1moretoy4me

Just for fun, I checked the manual and could not find the "how to maintain the backside of your bumper section". I guess your suppose to remove the front & rear bumper every 6 months and clean / wax to protect against corrosion... LOL.

BTW - mine was fine without any surface rust at all. Mine was in a lot in South Houston since June 2011 and I purchased Sept.
It sits outside everyday, I guess I got lucky but I will probably add some undercoat to them sometime next year for extra layer of protection.

rbrais

I wouldn't sand any more of it. Think there is a protective coating that oxidizes lightly, which hepls to protect the underlying metal. Keep sanding it off and you may kill your bumper, rather than save it. Not positive that this is the case, but this type of protection is used on other things too, like those brown guide rails.

TurboLover

Hi. I bought a 2011 F-150 XTR last June. Up until about 16,000K, everything was pretty good. I'm in Alberta and since the weather turned, I have first had rust show up on my front bumper, tow hooks, rear bumper, front grill and running boards. I did get the chrome package.
The Ford dealership I dealt with took pictures and polished the chrome according to Ford's instruction. The service manager mentioned to me that "oh, there is a problem with the chrome on some models". A month later, the rust was coming back and there was starting to be discoloration and markings on the chrome rims.

Now, I wash the truck as much as I can in winter here in Alberta. I've put chrome polish on it before winter. The dealer told me that Ford Warranty said the running board rust was caused by stone chips and that the rust on the bumper could be due to "lack of proper maintenance as outlined in the Owner's Manual".

The truck went back a second time and they polished it again. All this was no charge, I will give them that. However, after the second polishing the rust started to show itself again after two weeks, but now there was obvious marring of the rims and the rust spots were appearing on the rear door handles. I called the dealership back, explained what was going on and asked either a service manager or manager to call me back. I heard nothing for two weeks. I called back and left a message for the General Manager. A week later, no call. Today, I called and spoke to the owner and explained the situation. 10 minutes after I got off the phone, a manager from the Service department called and left me a message ( I was eating dinner). So, I speak to him tomorrow and will see what he has to say. My points to them were: 1) I only have 21,000KM on the vehicle after 9 months and only half of that has been in winter; there should not be this kind of rust issue - 2) The TOP of a running board being rusted would only happen if stones flew up in the air and then landed on top of the running board. I'll post again once I have a chance to chat with them.

southportandford

Can u post pics of ur rims mine are doing the same thing

texasbill

I have a 8month old 2011 F150 XLT Screw 4x4 that has rust on the bumpers (front and back) and rust on the running boards. Took it into the dealer and they took photos and initially the claim was denied until the dealer took more photos and Ford decided they are going to send a new set to the dealer to replace the old ones. I expcect the same thing is going to happen to the new ones after one winter.

Ford is really doing a shotty job on their chrome work. I guess it goes along with the shotty job they are doing on their paint work. There are numerous areas on the truck where the paint is really thin.

If your door handles or grill has rust pits in them it is probably rail dust since those parts are plastic. Ford should replace those with no question.

ucabear09

Bought a 2012 F-150 Ecoboost XLT with the chrome package at the end of July. Noticed some rust on the front bumper in spots. Took it to the dealer for it's 5000 mile check and oil change. They took photos of the rust, sent them to Digital Imaging at Ford, and the claim was denied. Supposedly it has a coating that helps deter rust but not prevent it. Currently got a case open with Ford Customer Service for the issue. Service representative was very understanding. We'll see how far I can get on the issue.

I think it's ridiculous for a truck no older than that to have rust problems. I can understand if I had driven through tons of ice and snow and not rinsed the salt off. Haven't had anything close to winter weather here.Had my last Ford with chrome bumper over 10 years and no rust.

The whole would have been solved if they'd put a few drain holes in the bottom of the metal piece. Think the engineers would have learned after having issues on the 2011.

gsean.oneill

Tony,

Found your post here and note that I too have same issue with my 2012 F-150 purchased in May 2012. I had not noticed it until yesterday. I took it in for its first service at dealership last Friday. Will stop by dealer this Wed and see what they have to say about this.

Sean

Curious if anyone else has experienced this. Tony's You Tube video shows an accurate picture of this. Its bologna that this is maintenance. This is not an area that requires maintenance.

ucabear09

Well after going through the service advisor and service manager at my local dealer, I had no luck. Same excuse about a protective coating that helps protect but not prevent rust. They contacted Ford Customer Service and the claim was denied.

Called Ford Customer Service and chewed on 3 people there. Finally got the customer support manager and again same excuse about the coating. I'm tired of fighting it. Looks like I'll be buffing it with some steel wool occassionally...

Glad it's not apparent unless you look behind the front bumper.

gsean.oneill

My F-150 has about 7K on it. Took delivery in May 2012. I showed a guy in the body shop and he just kind of shrugged his shoulders... said, if you think the front bumper is cheap, don't ever back into anything.

Anyway, he and I walked out on the lot and we observed the same thing on brand spanking new 2013 F-150s on the lot (not titled). I used some brasso metal polish and an SOS pad and cleaned mine up. Its just the bar behind the black plastic valance. About a 1/2 inch wide and 24 inches or so long. After I cleaned it up real nice, I sprayed Rust-oleum rubberized undercoating ($3.77 a can at Walmart) over the area. Allowed to dry a day and then gave it another shot. Looks real good now and no more rust.

SVTmarleymes

Smart!!!! Dealer ships are d**ks... They don't wanna warranty anything bcuz it doesn't pay. Sometimes you just gotta bite a small bullet and do a better job then the mfg!! In this case do as gsean!! Goodluck