On the outside of the driver-side door of my '99 F-150 Off-Road, about 3-4 inches up from the bottom corner of the window on the post behind (to the rear of) the window, a flake of paint chipped off exposing crack or tear in the sheet metal about 1/4-inch long running horizonally toward the back of the door (I wish I had a picture to show you). To my knowledge, the truck has never been wrecked or repainted. Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Is this some type of stress crack or just a fluke? My main concern is that the crack may run and get longer.

 

It is a stress crack and is covered while the truck is under warranty. Do a search and you will find more than you ever wanted to know.

 

This is the second time in two weeks that someone has told me to do a search and I would find more than I wanted to know. The first time concerned an oil leak at the head gasket, and I did find out more than I wanted to know, but I'm grateful. Thanks for the help.

 

Q: I have a crack in the metal of my drivers side door. What caused it and how do I get it fixed?

A: TSB 01-18-2 describes this defect and explains the fix. The catch is that there is no recall for this and so you will have to foot the bill, unless you’re still under warrantee.

As stated in the READ FIRST FAQ thread.