ST's and RUST (or lack thereof)

[cscmc1]

OK, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that 01-05 Sport Tracs seem to have very little rust. I can generally look inside the doors at the lower door seam and see whether I need to look any further. Ford did something right with these trucks.

On the other hand, I looked at a couple 07+ ST's, and both showed signs of the classic cab corner rust that so many pickups develop. What gives? Why did Ford abandon what seemed to be working? Or am I just not looking deep enough at the Gen I's to find the corner rust?

 

[Kjhadfield]

Yea, You haven't seen mine or I'm sure many others. I guess it really depends on where your at. My truck is from the north and it shows. What I beleive is ford made areas normally susceptible to rust, hidden from view. The biggest area, imo, is the rockers. The thing is you can't see this while it's covered up by that plastic cladding! The cladding is attached on the sides by holes/pushpins which can and will allow water to enter AND to top it off there is no weep hole or drain at the bottom of the rocker to exit. Besides underbody rust and my rockers, the other areas on my truck are bottom inside door (just seems to be driver side doors) and the bottom inside of tailgate.

 

[cscmc1]

So rocker rust is common, too? I am in IL, and we normally see an awful lot of rust. The ST's I've been looking at have not been all that bad compared to most vehicles. I had better look closer, I guess!

 

[MidnightRebel07]

On the 1st gen ST the front fenders (where they meet the bumper cover), the inner and outer rockers, bottom edge of the tailgate, the radiator support and doors are the main spots they rust out at. It' all depends on where you live. I live in the rust belt up north but I've taken somewhat good care of making sure the under carriage is sprayed off in the winter. My tailgate and door seams are starting to show rust (especially the tailgate). The frame and around all the weld seems on the underside of the body are all showing surface rust. The frame, suspension, rear axle and driveshaft are all caked with scale rust. Typical Ford rust spots. The saving grace of these trucks are the beds aren't made of metal (Huge rust issue Ford has never taken care of with any of their trucks with metal beds).

 

[roughrider17]

im in southern Ontario Canada and after the winter we had i just noticed a little rust creeping up from under the plastic cladding on my rockers. I've also noticed a little bit in the door seams and the bottom of my tailgate as well.
Also it should be known that my dad and the previous owner of this truck owns a car wash and he washed it at least once a week and ive carried this tradition on, AND YET STILL i have a fair amount of rust in the place car washes don't seem to always get...
anyways this summer im gonna have my work cut out for me !

 

[swshawaii]

Ditto Kjhadfield and Rebel. Here's what's hidden underneath the "rockers" or "cladding" both mentioned.

http://www.mysporttrac.com/mysporttrac/projects/RemoveSideCladding/RemoveSideCladding.htm

 

[cscmc1]

Good to know -- thanks, all!

 

[Kjhadfield]

It's hard to see or maybe impossible to see with the cladding on. Look underneath where the bottom of the cladding attachs via bolts, I could see it looked bad. Then I had paint bubble towards the back just starting to creep up past the cladding. It wasn't that bad when I bought it but over time gone un noticed, well turned into crumble

 

[Kjhadfield]

Ditto Kjhadfield and Rebel. Here's what's hidden underneath the "rockers" or "cladding" both mentioned.

http://www.mysporttrac.com/mysporttrac/projects/RemoveSideCladding/RemoveSideCladding.htm

Yes it's those damn holes that start it all.

I have a bit of work to do on mine but just last week I decided to drill 1/2" holes on the bottom (front and back both sides) so that at least it has a place to drain

 

[sr139fox]

Grew up in Pittsburgh. Now live in Eastern North Carolina. No rust issues here. Dave P.

 

[cscmc1]

I looked at a WI truck today, and sure enough, the bottoms of the doors were rusty, and I could feel surface rust starting on the rockers under that cladding. Is the doors and bottom of the tailgate hadn't been so bad, I'd have made an offer on it, as the rockers felt like they could be wire brushed and POR-15'd to last for a good while yet.

It's amazing what passes for "rust-free" in some peoples' minds.

 

[Kjhadfield]

Rust free means, you can't see rust with a quick glance (imo, not on a 10+ yr vehicle). I'm still deciding on what to use for patches but was thinking por15 would be used along side

 

[cscmc1]

I drove 3+ hours (each way) to look at this one, and had specifically asked whether the door seams ("inside the door, at the bottom, where the seam is") showed any rust. They were clearly rusty, one to the point that the OUTSIDE of the door skin was bubbling.

"Rust-free" was a poor choice of words on my part. When I ask about rust on a truck, I mention specific areas, as I don't want to waste my time if those parts are excessively rusty. This seller either flat out lied, or had never looked (and answered without looking). Such is life, I suppose.

 

[cscmc1]

Oh, and I have used POR-15 before and had great luck. As long as you can get rid of the loose rust and have a somewhat solid base to work with, it works wonders. If parts are rusted through, yeah, I'd want to patch too.

Good luck!

 

[JimInRadfordVA]

Ford really blew it on the running boards/side steps. They hold water like crazy and rust our from the inside. I'm saving up for a set in aluminum.

 

[Varsity]

Being from IL as well, I'm all too familiar with rust. I've seen STs with rust on the front fenders where it meets the front bumper, and a bunch with rocker rust as well. I haven't seen any tailgates rusting yet, but I'll start to keep an eye out. Ford had the great idea to put plastic cladding everywhere which serves two purposes, creates spots for salt and dirt to build up and rust, and to hide the rust once it starts. I'm always amazed and the spots where salt seems to get at, coincidentally where nobody can get to it to wash it off.

When I got my Sport ~5 years ago, it was pretty rust-free for a truck that spent its entire life in the Midwest. I thought I did a decent job of keeping it clean, but the last few winters have been brutal. Salt trucks dump truckloads of salt on the roads which ends up all over the cars. Then the temperature drops to the negatives for weeks on end, not giving anyone a chance to wash the crud off. So now I have to keep a stock of Rust Encapsulator on hand.

I don't see the point of lying about rust to a potential buyer. I'd rather tell the truth and lose a sale rather than lie and have to meet them face to face and let them find out.