Body Panels misaligned.

[Bannerman]

Maybe this is not a huge deal but once I noticed it, I can't not see it. My drivers door doesn't really line up with the front quarter panel or the rear left side door. I mean I guess it's better than a mechanical problem but c'mon @Ford Motor Company . You build 1,000,000 of these a year, you can't make my $70,000+ truck panels line up?

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[SCTYDOG]

I've always thought Ford made good cars and trucks, but I have never thought they did that great of a job on fit & finish.

 

[3DogKnight]

The fist photo shows the door slightly inward of the fender. This might be to reduce wind noise. My previous truck was a Chev 2500HD that had the same look. The first panel is offset outward slightly to allow the air stream to flow over the second panel thus reducing the effect of flowing air going into the gap between panels. I'm not a rocket surgeon but this is my guess. The second photo shows the glass or black plastic (if that is what it is) lines up but the gap doesn't. Maybe that's by design?

 

[Bannerman]

The fist photo shows the door slightly inward of the fender. This might be to reduce wind noise. My previous truck was a Chev 2500HD that had the same look. The first panel is offset outward slightly to allow the air stream to flow over the second panel thus reducing the effect of flowing air going into the gap between panels. I'm not a rocket surgeon but this is my guess. The second photo shows the glass or black plastic (if that is what it is) lines up but the gap doesn't. Maybe that's by design?

Hmm, you may be right about the second picture, I had not noticed that the black part was aligned.

But the front edge of the door should be in line with the quarter panel, having it offset would actually make it less efficient I believe as it would induce a swirl/eddy there.

 

[3DogKnight]

Hmm, you may be right about the second picture, I had not noticed that the black part was aligned.

But the front edge of the door should be in line with the quarter panel, having it offset would actually make it less efficient I believe as it would induce a swirl/eddy there.

Like I said, I'm not a rocket surgeon. Maybe you could look at other cars/trucks for the same alignment.

 

[Bannerman]

Like I said, I'm not a rocket surgeon. Maybe you could look at other cars/trucks for the same alignment.

I'm just saying, none of my Toyotas ever had this issue, haha.

 

[tony72cutlass's']

I brought mine to the dealer and they adjusted it about a 1/4". Was not an issue.

One thing i will say for your fenders, back in the day they said fenders are supposed to stick out "just a hair" to stop whistling, not sure if yours is too much or not, or if they still do that.

 

[tony72cutlass's']

I was also kind of wonderstruck that they couldn't get adjusted at the factory properly lol

 

[Pedaldude]

Many F-150s have shitty fit and finish on the doors and interior/exterior trim. The single cabs especially are shipping looking like the doors aren’t closed.

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/kc-quality-is-not-job-1.2110/#post-29491

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/fit-and-finish.1062

Good news is that it’s an easy fix if they are out of alignment. It’s a bit hard to tell from your pictures. Maybe grab a straightedge and also compare all the doors.

The Ford Escapes have better panel alignment than the F-150!

Anyone saying excessive panel overlap is for aerodynamics, or wind noise is BS’ing. My doors were over 1/8” out at the latch side and I could hear whistling on the highway just the same as back in the day when one of the passenger lap belts would keep a door from closing. Any noise is because the weather stripping and door seals aren’t properly sealing and air is being sucked out or into the cab because of minor pressure differences like when you have a window cracked open a tiny bit.

The door and panel gaps are well within the boundary air layer of the truck, which is moving significantly slower than the speed of the truck.

Additionally, newer trucks are using ducted air curtains to help keep the partially exposed front tires and wheels which act like a turbine impeller from creating as much drag as they otherwise would.

https://media.ford.com/content/ford...ns-on-f-150-help-reduce-aerodynamic-drag.html

There’s quite a bit of cognitive dissonance when it comes to automotive aerodynamics. With the sound barrier broken in manned flight three quarters of a century ago, going into space and other shit; you would think that function would follow follow form and all of the gee whiz contraptions that resemble jet fighter accoutrements would do something but it’s largely for show like tailfins because we’re all going so slowly that the ideal shape would look like a suppository going down the road.

 

[Bannerman]

Passenger side is normal.

 

[kb2755]

Passenger side is normal.

Mine’s identical. Driver side off, passenger side fine. Dealer wanted to send it to a third party body shop, got turned off and haven’t really thought about it since.

 

[ashtank]

My ‘16 had that issue and my ‘22 Lariat is misaligned as well. Driver side only. Dealership should be able to fix that “minor” of misalignment. I’m with you though. Not a big deal, but once I saw it I glance at it every dang time I get in the truck.

 

[DanielG]

My hood is not lined up just right and it bothers me bad.

 

[Ryan74]

I thought Ford installed a bunch of expensive high tech laser machines to detect these exterior alignment issues?

 

[Kodiak]

I thought Ford installed a bunch of expensive high tech laser machines to detect these exterior alignment issues?

They're probably not working yet and waiting for chips.

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