Holes in your Ranger rocker panels?

[AzScorpion]

my experience is they are pre set up to install running boards.

That's not it. I have the factory running boards and my holes are still visible.

Sponsored

 

[micl9]

Nice hot day here in the Central Valley (CA) so while parked in the driveway nose down I squirted water in the rocker panel holes with a syringe. Water drips out small holes at the front. Park nose up and it drip out small holes at the rear.

Also seems to be a large opening to the rocker panel area where the front fender meets the Lower door opening…easy to see when the front door is open.

I crawled under the rig and guess what I found…even more holes. Some seem to lead to the rocker panel area so I’m not sure if they are also missing plugs or if plugs were left off intentionally to facilitate drainage or airflow of some sort.

LOL
How many holes does it take to fill the Albert Hall!?

Yall pretty much ignored @ksuds49 pics especially the one remaining above.
I was going to add a cargo light trigger wire to turn my bed lights on and pulled off the rear door floor trim to get a look at the harness and possible routing paths. What I found was that the clips(white with a black seal) that break really easily on the trim piece are a direct path to the rocker cavity. So heads up if you broke one you should replace or at least tape over the hole!
Back to the holes - when I looked under the truck I notice the holes above on the inner vertical wall of the rocker panel and the fact that is has quite a few holes! Again see above pic and below are the ones I took. So even if you do have the plugs in the bottom of on the rocker panel (oh - yes I do - 2019) there are a ton of other places for water to get in (and out). I would almost say (for the holes in question) that,as this is a horizontal surface, it would be better w/o. Water is going to get in so why not make it easier to get out. Yeah I know mud may be an issue, but could periodically clean the area. Its seems that cavity has a lot of holes, even what appear to be drainage holes - squarish cut outs on either end (also pointed out by ksuds49) so its probably not possible to plug them all.
Anyway not trying to be critical, but I think you guys are way over thinking this.

Here are the pics I took.
Looking fwd under LH side, an oval cap and round cap followed by a round hole. IRCC, there were more unplugged than plugged in other areas, I was mainly looking here for the wire I want to run.

From inside
lower ti-wrap is in the clip hole, direct path to the rocker cavity

 

[t-ranger]

I started a thread over on Blue Oval Forums on their Ranger page. Pretty much the same as here; no one really knows why the plugs were discontinued.
I know the dealers have a directory of anyone that matters in Ford's chain of command; I'll see if I can get an email contact when I go in on 8/9/21.
I think/hope I'm overthinking this. My 2009 Mariner has holes and slots all over underneath and no sign of anything except minor surface oxidation.
I alway get the under spray at auto car washes; must be helping.

Any updates from the dealer or Ford?

 

[thewhiteranger]

It is true that the holes may not hurt anything - I dont know.... but to me they are way to visible and it just looks sloppy Im glad mine have the caps / plugs its a 2020 seems like a stupid thing for ford to discontinue

 

[Muffin1]

Can someone provide the link for the frame plugs on Amazon?
TIA, Rob.

 

[paval3]

Can someone provide the link for the frame plugs on Amazon?
TIA, Rob.

This is the size someone on the forum who had plugged the holes on his rocker panels said to use. I ordered yesterday, but haven't received yet.

Plastic Plugs

Rubber Plugs

Note the plastic plugs are less expensive. Rubber version only has 10 in a pack, so you would need to buy 2 packs. Plastic has 25 in a pack.

 

[Motorpsychology]

Any updates from the dealer or Ford?

No, I got a response on BOF that was similar to @ksuds49. There are just too many other openings for me to worry about. I don't ever intend to do any serious mud bogging with it, and the entire body was submerged in rust coating at the factory. The extra holes should promote faster drying as others have mentioned, and the under body wash cycle at the car wash should keep it reasonably clean.

 

[Cmar]

He never said anything about getting the holes plugged, just an explanation.

Maybe Ford has found that plugging the holes on the 2019-20s is causing the rockers to rust because of freeze-thaw condensation build up, and leaving them open was keeping them drier.

Naw that can't be the reason they still have the normal small drain holes at the bottom. Now even more important than ever because they will have to deal with all the stuff coming in from these great big ones. Also I looked at my 2015 build Global, and the holes are plugged and painted over.

 

[slm]

I emailed Ford Canada customer service but it didn't help, the response was there's no recall issued by Ford for the holes now left open.

I was thinking what @Motorpsychology said - that Ford has determined it's better to keep them opened for drainage and drying. Also, when you look at the way the seam is pinched, leaving a small drain gap every few inches, well maybe those gaps aren't enough for areas with snow in winter (and all the associated road crap) ? But wouldn't Ford then issue something to remove them from trucks that have them installed?

I just wish they would give us a proper statement about it.

(above statement in case Ford watches the forum )

 

[WhyNot21]

They were removed to save costs. They probably thought no one would notice.

 

[Jason B]

Whatever the reason, I doubt its a cost savings ploy. More likely a supply issue (there is a pandemic, in case no one noticed). The supply chain of things have been greatly affected, and will probably continue for a while, especially for all the things imported from the CCP.
I went to the grocery store today and half the wham-whams and zoom-zooms I buy are out of stock. Same at home improvement stores.

 

[My21ranger]

Hi I’m getting my 2021 ranger rust checked today and we noticed the factory holes in the rocker panels do not have the inserts or covers.

just wondering, is it normal to not have covers for the holes in the rockersor am I missing them and need to go to dealer?

 

[fob63]

In some of the past posts here, it seems that certain years like 2021 didn't have them.
My 2019 does have them.

 

[AzScorpion]

I'm merging this with a previous thread so you can see all the results.

 

[My21ranger]

I'm merging this with a previous thread so you can see all the results.

Thanks! That’s handy TLDR holes are normal but I should go get plugs

Sponsored