I've been harassing the service manager at the local dealership and trying to get as much info on these door cracks before buying an F150 sometime soon.
Today he said that he has only just been informed that Ford will be dealing with the problem by covering a portion of the repair costs; perhaps as much as 80%.
He thought that the repair procedure "B" (for door cracks less than 2" long) wouldn't be much more than about $300 per door, which, if a guy had to cough up 20% of that, wouldn't be so bad. Anyone heard of this fix?

 

I had an offer last year for a new door skin that was 80/20, and I turned it down, because they didn't have a fix for sure and they didn't have a good answer when I asked them what 20% was my fault that the door cracked. I'd bet that they will try the 80/20 thing again now, but if you push it and refuse that deal, they will eventually cover the whole thing. Just depends on how much you'll say back to your service department and how many times you will say it. I haven't heard any definite prices yet on the fixes, my part of the country usually runs about 2 or 3 months behind the rest of the country, so I am waiting. Hey everybody, post prices on the door crack fixes for either the <2 inches or the >2 inches, either way, I'm curious about the prices too.
Good luck man!

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1997 F150 Lariat Three Door Extended Cab Flareside 4x4, Two tone Pacific Green w/ Harvest Gold, Tan Leather Interior, Ford Premium Sound w/ CD Changer, Lund Solar Visor, Leather Tonneau Bedcover, K&N Air Filter, VentVisors
Wish List: Lund Racer Back Cab Spolier, Lund Shadow Winshield Wiper Cover, Lund Steps, RhinoLiner Spray-In Bedliner, Vortech Super Charger, Brush Guard, Hidden Winch, Lighted Ford Logo, I'll list more when I think of it...

 

Where about are cracks? I have a 1997 and I can't find any info on where exactly they are. Please email me with the location. Jvangel@chesapeake.net Thanks

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1997 F150 5.4L Supercab 4x4 "Off Road Package" Tow Package 46000 Miles
All stock except for an Alpine Stereo/CD Player, Soft Cover, Bed Liner, and a Custom Painted Bug Deflector.

 

Here is a link to the tsb that is the fix. http://www.ultranet.com/~peloqun/doorcrack.html
I am having the preventative "kit" one installed on my passenger side door and I do have a small crack on the drivers side (2-3mm long) So the are gonna fix that one then put the preventative kit on the Drivers door. A far as I know, it will be free of charge because I am still under warranty.
Jvangel, you can find door cracks (if you have them) pretty much above the door handle,where the window starts going up, right where the sheetmetal ends and the window starts. It may help to pry back the window trim, if the crack is real small.Believe me, if you have one you cannot miss it as long as youre looking in the general area.

 

I just had mine fixed last week. They fixed the drivers side and did the preventative fix on the pass side.
My dealer was very uncooperative. They were very concerned with the milage which is 33,000 and I really had to squeeze them to get a loaner car.
The fix looks good but they were really sneaky about it. I don't think they wanted to fix it.


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2000 XLT supercab, 4x4 7700lb. package, 5.4L, 3.73 LS, 265 BFG All Terrains on Epic 16x8's, skids,rear sway-bar,Edelbrock shocks,Rhino brush gaurd,KC Daylighters,CD changer,MagnaCharger, Flowmaster,Superchip, Airaid, Replaced the JUNK Gibson Headers with Jet Black coated JBA's, Captains with Expy console, Island Blue,GSD Schutzhund III anti-theft device.

 

So does anyone know if they fixed this on the 2001's? Or should I head over to my dealer and get the preventative fix too?

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2001 F150 SC Red XLT
4x4 Off Road Package
5.4L V.8 3.55LS
Go-Rhino Grill Guard w/KC o-r lights
Pioneer Premier DEH-P410
A/D/S/ 236is front spks
Alpine SWR1040 Subwoofer
Rockford Fosgate 500.2 & 400.4 Amps
Viper alarm w/autostarter

 

Picked up my 2001 F-150 last week. The first thing I did was bee line to the Service Department with a list of questions (thanks to the education I got on this site!). Yep, asked about the infamous dook crack. The Sevice Manager said that the problem has been rectified by Ford on the 2001 models. This was the reason why he traded his 2000 for a 2001.

2001 F-150 XLT Extended Cab
4.6l, Auto, 288 Miles
Deep Wedgewood Blue

Stock for now....
Love This Truck!

JR

 

to those who do have door cracks, how do you close your doors? do you use the handle or do you use the top of the door? or even more, do you grab the top of the door when getting in? i asked a service "advisor" about them and he said it seems like is from shutting the door from the top or holding the top while getting in. anyways, i dont have any cracks(knock on wood) and dont plan on hanging on my door to find out if thats what causes em.

