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RamblinMan

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Personally, I don’t think Ford will do anything about the rust issue. My assumption is that they will come up with a fix for trucks that have yet to be built but they won’t do anything for trucks that they already sold. I negotiated an additional $200.00 off when I picked up my truck to cover the cost of rustproofing / undercoating. None the less, I went ahead and cleaned up the rear axle and exhaust hangers myself. That way I know the rust is gone. It came out so well that I really don’t need to get the truck rust proofed but I plan on keeping it for a long time so I will still get it sprayed. Fortunately, my exhaust pipe and muffler are pretty much rust free. The ends of the axle where the rotors are wasn’t bad either.

Below are a few pictures of the process that I did. I’m not endorsing any products; I’m just showing you what I did and what worked for me.

I used Rust-Oleum Rust Dissolver spray. I chose this because they state it will remove light rust without removing paint. If the rust is heavier in some areas the paint will be gone and you will be left with bare metal after using the dissolver. I also used a dish / pot scrubbing brush and Rust-Oleum flat black paint. I purchased all three items at Lowes. I also used CRC Marine Corrosion Inhibitor which I bought on Amazon. This is awesome stuff in my opinion. Its not pictured but I used a little primer on a few bare spots on the axle where the paint was gone. While priming bare metal is the best practice you could still just paint the axle and seal it with CRC Marine. The CRC product will stop the rust from coming back. Just let the paint dry a full 24 hours before applying CRC Marine. I also used a small piece of cardboard to block overspray. You could tape off any areas that you are concerned about but I didn’t. CRC Marine has a slight brownish tint when it dries. If you spray it on axle nuts / bolts it will add a brownish color. Just be aware of that if you use it.

My axle is now rust free and I don’t have to be concerned about it. You could fight with Ford or your local dealer about it and wait a very long time only to potentially have nothing done. Meanwhile the rust will continue to get worse. I decided to fix the problem myself and move on. On a side note, if you question if you can do this yourself, I’m 54 years old and I’m a big guy (6’4”, 285lbs). I did this on a gravel driveway lying on pieces of cardboard. I was able to slide under the truck and do this without jacking the truck up (though it was a very tight fit). I have 20” wheels. It sucks doing this but once you’re done you don’t have to be concerned about rust anymore.

Just thought I’d pass this along in case anyone is considering doing this themselves...

Ford F-150 Axle Rust on 2021 F-150: My Method For Treating It 1.JPG


Ford F-150 Axle Rust on 2021 F-150: My Method For Treating It 2.JPG


Ford F-150 Axle Rust on 2021 F-150: My Method For Treating It 3.JPG


Ford F-150 Axle Rust on 2021 F-150: My Method For Treating It 4.JPG
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snoshuu

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Excellent writeup and results!

Thank you for sharing.
 

mattchops

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Thank you for writing up this guide. Going to save this incase I need it when my truck arrives.
 

sglide05

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Nice work. You did a great job.
 

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Lippy

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A couple of questions:
(1) Did you paint any of the areas and components near the wheel and brakes? I have some light rust there, at the ends of the axle, and am wondering what you did there (more pics would be great).
(2) What did you do for the exhaust hangers? Obviously they get hot, and black paint wouldn't look right. Did you just clean them?
 
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flatag

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I did almost the same process. I wire brushed the loose rust. Applied Rustoleum rust dissolver twice because there was still some rust. I then used an acid wash with Ospro and painted with Rustoleum rust converter paint. A few days later applied CRC. I know the fan boys will say this is overkill but 41 years of fighting corrosion on aircraft thought me the rust you don’t see is what hurts you.

Ford F-150 Axle Rust on 2021 F-150: My Method For Treating It 7F69F32D-D1DA-4977-9B3E-ECB43DD31AD6


Ford F-150 Axle Rust on 2021 F-150: My Method For Treating It 3C9D6339-3C7D-4C4D-B82A-C7F9CE8C8DA0
 
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RamblinMan

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A couple of questions:
(1) Did you paint any of the areas and components near the wheel and brakes? I have some light rust there, at the ends of the axle, and am wondering what you did there (more pics would be great).
(2) What did you do for the exhaust hangers? Obviously they get hot, and black paint wouldn't look right. Did you just clean them?

