F-Series Body Problems
If you’re looking at buying a Ford F-Series Truck, take a minute to review where these trucks commonly rust. The cab is the hardest to see rust in.
Ford F-Series Cab Rust Problems On Un-restored Trucks
The top of the cab is usually fine. Sometimes a drip edge rusts out. The lower part of the cab is where a lot of the typical rust occurs – common sense. Floor pans are notorious around the 4 corners of the cab. Lift the carpet or rubber mat to inspect closely. Commonly you will find bad fixes with pop rivet jobs that don’t look very good and won’t last. If a floor pan has been fixed extensively, check it out closely to see that it looks professional. The back cab corners usually at best have small holes in the surface metal. At times, the entire cab corner can be gone. There are patch panels to buy that curve around and can be welded in to fix this area.
Front F-Series Cab Corners & Cowl Area
The worst place for these trucks to rust is where the back part of the front fender mounts to the cab. This is called the cowl or front cab corner. Attached to that on the door jamb is the hinge bucket. This area can rust terribly! F100 Central sells the lower cowl panel and the lower hinge bucket, if yours is rusted out. Keep in mind that this area is complex to fix and will take a lot of time, even for a professional. You definitely have to watch and get the lower hinge bucket installed so that the door aligns. That means lots of checking and mounting the door to see that it will fit.
Dented or Rusted Out F-Series Doors
Again, the top of the doors are usually fairly clean. The lower part can rust out. Luckily the rust generally occurs on the inside/underneath part of the door that few people can see (unless your truck is being judged). If your door skin is dented, panels are available to weld back on.
Front and Back of Ford F-Series Fenders
Fenders usually only rust out where the running board mounts, unless there just wasn’t any paint on them.
Ford F100 Running Boards
Since running boards are down low, they can rust where they mount to the fenders as well as simply rust out from water laying on the flat surface. They’re easy to inspect though.
Ford F-Series Bed Options
Beds are usually too beat up to use. It usually makes a lot of sense to buy a new bed. It can end up costing you plenty of money or time in bodywork to get the original bed parts straight for paint. If you’re lucky enough to have a good straight bed, then you may not need a new one.
Ford F-Series tailgates typically rust out in the lower part where the hinges mount, actually the whole lower section. You can also get a new reproduction tailgate from our online store.