 

JBirdZ, the fix was put on the assembly line in April of 2001, so if you have an early model 2001 you will still have the door cracks. The build date is on the sticker inside the door frame, where the door latches when it closes.
r6racer, it doesn't really matter where you put weight on your door when you're getting in or out, the stress fracture is caused by the flex of the door skin when the window is rolled all the way up, stand outside and watch the door frame while someone else rolls the window down and then back up, it is a design flaw in the door skin, it has no reinforcement or brace inside to comtrol the flex. All of the older doors will crack, that's 100% positive on that, the weight put on the door getting in or out may speed up the process, but it will crack anyway eventually, no matter what if it doesn't get the fix. Do a search in this forum for door cracks, there have been 12 kajillion topics on the topics, and most dealers didn't even know about it until I told them and asked about the fix, it is being handled on a case-by-case basis, and Ford isn't making sure everyone knows about them, either. Your best bet is to call Ford before you even talk to your dealer about getting them fixed, they can help you more than anything can. Oh yeah, print out the NHTSA TSB and take it with you to prove that it's not 'just you' when you do talk to your dealer. Go to the NHSTA website and find it, this will make it easier:

Service Bulletin Number: 996754
Bulletin Sequence Number: 845
Date of Bulletin: 9908
NHTSA Item Number: SB608461
Make: Ford Truck
Model: F-150 (Author's note: this also applies to F-250Light Duty trucks, don't know if Ford has updated this section of this TSB)
Year: 1997 (Author's note: this affects all F-150's & F-250 LD's from 1997 thru early 2000 model year builds as well!)
Component: STRUCTURE: Door Assembly
Summary: This outline bulletin addresses concerns with cracks in the door sheet metal at the lower rear of the window opening near the belt molding.

The number to call is:
Ford's Customer Service at: 1-800-392-3673.

Hope this helps everyone!

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1997 F150 Lariat Three Door Extended Cab Flareside 4x4, Two tone Pacific Green w/ Harvest Gold, Tan Leather Interior, Ford Premium Sound w/ CD Changer, Lund Solar Visor, Leather Tonneau Bedcover, K&N Air Filter, VentVisors
Wish List: Lund Racer Back Cab Spolier, Lund Shadow Winshield Wiper Cover, Lund Steps, RhinoLiner Spray-In Bedliner, Vortech Super Charger, Brush Guard, Hidden Winch, Lighted Ford Logo, I'll list more when I think of it...

 

Pickup man-

You had said that the door crack fix went into effect in April 2001, but my dealer told me that the TSB didn't apply to the 2001 models, which mine is. Mine was built in October, 2000.

Where did you get this 05/2001 date??
thanks!

2001 F-150 XLT SC 5.4L

 

r6racer said:
________________________________________________

So THAT's how I keep smashing my hand. I am holding onto the top of the door while closing it! Seriously, I doubt many people get into the truck by pulling themselves up from the top of the door.
It's been pretty well determined that the crack is the result of metal fatigue caused by the skin flexing when the window is raised and lowered.
I showed my body shop manger the TSB a couple of weeks ago. He ordered the parts and they are waiting for me. They're going to do the fix while I am on a cruise next week. No hassles, no whining. My service guy and the service manager were very interested in this TSB but had not done one yet. They were familiar with the cracks. The body shop manager said they had fixed a couple by spot welding the crack and repainting. MIne will be the first the do under the TSB. I reported the crack while the truck was still under warranty. I said I would wait until there was a good fix out. Now is the time!
Houston F150 folks, my dealer is Bay Area Ford on Bay Area Blvd in Clear Lake. I can't promise the exact results because I have bought four vehicles from them in three years and they always treat me right when I come in. Give them a try.

 

Pickup man-

You had said that the door crack fix went into effect in April 2001, but my dealer told me that the TSB didn't apply to the 2001 models, which mine is. Mine was built in October, 2000.

How do you know if the fix was put in on the assembly line?

Where did you get this 05/2001 date??
thanks!

2001 F-150 XLT SC 5.4L

oops

 

I had my door fixed recently using the kit supplied by ford. They go in and weld up the crack, then they have plastic piece that gets installed to stop the flexing and then they repaint the door. The body shop that did mime did an excellent job.

 

Guys,

The door crack fix was incorporated in the Norfolk plant on or about July 17, 2000. This information came directly from the Ford engineers employed at the plant during the first annual F150online gathering at the Norfolk Truck Plant tour.

If your truck was manufactured before this you have recourse with Ford. My son has a '99 F150 4x4 ordered in May of 2000 and delivered in early July 2000 and it HAS the doorcrack problem. His dealer is replacing the whole door (s). I have an early '99 F150 which doesn NOT have the problem but I only have 17,000 miles on the vehicle. This problem is not due to the miles on your vehicle but the use of your power windows.

This problem is caused by the continued use of your power windows and the flexing of the door with the up and down motion of the window. The more you use your power windows, the worse it gets.

 

I have heard alot about this problem mainly affecting those with power windows. How about those with manual windows? My 2000 doesn't have the door cracks, but I called my service advisor and they said that because of the recent flooding in Houston, they're service department is fully booked until August. (Vehicles going in on Saturday aren't being looked at until Tuesday or Wednesday!) So, I am not going to have it fixed yet. Anyone with manual windows having this problem?