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Plugs for Holes In Rocker Panels missing or discontinued?


Chrisgb

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I'm on the Ranger 5G forum (I'm Motorpsychology there) and a question arose about the 10 holes along the bottom of the rocker panels. It seems that in 2019 & 2020 MY's the holes, which might be for robot welding access, were plugged and painted, but for MY 2021 are left unplugged. Is this a cost saving item, a supplier issue or some other reason? Also note the holes are no longer flared. 

2019 Ranger.jpg

2021 Ranger.jpg

Edited by Chrisgb
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9 hours ago, Chrisgb said:

bump

 

 

Hi Chris. Make a service appointment and bring up your concerns with them. Or just stop by and ask.

 

To me...it looks like they forgot to install plugs. It would be foolish to leave it open like that. But you need to have your Dealership take a look and give you the answer.

 

While you are there, check the rocker panels of other 2021 Rangers to see if there are plugs installed. You could even do that while you are waiting for your service appointment date to come up, as mentioned above.

 

Let us know who you make out and good luck.

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1 hour ago, bbf2530 said:

 

While you are there, check the rocker panels of other 2021 Rangers to see if there are plugs installed. You could even do that while you are waiting for your service appointment date to come up, as mentioned above.

 

Let us know who you make out and good luck.

There is quite a long thread about this on Ranger 5G. Based on actual observation, the consensus is that all 2019-2020 MY's have them, All 2021's don't. No one there seems to be aware of a TSB or FSA about this, and I was hoping someone from MAP might be able to enlighten. I'm not too concerned as I expect the body-in-white is submerged in rust inhibitors and primers.

 

I have an appointment for a Quicklane Works package later next month, and I'll ask around.

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2 hours ago, twintornados said:

bumped....for what reason?

My original post was visible for less than 24 hours with no response before being overlayed with another topic.That poster's issue was resolved to their satisfaction and the topic was effectively closed, so I 'bumped' mine back to the surface. I would not have, had the latter topic still been active.

If this is considered bad form here, I'll not do it on any future posts.

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3 hours ago, Chrisgb said:

My original post was visible for less than 24 hours with no response before being overlayed with another topic.That poster's issue was resolved to their satisfaction and the topic was effectively closed, so I 'bumped' mine back to the surface. I would not have, had the latter topic still been active.

If this is considered bad form here, I'll not do it on any future posts.

Patience Grasshopper GIFs | Tenor

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4 hours ago, Chrisgb said:

There is quite a long thread about this on Ranger 5G. Based on actual observation, the consensus is that all 2019-2020 MY's have them, All 2021's don't. No one there seems to be aware of a TSB or FSA about this, and I was hoping someone from MAP might be able to enlighten. I'm not too concerned as I expect the body-in-white is submerged in rust inhibitors and primers.

 

I have an appointment for a Quicklane Works package later next month, and I'll ask around.


I don't work on the Ranger side of the plant anymore but I will say this, if no 2021s have them then it was probably deleted for some reason. 

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It might just be me, but I'd be nervous about the open holes too.  Measure them and poke around online for matching plugs.  These are common items in many vehicles from all the American car manufacturers, and I've found them at auto swap meets.  Use a search engine with the term "automotive door plug", "panel plug", etc.  They come in different sizes, inch and metric.

 

Allegedly modern vehicles are rustproofed at the factory, but while the holes are open, you might want to consider getting the inside of those panels treated.  When I was looking at old Rangers, I found that Ford merely painted the frame, and Rangers from up north would have serious frame rust from road salt.  Certain years, especially 1998–2005, are notorious for frame failure from rust-through.

 

Just because you have a new Ranger doesn't mean it might not be a problem one day.  I still see surprisingly recent full-sized trucks with rusted-out rocker panels, including Fords.

 

The 2011 Ranger I recently bought had been fully treated, including the bed sprayed with Line-X.  It had also been a southeastern Virginia truck its whole life, which helped with lack of salt exposure.  That was the deciding factor in my buying the truck.

 

Hope this helps.

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8 minutes ago, ekrampitzjr said:

Allegedly modern vehicles are rustproofed at the factory, but while the holes are open, you might want to consider getting the inside of those panels treated.  When I was looking at old Rangers, I found that Ford merely painted the frame, and Rangers from up north would have serious frame rust from road salt.  Certain years, especially 1998–2005, are notorious for frame failure from rust-through.


I don't know what process they used to use for the old ranger but the new one the entire cab and body is submerged in a solution to rid the body of any dirt/debris and then submerged again into a primer/rustproofing solution. 

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11 hours ago, ekrampitzjr said:
11 hours ago, ekrampitzjr said:

It might just be me, but I'd be nervous about the open holes too.  Measure them and poke around online for matching plugs.  These are common items in many vehicles from all the American car manufacturers, and I've found them at auto swap meets.  Use a search engine with the term "automotive door plug", "panel plug", etc.  They come in different sizes, inch and metric.

 

Allegedly modern vehicles are rustproofed at the factory, but while the holes are open, you might want to consider getting the inside of those panels treated.  When I was looking at old Rangers, I found that Ford merely painted the frame, and Rangers from up north would have serious frame rust from road salt.  Certain years, especially 1998–2005, are notorious for frame failure from rust-through.

 

Just because you have a new Ranger doesn't mean it might not be a problem one day.  I still see surprisingly recent full-sized trucks with rusted-out rocker panels, including Fords.

 

The 2011 Ranger I recently bought had been fully treated, including the bed sprayed with Line-X.  It had also been a southeastern Virginia truck its whole life, which helped with lack of salt exposure.  That was the deciding factor in my buying the truck.

 

Hope this helps.

 

11 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Thanks. I have found a source for generic plugs that fit the holes. I'm more concerned at this point about sealing the rocker panels up with plugs, and potentially creating a problem with freeze-thaw condensation getting trapped in there, whereas mud/leaves/saltsand will eventually dry if they're left open; The truck body, having been immersed in e-coat and primers, would be no worse off. It caused me to wonder if Ford was seeing this potentially or actually happening with the 2019-20s, and left them open on the '21s. Although, my cynical gut is telling me that it's just Ford saving another $1.33 per unit...

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13 minutes ago, akirby said:

I believe that even the plugs allow drainage. 

That's possible. Some on Ranger 5G think that rather than the holes being flared, the plugs themselves have a ridge and were oversprayed- Sabre in this case.

I'm probably just overthinking all of this.  My 2009 Mariner has open holes & slots all over underneath, and its holding up extremely well. I always have gotten the underspray at auto carwashes, and it seems to do a lot of good.

1569432333_2019Ranger.thumb.jpg.5b3d65087cc56418aa403b323af7a0ba.jpg.79186b41a07d266d5eb5c0f2b05d6c48.jpg

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