Rusted drivetrain on newly delivered Bronco -- is this normal?

[Matt J.]

Hi Everyone:

I took delivery of my Bronco 5 days ago and instantly noticed rusted bolts on the front trail sights. Worried that this might signify hidden issues, I took a look underneath and found the entire drivetrain rusted -- both front and rear driveshafts and both front halfshafts look awful! See photos.

The response from the dealer service manager basically said, "This is normal" which I find hard to believe.

"I understand it may be alarming to find rust on these components, but this is actually very common. I crawled under my own Bronco (I took delivery in Dec) and I also have rust on the driveshaft, axles and other components. I also inspected the unit on our showroom floor and it has rust on the driveshaft and CV axles, albeit to a lessor degree. I want to reassure you that these vehicles are designed to be exposed to the harshest environments for long periods of time with no effect on function or performance."​

Question for all you new Bronco owners out there, is this really normal? If it's "normal", do we have to do some rustproofing right now to prevent progression? I'm very worried about the durability of my Bronco now...

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[Bronco21fan]

Hi Everyone:

I took delivery of my Bronco 5 days ago and instantly noticed rusted bolts on the front trail sights. Worried that this might signify hidden issues, I took a look underneath and found the entire drivetrain rusted -- both front and rear driveshafts and both front halfshafts look awful! See photos.

The response from the dealer service manager basically said, "This is normal" which I find hard to believe.

"I understand it may be alarming to find rust on these components, but this is actually very common. I crawled under my own Bronco (I took delivery in Dec) and I also have rust on the driveshaft, axles and other components. I also inspected the unit on our showroom floor and it has rust on the driveshaft and CV axles, albeit to a lessor degree. I want to reassure you that these vehicles are designed to be exposed to the harshest environments for long periods of time with no effect on function or performance."​

Question for all you new Bronco owners out there, is this really normal? If it's "normal", do we have to do some rustproofing right now to prevent progression? I'm very worried about the durability of my Bronco now...

Your dealer is correct it is normal only thing to do is take it to a place that removes and treats all the parts so it don’t happen again but it’s not cheap

 

[E. Davis]

Normal (for Ford) for the driveshafts and axles. I have surface rust on these same parts on my F150 and Mustang. It does not progress further once these initial steel parts are covered with surface rust. I wish they would do a better job of coating these parts with some sort of preventative, mainly because it is unsightly, but it is not the kind of penetrating rust that is going to eat through these components over reasonable timeframes.

It is more alarming that you have rust on your trail sights. Any photos of that?

 

[BigLebowski]

There is a thread on rusted trail sight bolts

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/rust-on-trail-site-bolts.39271/#post-1287415

 

[Matt J.]

Normal (for Ford) for the driveshafts and axles. I have surface rust on these same parts on my F150 and Mustang. It does not progress further once these initial steel parts are covered with surface rust. I wish they would do a better job of coating these parts with some sort of preventative, mainly because it is unsightly, but it is not the kind of penetrating rust that is going to eat through these components over reasonable timeframes.

It is more alarming that you have rust on your trail sights. Any photos of that?

I posted pictures on a different thread discussing the trail sight rust issue. Looks like a bad batch of bolts. Dealer says the bolts are on backorder. While I'm waiting, I sanded down the existing rusted bolts and sprayed them with some rustoleum. It'll work for now...

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/rusting-accessory-bolts.38574/post-1311543

 

[Ksjrb03]

Yes

 

[JT58Bronc]

I have received brand new vehicles with rusted drive shafts, half shafts and other chassis components. It's from the steel being "raw" and not treated with anything at all- not even primer. It does look awful. Why they do not paint these components is beyond me. It looks so much better under the chassis with them painted.

I have primered and painted these components myself on brand new vehicles as I did not like the rust appearance. I typically use a rag immersed in turpentine or paint thinner and wipe the rust off, possibly lightly sand, then primer and paint black. Another option is just spray them with Boeshield T9 marine rust inhibitor. Stuff is expensive but works great at removing rust and repelling water and future rust.

 

[Freebird32]

My new 22 Bronco had rusted shafts and some backing plate nuts/bolts on rear were also rusty. Fender sight bolts on driver side too. I removed those and used Rust reformer with top coat of satin black. I wire brushed driveshafts and used Rust Reformer with a satin black topcoat. Look good now. Will chase down the rest of the rust the same way. It is something to keep after (cleaning, touchup) if you own vehicle a long time. I have no rust-thru on my 97 F150. i use CorrosionX on electrical stuff and other fasteners periodically too.

 

[Felix808]

Unfortunately it's normal for Ford.
FORD= Full of oxidation rust & dents.

 

[old goat]

normal on all vehicles

 

[ChrisB351]

Thank ice mountain for that. Not to mention those are raw uncoated steel. Had a 4dr wildtrack in my shop last week for running boards and had the same issue.

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