Minor rust fix for Ford F150

[brian4321]

Since I'm not a forum member of any truck forums , I thought I'd ask the boat professionals ... So I'm considering buying a 2001 F150 XLT , 112,000 miles, in excellent condition except on the cab corner and the bottom of the door the paint is starting to bubble...no rust showing yet but it's obviously starting to rust underneath the paint... nothing serious yet but it will be in a few years. I know very little about body work but was wondering if there's something I can do now to stop it and cover it up? I'm trying not to spend a lot of money so was looking for a fix I could do myself without having to take it to a body shop, if that's possible... any ideas would be appreciated

 

[brian4321]

Like maybe sanding it down and spraying a 6 inch strip of bedliner coating from front wheel well to back wheel well?

 

[fhhuber]

When the paint is bubbling due to rust under the paint its a lot bigger issue than just at the bubble. That's where it rusted through from the opposite side of the steel.

Find one without the body cancer.

 

[brian4321]

Well dang I was hoping for a " hell yeah that's an easy fix" lol...no that's what I was afraid of.. I'm not too worried about cosmetics, I just want a dependable truck that I don't have to dump a lot of money in to and was curious if there's anything I can do to help that

 

[brian4321]

Good advice though, fhhuber. In my price range for what I'm looking for , it's hard to find one without rust

 

[Scott Danforth]

it is an easy fix. fire up the die grinder with a razor wheel, cut out the rusty metal, then weld in a new cab corner, blend the weld, fair with bondo, paint to match.

its easy to find vehicles without rust. the south is full of them. the sun destroys the paint, the heat destroys the interior, however no salt induced rust.

 

[WIMUSKY]

^^^^^ That would be the proper way to do it. Depending on what you want, you could sand it down, spread some rust encapsulator(like POR15 to stop the rust), bondo over and paint. Bondo today isn't the bondo of old. Providing it isn't too bad. I wouldn't wait. The longer you wait to fix it, the more there's going to be.... Heck, they use bondo to smooth out body panels and frames on some spendy restorations...

 

[MTboatguy]

You can buy replacement cab corners for the older Ford pick ups, all you do is take a sawzall, cut out the affected corner and then use body glue or screws to put the new one in place, a bit of bondo, then paint, works great.

What is nice about the Fords is many companies make parts to replace the areas prone to rust, I just ordered a pair of wheel well openings for my 85, they cost me less than $50 for the pair.

 

[Redfred1]

Agree with MT. A '01 with 100k is rare;barely broke in; and should run a long time. My '03 Super Crew has 116k; and still runs strong. The rust thing is fixable.

 

[brian4321]

So I ended up buying her , but the rust is more extensive than I thought , but the guy gave me a real good deal and it has low miles and runs great... so it'll be good enough for a work truck for a few years then I'll sell it and upgrade...the time and cost to fix it is more than I can do at this time

 

[Redfred1]

4.6?

 

[brian4321]

5.4

 

[Redfred1]

I would suggest dual exhaust with the Flow Master muffler; less back pressure. Other than that;drive it! That engine is still a kid.

 

[82rude]

If you cannot afford to do a body job on the old girl there are many rust killing products out there that work pretty well.I use rust check on a couple of known problem areas on my f150 4x4 2003 and it s working great.Oiling the truck every year or 2 helps a lot also

 

[gm280]

A lot of great suggestions and opinions given here already. But don't brush off the rust fix ideas. While it does sound demanding, it really depends on the tools you presently have on hand. I was able to replace a couple rusted out rocker panels on a vehicle, and I have never ever done anything like that before. And to my surprise, they came out perfect. Who would have thought? SO don't give up on the rust fix. It really isn't as hard or costly as you may think. JMHO

 

[brian4321]

Lots of great suggestions guys, I won't throw away the idea of fixing her up just yet... maybe in a year or so I'll have more time and money

 

[David Young]

This is a very good F-150 Forum you can join for free. Ford F150 Forum - Community of Ford Truck Fans .

 

[Redfred1]

Agree David! Been a member for years.They have got some sharp people on there; just like here.

 

[sublauxation]

Before it's to late don't forget to look underneath that cab by the door openings, they have some drains that like to plug up and if you're not careful they'll rust from the bottom up and by the time you notice it there wont be much left.

 

[82rude]

I HAVE A 2003 F150 supercab.It is a one color ,white.What I did was lightly scuff all the paint/clearcoat up to the first bodyline.Now those fords are notorious for rusting on the very lower back panels so I had to use a small amount of bondo there .Today I taped the truck front to back and made sure all was sanded properly with no rust .I then applied rubberized undercoating in 2 coats of a cream color.Looks great I must admit.Next I will take it to a guy I know and get it oiled.I see lots of trucks around my trucks age that are rust buckets when all it takes is 60 bucks every couple of years to make them look good for a long time.If you look very closely at the bottom of the truck under the cab you will see what looks like bodywork falling off but its actually factory undercoating which will be addressed next.​