Hello, I have a 2003 F-150 XLT 4x4, Super Cab, and the running boards or nerf bars, whatever ya wanna call em, are showing some suface rust where they are joined together. I have seen this on other F-150's and wondered if anyone here has fixed it, and if so, what did you do? It must be a factory defect, but it's where the tubes are jointed. My truck looks great overall, and I really want to fix this surface rust. Thanks!

 

I bought my F150 just last year and put on some Westin bars. When I bought those, I specifically bought the black ones. Why? Because I knew they'd be eventually rock chipped up and have surface rust.

My plan is I'll spray on some bed liner coating over all of it after sanding it down a bit. After just a single year, I already have surface rust on the trailing edges. But my local auto shop has a shutz gun that I can spray a coating on for fairly cheap.

I suppose I could have gone with SS bars. But I wanted a mostly "blacked" out look and no chrome.

 

My '99 has rust on the running boards too.
I dont really see any fix for them other than sanding the rust off and repainting them.
Im just letting mine go. My truck is 8 years old, so I figure its earned the right to be a little rusty.