Is anyone else having rust problems with their BDS kit?

This one was installed late last fall, and the so-call powder coating is flaking off in many places and rust is attacking with a vengeance... I have already contacted them and have sent in these pictures, will wait to see what their reply is.

In my experience, true powder coating should be standing up a lot better than this. I guess I will see how their warranty stands up to this claim, however it does mention in the warranty that they will not cover any labor associated with a warranty claim.

What does everyone think, am I overreacting or is this pretty bad for less than a year old and no off-roading?

 

Na i dont think thats anything to worry about its just a little surface rust on some of the parts where it chipped off i dont see anything wrong with it

 

I agree that it is just surface rust at this point.

However as a person that works in an industry where our product is powder coated, this doesn't look like how powder coating should respond. The paint is literally flaking off in places.

 

If you could be without your truck for a couple days, I'd get it blasted and powdered or at least painted properly.

 

I can be without the truck, essentially everything would need to be removed and re-installed which would be a bit of cost incurred... Not willing to have that come out of my pocket with a new lift kit.

Hoping BDS is going to step up to the plate on this one, something isn't right. I am going to go to my local shop/distributor and talk to them today.

 

Yea, I didn't think about cost since I do most everything myself, whoops.. :o

And hopefully they will because it definitely looks like a product problem and nothing that you could have really messed up.

Best of luck

 

With the winter you had in VA this year...I would say that is about average. Salt blasting anything at 55mph is going to do some damage, no coating is perfect after rocks bouncing off even the smoothest roads. That really cant be on them to provide a bulletproof finish. I like RCD's textured coating for this reason, slightly softer so it absorbs some impact rather than immediately chipping.

Even if they step up to the plate and send you a new subframe, its not like they are going to do anything different to the next one. It will do the same exact thing.

 

Well, I understand how bad salt can be, but considering the truck sat at the airport during most of the storms, and we use a sawdust mixture instead of salt around here, I find this unacceptable for a 6 month old lift.

Powder-coating can take plenty of abuse, and this lift hasn't seen any abuse outside of rolling down the road. If it is replaced, the next one could be better if this is a deficiency in the powder-coating application.

I went by the local shop today, and the owner looked at it, and immediately made a phone call over to BDS on my behalf. He commented this was the first he had ever seen like this, and also asked BDS to take into consideration that this is a new lift and there looks to be a QC issue.

Will update as I know more...

 

Good they are going to bat for you. Looks like bad prep was the culprit on the finish.

 

I agree. Are you gonna ask Ford to replace your CV joints also? The surface rust on the one in your pics is far worse than your lift.

 

No I am not, the CV joints aren't powder coated, and the last time I looked in my F150 manual there is no statement to be found that the CV joints are powder coated to prevent rust and corrosion...

Sorry if you disagree, however powder coating is powder coating, and this is a bad application, and the bottom line I spent plenty of money on a lift with a life time, no fine print warranty. If this was a QC problem I expect them to take care of it.

 

So what's the verdict on this? I've been thinking about the bds kit but if it's gonna look terrible after a couple years I'll just go with the painted zone kit instead.

 

In a bit of a holding pattern at the moment. I expect to hear something this week. I will certainly update once I know more or as information trickles in.

I know some believe I am overreacting, and initially I had even considered it... BUT on a 6 month old lift kit, there is no reason for the finish to be falling apart like this. My last lift kit didn't look like this after 5 years. The BDS distributor and installer that I used looked at it, and was also concerned about the wear in such a short time frame.

My guy also installs Zone kits, I can ask him what he thinks about those if you are interested.

 

Every installer I've spoken to has said the zone kit is just bds's entry level kit but are offering the full on bds at the same price. Aside from the looks of the crossmember I can't tell much of a difference. Just out of curiosity, what's Antibes opinion on having the crossmember linexed to avoid the rust? Think there'd be any issues with that?

 

Spoke to BDS on Thursday, and they are still waiting on the President and Regional Rep to review the situation. They said they have been busy, and haven't forgotten about me.

We wil see...

I thought about going the Line X route as well, I am a big fan of Line X and think it would be fine on cross members and such, just couldn't go in the mounting areas or places that have any movement or required tolerances.