Both doors have developed stress cracks around back of door window. Dealer and manufacturer were aware, and will agree to do a 60/40 coverage. No money was available because no recall has been issued. It seemed to be a design flaw. Ford has known about this for a year. Consumer became aware of problem while getting vehicle painted.
1997 Ford F-150 body complaints
Page 5 of 9: complaints 101 to 130 of 224, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Door is cracking. Crack started at the base of the driver's window, rear side.
Both front doors exhibit cracks in the door sheet metal at the lower rear of the belt molding on the rear side of the windows. The cracks appear to be getting larger with rust forming along the cracked edges.
Driver's side and the passenger's side door where window meets bottom of door has cracked, consumer has noticed the same cracks on other vehicle models. Consumer has contacted the dealer.*ak
There is a crack in the driver's side door running approx 1" in length from the window edging.contacted dealer who admitted that ford was aware of the problem but was unwilling to replace the door under warranty which is active until 05/2001.
There are structural cracks on driver's and passenger's side doors. Dealer has inspected vehicle.
On both passenger and driver side doors, a crack was noticed above the door handles and on the side of the windows. The cracks are 1/4 inch long. A friend had heard of this and I checked my truck and sure enough, I have cracks. I searched the internet to see if others experienced this. Low and behold many many truck owners of 97 and 98 f-150s have this. Sheet metal stress is especially concerning on any vehicle. When on a door it is a safety issue. If the sheet metal cannot handle bumps and road contours without cracking how can it be of much use in a traffic accident? These are structural and design flaws that should be fixed on vehicles that cannot stay together through normal driving situations. Ford needs to fix this at no cost as a recall item.
Both doors developed cracks in the outer body panels at the lower back side of window . I was told by dealer that it was a manufacturing defect that he could not fix properly with out a substantial cost to me.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
Driver's side door exterior sheet metal is cracking and separating around the bottom of the window, crack is about one inch. Consumer has contacted dealer. Please provide any further details.
Structural crack in door around window. This may lead to door lock failure since the door is now thumping a little on opening.
The driver's side door near the lower rear corner of the window is cracking. I went to a dealership and they told me that they have seen a lot of f150s doing the same thing but they can't do anything for me because my truck was out of warranty.
On both left & right doors there is a small crack or split in the in the sheet metal located to the back side & just above the lower portion of the window.
I spoke with ford and my ford dealer both acknowledge the problem but have the opion that the problem is mine since I bought he truck used. It seems that this a bigger problem than ford will admit to. A survey of local lots by myself shows 60% of the f150's to exhibit the same cracks. How long will it take for the crack to propagate accross the entire door? What protection does the door offer in a roll over if is is cracked into two pieces? I think it is resonable to expect ford to step up and fix a problem they know about.
There is a crack in the frame from the axle bumper hole and it goes halfway up the frame. Nlm
Vehicle had a crack above axle through the frame. Dealer/manufacturer notified. Please provide any further details.
I have cracks in my doors, both driver and passenger side. They are about a 1/4 inch above the bottom of the window opening, and they are almost a half an inch long, and they are cracked all the way through the doors. I was advised to report this to the ntsa, but as far as I can tell it is not a life-threatening issue. I was wondering if you had any information about these cracks, because it is a pretty common problem among f150s, almost 70% since 1997 have them, and we want to know if there is any way that we can get these fixed if we have no warranty left or if we bought the truck used. Thank you.
Driver side door has formed a crack in the metal around the window frame in right lower corner. Is the frame work secure? Dealer would not do anything due to vehicle being out of warranty.
Both sides of doors are begining to crack from 3 inches up. Cracks appear from the bottom of the windows, and are a quarter of inch long. Cause is unknown.
Doors on my f-150 are cracked. Ford knows thier is a problem with thousands perhaps many more f-150s doors cracking but if your out of warranty refuse to do anything about it .shouldnt be just a warranty issue ,it is a design flaw in my opinion.it is cracking on the outer skin of the doors(both doors in my case). Ford basically told me to bad.will someday be a major safety concern when crack gets large enough to weaken door.
Consumer noticed a 1/2 inch crack on the outside door of the driver & passenger side. Metal was shearing. Delear said that it was out of warranty & they had to have permission from ford. *ak also the transmission failed.
Im not happy with doors cracking and paint cracking I get no help cause im"out of warranty".
I have contacted the local ford dealer to look into this. Ford is being very slow to fix this major issue. It effects 2/3s of all the 97+ f150s. No safety defect listed in summary.
Both driver and passengers doors have cracked. I took it to the dealer which welded them. A couple of months later the drivers door recracked this time the door was replaced. But it is just a matter of time till it recracks due to the design. I feel ford should be required to do a permanent repair.each time I have had it in thay have had to keep it for about a week.
Crack in the drivers &pass doors in the bottom rear corner by the window in center were it curves.
While driving both side doors rattle and shake. The plate that is inside the door has no adjustments.
The 2 main doors on my truck have a crack in the metal around the lower section of the window area. This crack apears to be caused by stress. I feel that this crack will continue to grow which will weaken the overall strenght of the door. I have spoken with ford and they are stating that this is caused by me shutting the door. Also the will only cover 50% of cost. I feel this is a design flaw and they are responsible. I have been watching for this problem in othe ford truv\cks of this time frame and have noticed about 2-3 out of 4 have this problem.
Driver side door has developed a crack in the frame.
Outside door was cracking in half below the window seal as if it were about to break away. Dealer has been contacted.
Crack in driver's side door. Failure point is lower right corner of window, near rubber molding.
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