Yeah I have the touch up paint from the dealer. I got impatient and just used the pen tip part to hit the few chips i found. Some filled in great, others not so much but at least no more exposed rust or undercoat.

 

My buddy had something similar happen to him. His bumper was chrome, but it wouldn't even matter if it was plastic the way it was explained to me.


What the dealer said (and I have heard from other sources too) is that when the vehicles are transported by rail, there can be tiny metal shavings from the track/wheels of the train car that gets embedded into the paint, chrome, or plastic. When the iron that is a tiny particle exposed to moisture, heat and time and you will get bits of rust and looks like the bumper is rusting, but it really is just the bit of metal shaving rusting....


I believe they said it was "Rail Dust" or "Rail Slag" if I am remembering correctly.


Based on the description it does sound like there are chips in your paint though, so this might not be the culprit in your situation, and maybe yours wasn't even transported by rail?


If it was rail dust I believe they recommended the use of a clay bar to clean the front end and remove all of that. I cant remember all the details exactly as that was on his 2005 F150 that was a year or 2 old when he noticed it. My memory isn't what it used to be....


An maybe they were full of it too... Who knows...

 

Rail dust and rock chip rust are 2 different things.




Also op, paint thickness is not indicative of durability. Thicker paint can actually chip easier than paint with proper mil build. Either way, no matter if the paint properly applied, or too thin, or too thick, a rock traveling in the opposite direction you are, will chip the paint.

 

Im new around here but I figured you guys would already know painted bumpers always rust and at a much faster rate than chrome.

 

I've noticed the same on 04-08 F150s. I always thought all white trucks looked cool (2015s included), but the front bumper always seems to have rust when its painted and not chrome.

 

If you have painted bumpers and don't want rust bubbling the paint off, you better apply film or something, even outside of the north. I recently traded my 2010 off on a 2015 and the bumper had paint bubbles, rust through the paint in many places and was progressing rapidly. This is with 40K, only saw snow twice, never on a gravel road, no cinders, nor off road mudding etc. Ford said not rust covered as it is from "impacts" caused by road grit and rocks

 

This was one of the reasons I went from a 2013 FX4 with painted bumpers to a 2015 Lariat w/chrome package.
The paint on the front bumper takes a beating and starts deteriorating at a faster rate than the chrome bumpers

 

If you want to prevent it, you may want to go with a 3m clear bra over the bumper. Just a suggestion.

 

I looked at used trucks first, and all of them that had painted bumpers were already having rust issues, even 1 and 2 year old trucks. That's why I made sure to get chrome package.

 

I thought these bumpers would be aluminum???? At the very least the front one....