmetal cracking. Any other thoughts?

 

If you have the door cracks, please email me directly at tcolegrove@excite.com. I've been compiling a list of F150online mailing list members that have door cracks. The list is over 125 in a little over a week. All I need to know is your email address, name (if you want to give it) and which door is cracked.

Please, if your door isn't cracked - don't email me. My inbox is really getting flooded.

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1998 F150 XLT S/C 4.6L Auto, 3.55LS, 4X2, Moonlight Blue, all the bells & whistles except for leather seats. Lund Deflector, K&N, Pentaliner S/R, Window tint, factory side-steps, Infiniti component speakers, Superchip. Tom in Tacoma (Washington not Toyota)

 

I have the dreaded door crack too. Driver's side only at this point, 97 F150 extended cab. Crack is about 5mm long. Amazing how Ford is treating everyone lately about service calls. Although well out of warranty, I still think we are entitled to some compensation or "fix" here.

 

Found the crack behind my molding! Went to one dealer and he said there's nothing he can do, as it has already been reported. Found a '97 XL on his lot with two cracks (one on each door). I'll be visiting another dealer tonight. I'll also e-mail direct to Ford about my crack.
p.s. I'm a new guy, thanks for the info!

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Red '97 XLT, 4x2, 4.2L, 5sp, SB, X-Cab, Norfalk, DP Box, Duraliner, P245/70R16 Michellin LTX

 

samarium, print out what rmarietta posted on 9/02 2:12pm. Give that to the dealer and they have to replace the door. I brought this to the local dealer here just to make him aware of the fix. I personally am waitin until they find the fix before I take mine in.

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1997 4x4 5.4 ORP XLT extended cab Dark Toreador red Westin nerf bars tint HARDER THAN A ROCK AND FASTER THAN A HEART BEAT

 

Thanks ford-tough 1,

Actually what I meant was he said there wasn't anything he could do to report the problem, because Ford already knows about it. I stopped by another dealer and talked with the body shop guy, his name is actually Guy...I just got my truck out of his shop due to a small skylark that couldn't stop fast enough, but, that's another story. Guy said he's seen, and fixed, a couple of door cracks over the last couple of years. He said he welds it, and hasn't seen one crack twice. I'm at 72K, so, I'm hoping for a recall. But, my crack isn't very noticeable, yet. And at 72K, it may not get any bigger. Looked on his lot...found 4 out of 5 trucks with door cracks.

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Red '97 XLT, 4x2, 4.2L, 5sp, SB, X-Cab, Norfalk, DP Box, Duraliner, P245/70R16 Michellin LTX

 

After I showed my local dealer the problem and told him about all other people that had problems with the door cracks. He thought for sure that ford would have to do a recall. Even though he is a local it does sound promising for those out of warranty.

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1997 4x4 5.4 ORP XLT extended cab Dark Toreador red Westin nerf bars tint HARDER THAN A ROCK AND FASTER THAN A HEART BEAT

 

After I showed my local dealer the problem and told him about all other people that had problems with the door cracks. He thought for sure that ford would have to do a recall. Even though he is a local it does sound promising for those out of warranty.

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1997 4x4 5.4 ORP XLT extended cab Dark Toreador red Westin nerf bars tint HARDER THAN A ROCK AND FASTER THAN A HEART BEAT