I assume none of our 2015-Present trucks show and panel rust yet, but I was just curious if there are any spots on the body that F-150s tend to rust consistently in the past? Many of my Hondas would rust in the same spot on the wheelwell and our lexus' tend to rust under door handles. I was wondering if Ford has one of these spots I could pay a little extra attention to when washing/waxing.. I live in Upstate New York, so my truck gets a heavy dose of salt for half the year. I'm not sure exactly what parts of our trucks are aluminum, but I'd guess that's working in my favor here.

 

Rear wheel wells, cab corners. the 1992-1997s used to rust above the windshield.

 

The bed, doors, cab, fenders, and hood are aluminum. I'd worry check the bumpers, frame, and brackets.

That said, my 2015 spent three years in Canada before I bought it. Corrosion on the engine and transmission, and rust on the suspension and axles, but a lot less than I was expecting. Nothing on the frame.

 

I work with a guy who’s 2012 crew cab is rusty at the bottom of the cab in back of the rear doors.

 

The most likely spots, door bottoms where the seams are and the drains get plugged. The cab corners, especially on ones with moonroofs and rear sliders, I believe the drains are in the area. Those are the most frequent areas on the F150, rarely see bed rot above the rear wheels, but it happens if not kept clean. The other area I have seen are the rockers, usually starting under the trim plate.

On the 15+ the only steel is the firewall, the rest of the body is aluminum, so the only places to watch for rust is the chassis. Since the oldest trucks from this gen are only about 5 years, there is no data on body corrosion yet. Aluminum takes a lot longer to corrode than it takes for steel to rust, so we really wont know where the bodies will have corrosion issues for at least another few years. I suspect areas where salt slush can accumulate in winter, but is cared for and washed regularly and drains kept open, I doubt we will see corrosion of any kind.

 

The bodies of these trucks will never rust, it’s impossible.

 

Front bumper is a major issue

 

I've been curious to see if anyone with an older aluminum bodied F150 would respond to this thread.

Fx2.7 is right. Aluminum doesn't rust. But it does corrode, especially when painted. Bare aluminum corrodes and forms a thin, clear, and tough layer of aluminum oxide which actually protects the aluminum from further corrosion. Painted aluminum typically has more of a problem with corrosion, when water contacts the aluminum through any tiny hole in the paint causing what is known as poultice corrosion resulting in bubbled paint and pitted aluminum underneath when that paint is removed.

Hopefully Ford found some prep process for the aluminum in F150 bodies that will at least slow this process down, but mud flaps and a wind deflector for the front of the hood seem like a good idea for these trucks, along with keeping them clean and plenty of high quality wax in the areas of the body that tend to get lots of tiny holes in the paint.

 

Living in the rust belt I typically see bad rust on bumpers, fenders (front and rear), rockers, cab corners, and bottoms of doors.

So with these ones I guess that would mostly just be the bumpers. I see a lot of older trucks here with completely rusted out bumpers.

 

Only corrosion I’ve seen in New York is on a handful of 2015s in the same spot. I’ve seen a few where the paint bubbles and chipped exposing aluminum on the bed by the plastic wheel arch trim. Possibly from rubbing at highway speeds? Beyond those 3ish trucks I’ve seen nothing and that’s just paint falling off not actual corrosion yet.