1. Fortunately the rust wasn’t very bad at the ends of the axle. I carefully sprayed dissolver on the area and used the brush, waited about 20 minutes then hosed it off. I didn’t have to paint it. It goes without saying that you don’t want to get dissolver, paint or a rust inhibitor on your rotor or brakes. If the rust is really bad you could use the same process I mentioned in the first post but I would mask off areas by the brakes to protect them from any overspray. Rust-Oleum rust dissolver states it will protect bare metal up to 12 months without any overcoat. You could just use the dissolver by itself or the dissolver / CRC combo without painting if you want a quicker fix but it won’t look as good. Obviously stopping corrosion is the priority. Painting or approving the visual appeal is secondary since its underneath the truck. It all depends on how much you want to do.

2. For the exhaust hangers I just used the dissolver. I sprayed it on, waited a bit then wiped it off with a rag. The rust came right off. I then hosed the hanger off to remove any residue. If your rust is really bad then use a brush or a scotch-brite pad. I didn’t use paint or CRC on the hangers.
 

bigskydu

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Did you lift your truck? With what? How'd you get under there to do the work?
 
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RamblinMan

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Did you lift your truck? With what? How'd you get under there to do the work?
I didn’t lift it. I put cardboard down then slid under the truck. It sucked doing it but this is a one-time thing. Now that the rust issue is resolved I shouldn’t have to do this again.

Ramps or a jack and jack stands would definitely make this process much easier.
 

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flatag

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I also used cardboard. Just happened to have a Du Ha storage container box that was nice and long. I used that to work between the shock mounts. Because I didn’t want to get any chemicals on my wheels I removed them to work on the area outside the shock mounts. Made things much easier.
 

Dadofjax

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Will this have an impact on your warranty? I brought it into my dealer and they recommended I wait awhile because he has 10 other owners asking about it and he is waiting to hear from Ford on how to move forward.
 
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RamblinMan

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Will this have an impact on your warranty? I brought it into my dealer and they recommended I wait awhile because he has 10 other owners asking about it and he is waiting to hear from Ford on how to move forward.
Removing rust or painting parts of the undercarriage won’t impact the warranty.

Personally, I wasn’t going to wait until Ford addresses this issue – if they do at all. My guess is if they are willing to do something it will be a quick undercoating spray on the rear axle. Also, are they actually going to take time to remove the rust or are they just going to spray over it? I guarantee whatever they do it will be the quickest and cheapest solution they can come up with. If you take care of this problem yourself you know the job was done right and don’t have to worry about it anymore. Just my $0.02.
 

roypsu

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Personally, I don’t think Ford will do anything about the rust issue. My assumption is that they will come up with a fix for trucks that have yet to be built but they won’t do anything for trucks that they already sold. I negotiated an additional $200.00 off when I picked up my truck to cover the cost of rustproofing / undercoating. None the less, I went ahead and cleaned up the rear axle and exhaust hangers myself. That way I know the rust is gone. It came out so well that I really don’t need to get the truck rust proofed but I plan on keeping it for a long time so I will still get it sprayed. Fortunately, my exhaust pipe and muffler are pretty much rust free. The ends of the axle where the rotors are wasn’t bad either.

Below are a few pictures of the process that I did. I’m not endorsing any products; I’m just showing you what I did and what worked for me.

I used Rust-Oleum Rust Dissolver spray. I chose this because they state it will remove light rust without removing paint. If the rust is heavier in some areas the paint will be gone and you will be left with bare metal after using the dissolver. I also used a dish / pot scrubbing brush and Rust-Oleum flat black paint. I purchased all three items at Lowes. I also used CRC Marine Corrosion Inhibitor which I bought on Amazon. This is awesome stuff in my opinion. Its not pictured but I used a little primer on a few bare spots on the axle where the paint was gone. While priming bare metal is the best practice you could still just paint the axle and seal it with CRC Marine. The CRC product will stop the rust from coming back. Just let the paint dry a full 24 hours before applying CRC Marine. I also used a small piece of cardboard to block overspray. You could tape off any areas that you are concerned about but I didn’t. CRC Marine has a slight brownish tint when it dries. If you spray it on axle nuts / bolts it will add a brownish color. Just be aware of that if you use it.

My axle is now rust free and I don’t have to be concerned about it. You could fight with Ford or your local dealer about it and wait a very long time only to potentially have nothing done. Meanwhile the rust will continue to get worse. I decided to fix the problem myself and move on. On a side note, if you question if you can do this yourself, I’m 54 years old and I’m a big guy (6’4”, 285lbs). I did this on a gravel driveway lying on pieces of cardboard. I was able to slide under the truck and do this without jacking the truck up (though it was a very tight fit). I have 20” wheels. It sucks doing this but once you’re done you don’t have to be concerned about rust anymore.

Just thought I’d pass this along in case anyone is considering doing this themselves...

1.JPG


2.JPG


3.JPG


4.JPG
Great job
 
 




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