ford assembly line bad quality - cracking noise

[joordan]

since a couple of months I have a very very very annoying subtle cracking noise coming from the left side, right next to my ear (that's probably why I notice it, it may exist in other part of the car but goes unnoticed).
at first I thought of plastic cracking...so I started removing the plastic cover above and below the seat belt, noticed the metal clip and plastic clip, and put foam everywhere I could...sound disappeared...after a little while it came back...

others in the forum has experienced the same issue, some fixed by hammering the screws of the rear handle, some by removing the plastic panel and bending a lil more the metal clips to induce more retaining force, none worked for me. or at least all worked just for a little while.

so I decided to take the hard route and remove all, drive the truck down to bare metal on the side and see where this noise comes from in first place. guess what, it comes from the metal frame!!
so after a lil bit of investigation and juggling around, I did conclude the cracking noise comes from the soldering joints (points) that the entire frame and the doors have.
hammering all of them with a rubber hammer reduced the noise and the cracking, but it did not go away completely, and I still need to see if it will come back in a while.

the bottom line is that this is bad soldering work of the metal frame, and this is entirely automated by robot. which is why I am posting this as a general disclaimer cause my truck is built in south africa (as any for the eastern world), but the soldering process etc should be identical worldwide, including US facilities.

noise was not present at delivery nor during the first year...so it worsen over time

I will drive the truck to the car dealer and see what he says, but I doubt this will ever get fixed. I mean, probably only a body car shop could fix doubling up all the solder joint and then repaint the frame...something I highly doubt it will even be done

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[SubaruRaptor]

I assume you are meaning welds, not soldering as soldering is only used for electronics. Do you have pictures of what you are talking about. If a frame weld has failed, Ford would need to claim it. Most body shops wouldnt take the liability at least in the US to reweld it depending on whats going on.

 

[AlpineBike]

Please don’t expect that the South African or Thailand built trucks are built the same as the US built ones.
It’s been proven many times now that hardly any parts are cross compatible between them…

 

[joordan]

I assume you are meaning welds, not soldering as soldering is only used for electronics. Do you have pictures of what you are talking about. If a frame weld has failed, Ford would need to claim it. Most body shops wouldnt take the liability at least in the US to reweld it depending on whats going on.

There is nothing visible or wrong. All the welded points are done as they should, however they are cracking (not literally, just noisily speaking). You cannot see any evident bad weld, but overall the structure flex enough to crack.

 

[joordan]

Please don’t expect that the South African or Thailand built trucks are built the same as the US built ones.
It’s been proven many times now that hardly any parts are cross compatible between them…

This is my first American car, I always had German or Italian…I would agree the quality cannot be comparable when done in South Africa, but if you look on YouTube there is a walk around of that brand new facility, and it does seem by all mean identical to any modern “western world” assembly line. I could expect some quality issue (and there are) in the assembly, plastic etc, basically where humans are involved..but welding today is entirely run by machine. The same machine we have or you have so that’s why I have been wondering.
Before this truck I owned a VW amarok, and I do recall having removed the door seal…the welds at joints I can guarantee you look identical…HOWEVERE, in the ranger there is one weld point every inch, in the amarok there was one every half inch…that surely makes a difference.
Again, it might be just mine, but I have seen similar complaints on this forum and others.

And yes, amarok was an option at time of buying, till I figured is done by ford in South Africa VW does no longer build a German truck.

 

[vamosemonkey]

Owned German bike, German cars - road grip awesome. But the Bike had issues with gear change noise, visited dealership no Fix:.

Bought new from showroom Ford Ranger, on 3rd Oct 2024 first american vehicle. Convinced wrong purchase.
Door noise: no solution.
When breaking, gear change which gives a jerk. No solution.
There is smell of exhaust/ petrol in the cabin: no solution.
Ford ranger was purchased to divest in truck. Thought what better way then manufacturer of legendary truck F150. Plus the added benefit of 5 yr. Service & warranty.

Unfortunately, the warranty/ service package is good for oil & filter change, nothing else.

Do not know how to recover money.
Yes, Ford ranger is manufactured in South Africa, very poor QA/QC standards of ford.

My experience with Corolla, Avalon & Lexus ES350. Japanese know there subject well. Might not have fancy gadgets, but the craftsmanship is impecable.

 

[SubaruRaptor]

There is nothing visible or wrong. All the welded points are done as they should, however they are cracking (not literally, just noisily speaking). You cannot see any evident bad weld, but overall the structure flex enough to crack.

If the welds are fine then it's not the welds that are your rattle. Welds either are fine or they are broken. They won't crack and not be fine.

 

[joordan]

If the welds are fine then it's not the welds that are your rattle. Welds either are fine or they are broken. They won't crack and not be fine.

If you look at how they are done, you’ll understand why they crack. They flex. The cracking noise comes 100% from there..I could even replicate it by just grabbing the frame lip next to the weld and flex it

 

[SubaruRaptor]

If you look at how they are done, you’ll understand why they crack. They flex. The cracking noise comes 100% from there..I could even replicate it by just grabbing the frame lip next to the weld and flex it

Can you post a video?

 

[joordan]

Can you post a video?

Here another user posted the same problem. Noise is that one

https://www.ranger6g.com/forum/threads/ranger-raptor-drivers-seat-belt-column-clicking-noise.11196/

 

[SubaruRaptor]

Here another user posted the same problem. Noise is that one

https://www.ranger6g.com/forum/threads/ranger-raptor-drivers-seat-belt-column-clicking-noise.11196/

If its that noise, then the issue is not the welds, its a rattling of a bolt that has a gap or some clips.

 

[joordan]

If its that noise, then the issue is not the welds, its a rattling of a bolt that has a gap or some clips.

You are not listening (reading). I removed ALL the plastic, trims and clips. There is nothing left that can rattle. I drove the truck with the bare naked frame exposed and I could remove the rattling by pinching and pushing with my hands the frame welds…so there is no doubt where the noise comes from

 

[Jalbano2]

Owned German bike, German cars - road grip awesome. But the Bike had issues with gear change noise, visited dealership no Fix:.

Bought new from showroom Ford Ranger, on 3rd Oct 2024 first american vehicle. Convinced wrong purchase.
Door noise: no solution.
When breaking, gear change which gives a jerk. No solution.
There is smell of exhaust/ petrol in the cabin: no solution.
Ford ranger was purchased to divest in truck. Thought what better way then manufacturer of legendary truck F150. Plus the added benefit of 5 yr. Service & warranty.

Unfortunately, the warranty/ service package is good for oil & filter change, nothing else.

Do not know how to recover money.
Yes, Ford ranger is manufactured in South Africa, very poor QA/QC standards of ford.

My experience with Corolla, Avalon & Lexus ES350. Japanese know there subject well. Might not have fancy gadgets, but the craftsmanship is impecable.

Thank stop complaining and get rid of it

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