Underbody Rust - New ‘20 Raptor

CC7E8A31-BF7E-4FC6-9B3E-C36F17210CC8 by Martin Brand posted Nov 30, 2020 at 8:35 PM

Guys, sorry if this is a repeat thread... I’ve just bought a 2020 Raptor built in June this year and I’m in south Texas. Bought the truck with 10 miles on the clock and only a little over 400 miles on it now.

There’s already surface rust on the rear diff and the driveshaft pinion yoke (I think that’s what I’m looking at...).

Shouldn’t the full underside come treated with some sort of rust inhibitor? My previous truck (‘18 Toyota Tundra Platinum) came fully treated underneath to prevent this and if seemed to hold up pretty well.

I would have thought rust prevention would be pretty high on a vehicle aimed at desert running?

Anyone else experienced this and any joy having the dealer resolve and treat it?

 

I picked mine up in April and it was the same as yours. I thought that was pretty odd also, as those parts were obviously not treated with anything. I bought a can of Rustoleum Rust Reformer spray paint, took a few minutes to clean that area up, masked and painted it. Took about 20 minutes or so. It still looks like I just painted it yesterday. No way I would let the dealer mess with it. The spray comes out black and looked really good. I never even bothered top coating it.

 

Ford hasn't painted the whole rear ends for years. I protect mine with Fluid Film,, but yeah you could do what @Oldfart suggest first!

 

I'll be doing WoolWax in a few weeks also.

 

i remember when there was the shipping issue on the gen1 trucks. some trucks sat at the rail yard for 3 weeks. lots of people complaining about rust on the underside. i really never gave it a care. my aftermarket bumpers are rusting and they are only a couple years old.the underside of my truck is so scraped up and have rock chips that i just over look it. its an offroad truck, if you use it offroad, its gonna happpen. if you are worried about, you can try to clean and cover the areas that are affected. me though, i just put another layer of dirt on it

 

Toyota applies a full undercoating to their Tacos and Tundras because the metal is so cheap that the trucks develop metal perforation of the frame if any area is left exposed. The undercoating they apply keeps the trucks free of surface rust when new, but moisture still eventually works it’s way behind the coating and the frames rot out regardless. The rear axles differential housings also rot out, which requires replacement of the entire axle since it does not use a cover. Obviously it’s not as common in the Southeast, but in the rest of the country it has cost Toyota tens of billions in recalls and lawsuits.

Ford uses what is known as an e-coat on the frame; the entire frame is dipped in a vat and the coating is electrostatically applied. The rear axle will come from the plant with it’s own coating, but it is not intended to prevent all surface rust. The axles are made of solid iron, surface rust is not an issue. If it really bothers you, it can be touched up with paint as @Oldfart mentioned.

 

You could move. Just kidding! I live here in south Texas and one trip to Big Shell and your screwed. You can paint all you want and all your doing is masking the inevitable.

 

So you don't cover your undercarriage with a heated blanket every night like I do?

 

And do you place a pillow on the diff pumpkin as well?

 

Only after I heat it and spray it with lavender oil.