Is this rust normal?

[Quest]

Maybe it's just surface and not a big deal, but I wanted a second opinion.

I just noticed rust on a few parts when I was installing a new accessory. Being in the northeast I am used to rust, but I've had the Bronco about 1 month and put 527 miles on it. There was a little road salt one or two times.

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[Gassyjack]

Unfortunately yes, wipe down with oil and get what you can off and then wipe with moly chassis grease occasionally. The rust you see doesn’t affect function but looks terrible.

 

[swooshdave]

That's one of those things you wanted to treat the second you got it home from the dealer. Which reminds me...

No salt here and some of the parts were already showing rust. I gave things a bath in WD-40 and we'll see how they do.

 

[Quest]

Thank you for the feedback. Glad I wasn't getting some old parts off a heap in some holding warehouse. I'll do as suggested. Salt sucks... Underside washes every time they put it down from now on.

 

[Quest]

So I went under and used a wire brush on it with WD40 and then applied lithium grease to it. What concerns me is the entire surface is not just rusty, but pitted as well. This is both cv joint/axels and the entire drive shaft, both the smooth and ridged section. I find it hard to believe in less than a month with only some salt here or there that it rusted and pitted all of that. If those parts came new with pitting, is that considered acceptable condition?

 

[SS Bronco]

Ford did not paint the cv shafts, even with out salt most show rust while still at the dealership.

 

[rtazz17]

[

So I went under and used a wire brush on it with WD40 and then applied lithium grease to it. What concerns me is the entire surface is not just rusty, but pitted as well. This is both cv joint/axels and the entire drive shaft, both the smooth and ridged section. I find it hard to believe in less than a month with only some salt here or there that it rusted and pitted all of that. If those parts came new with pitting, is that considered acceptable condition?

its all normal. This your first truck or first time under a vehicle? Not bashing you at all. If its first time under a vehicle I can understand your horror. This is all normal. Its not going to rust through anytime soon. Steel rusts almost immediately when exposed to oxygen and water. Dont even need salt..Go look under some bridges you travel on. Still strong as hell. Dont worry

 

[kodiakisland]

Surface rust is fine. Won’t progress into rot unless you continuously expose new surface metal every time you crawl under there.

 

[Deleted User 5719102]

Damn the salt man!

 

[Quest]

[

its all normal. This your first truck or first time under a vehicle? Not bashing you at all. If its first time under a vehicle I can understand your horror. This is all normal. Its not going to rust through anytime soon. Steel rusts almost immediately when exposed to oxygen and water. Dont even need salt..Go look under some bridges you travel on. Still strong as hell. Dont worry

No offense taken. This is not my first time under a vehicle, but I have not owned a truck frame vehicle since my 2005 Ranger.

To be clear I am not at all surprised the parts have rust. They are bare metal and I'd be more surprised if they didn't. The fact that I'm not out of the break in period and driven it maybe once every three days for less than a month and every inch of those parts has pitted rust is what concerns me.

I've seen a lot of people talking about similar things, especially with F150s, but non of those pictures are at the level of rust I'm seeing.

My dealer thinks the metal is possibly contaminated and wants me to bring it in and also contact Ford. Will see if that goes anyplace.

 

[TXAG08Bronco73]

My brand new 2023 looks very similar, I noticed it about 2 days after picking up from the dealership. Even the exhaust has similar rusting all over it. I'd be interested to know what you find out from the dealer.

 

[Felix808]

Ford
Full of Oxidation Rust & Dents

 

[greybrutus61]

I am a guy who has had several older vehicles with no rust, Here in Maryland they heavily salt our roads , MY secret is to run a yard sprinkler under the car after driving salty roads. Easy, quick and works for me.

 

[Quest]

Follow up on this for anyone who might have a similar issue. Ford has yet to look at it as they pushed it to the body/paint department and they didn't look at it because they didn't have time yet and I wanted it back after 2 days. I will be going back for the other body issues, so I will see if anything comes from it.

That being said, I did apply lithium moly chassis grease to the drive shaft and front axles. I've had the Bronco off-road several times now, including fully submerged to a few inches over the bottom of the doors and through heavy mud to the point where it was caked into the bash plates. When I went under it to try and free up the mud and do a general damage assessment (just marks on the plates) I found the grease still pretty much 100% intact and working well. Since the heavy rust on these parts seems "normal" for Ford vehicles, it is good to know there is an option to help protect the parts some yourself.

 

[JT58Bronc]

Yes, Ford does not paint the half shafts or drive shafts. Bare steel and it rusts just being in the atmosphere. I sprayed mine with Fluid Film, at least for now. The better option would be to sand, wire brush, prime and paint them. I did when I lived in New England on all of my vehicles. And undercoated the chassis components (and never over and existing rust). I also rinsed the undercarriage after driving on salty roads with a hot water faucet. Very hard work but there was never any rust on my vehicles.

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