My Door Fell Off Today!


DALLAS

GT Owner
Jan 28, 2006
25
I took the GT to a car show SAT, I will admit it was hot but the window was down.....I went to open the door and show the car to a person and the "satin door panel" fell to the ground........I could not believe my eyes...double back tape on a $160,000.00 car........What to do?
Shocked!

DALLAS
PS my next thought...what next?
 

AZGT

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 20, 2005
1,354
Scottsdale, AZ.
I had this happen on both soon after I bought it (same idea - new car falling apart, but I have had NO other problems other than the usual cold 1 -2 shift). No big deal.

You see that the tape they used was not very thick - like double sided scotch tape. That would require a perfect flat surface fit and no gap to work good which is why it doesn't work. Throw a little heat in there and opps :eek

I used the doubled sided mirror squares (a packet of squares about 1 inch by 1 inch) from Home Depot - the double sided foam tape. It fills the "gap" and holds tight. Have had no problem since - no rattle, no fall off, etc. :thumbsup

I think I am happier with that than having Ford put back the thin stuff or some other fix.
 
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ROCMAN

Big Dawg!
Mark IV Lifetime
Mar 9, 2006
1,625
USA
Ha! That exact thing just happened to me!! While I am not exactly happy about it, it is no big deal. I do think it was done pretty cheaply though.
They should have used an epoxy or silicone.
I look on the bright side of things, it will make it easier to have my panels removed so I can get Carbon ones put in. :biggrin
I think the factory black plastic panels need to go.
 

DRIVEBY

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Mar 17, 2006
253
Las Vegas
Same thing happened to me... It only took Ford two attempts before they fixed it right with some industrial strenght super glue.
 

TEXAS GT

2006 Twin Turbo
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Both mine came loose early on. I reattached them myself with silicone sealant. It worked perfectly.
 

Rob Ferretti

Well-known member
May 2, 2006
55
NYC area
both fell off on mine too.
 

AZGT

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 20, 2005
1,354
Scottsdale, AZ.
DRIVEBY said:
Same thing happened to me... It only took Ford two attempts before they fixed it right with some industrial strenght super glue.


That's why I did it myself. Why take the time to take it to Ford and have some guy screw with it.

The mirror tape worked perfectly. I like the idea of that better than some kind of super adhesive just in case it ever does NEED to come off again - solid, but not permanent. I uused about 8 squares (corners and a couple in the middle). Quick, easy, clean. Just make sure it is in the right place before you press to set the tape.
 

Neilda

GT Owner
Oct 19, 2005
3,559
London, UK
Sorry to be a numbnuts - what part is falling off? I can't quite picture the part you're talking about.

Thanks.

Neil
 

AZGT

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 20, 2005
1,354
Scottsdale, AZ.
He / we are talking about the large brushed aluminum (?) trim ring on the door - rectangle about 12 inches by 24 inches. The door pull is inside of the trim ring.

http://autos.yahoo.com/newcars/ford...tTOsRApyDqHetsSqwnMoF?i=indrvrdoor&a=all#imgs
 

SteveA

GT Owner/B.O.D
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 13, 2005
3,694
Sandpoint Id
Ditto here.
 

DBS

Permanent Vacation
May 10, 2006
21
Let me get this straight! The rectangular aluminium trin on the door is only stuck on with double sided tape? on a £150K car!

Is this trim plastic or aluminium?

That means it will fall off every car as soon as the tape dries and loses its stickyness. Have any of you experienced such a cheap similarity with any other sports/super cars?

Would you expect this on a Ferrari, Aston, Lambo for similar money?
 

Neilda

GT Owner
Oct 19, 2005
3,559
London, UK
Thanks AZ - now I know!

DBS, what cars do you have of this type? Certainly in Astons and Lamborghinis (I have both) there are areas like this. It happens.

In the trunk of the Vanquish the bracket/hinge guards are held on with double sided tape - they fall off in hot weather.... I think I paid £175,000 Sterling for that car (327,500 Dollars). Can't recall the exact amount, unimportant.

It did not detract from the pleasure of ownership.
 

SteveA

GT Owner/B.O.D
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 13, 2005
3,694
Sandpoint Id
DBS said:
Let me get this straight! The rectangular aluminium trin on the door is only stuck on with double sided tape? on a £150K car!

Is this trim plastic or aluminium?

That means it will fall off every car as soon as the tape dries and loses its stickyness. Have any of you experienced such a cheap similarity with any other sports/super cars?

Would you expect this on a Ferrari, Aston, Lambo for similar money?


It is a very light weight piece of aluminium thats only function is for interior trim.
I guess for the additional price of $70,000.00+ Ford could of upgraded the interior with colored stitching and stainless screws to be a bit more on par with Ferrari, Aston, Lambo etc...... Course then they would had to of slowed it down a bit as well.
 

KJRGT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 4, 2006
2,840
SoCal
So I'm now wondering if I should try to take my door trim panels off BEFORE the summer heat and do them right now. :willy Anyone taken this route?
 

B O N Y

MODERATOR & FGT OWNER
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 5, 2005
12,110
Fresno, Ca.
yeah, mine came of the transporter with both of them falling off... fixed it myself
 

AZGT

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 20, 2005
1,354
Scottsdale, AZ.
We all have to remember that the cars were developed in a very short time span, not the normal five years that would have allowed for some of these things to have been corrected by Ford. The entire car was new – sh*t happens. :willy

Like I wrote somewhere else, we are the original owners of these cars and are the ones that will find the flaws and help determine the fixes. If it takes a couple of flaws to have an American supercar in our hands that would not be possible down the road due to new regulations, I will take the flaws – they can be fixed. Let’s just call them character :thumbsup
 

AZGT

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 20, 2005
1,354
Scottsdale, AZ.
KJRGT said:
So I'm now wondering if I should try to take my door trim panels off BEFORE the summer heat and do them right now. :willy Anyone taken this route?

You could - probably a matter of time once summer comes.

However, I think I would wait - they will either get loose or fall off by themselves and that way you are not putting any extra pressure on them. If they get loose they should come off easy since only the tape is holding them (unless Ford had a fix on the later ones since there was the bulletin about it - if they did improve, might not want to pull on them and risk damage). The aluminum is not real heavy though, so just be careful not to bend it.

Since this seems to be somewhat of a common issue, maybe this should be a technical sticky?
 

DBS

Permanent Vacation
May 10, 2006
21
Does such a cheap method of production not make you worry where else Ford have cut corners? I don't think that a few boxes of adhesive silicone or screws would have increased the cost of production that much. The problem is do Ford ever way up the costs of doing something on the cheap in the short term, only to then have to spend more money in the long term in putting it right and causing themselves further embarrassment.

I appreciate that these cars were developed in a short space of time, but this should not be an excuse, lets face it we can put man on the moon. If the was going to be faults with developing/building a car within this time span, why do it and risk problems? Ford should adopt a more germanic approach to build quality.
 

AZGT

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 20, 2005
1,354
Scottsdale, AZ.
DBS said:
Does such a cheap method of production not make you worry where else Ford have cut corners?

Let's see.

Ford :thumbsup

Saleen :thumbsup

Roush :thumbsup

Brembo :thumbsup

Ricardo :thumbsup

etc.

NO.
 

AMER SPD

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Oct 18, 2005
135
Northern California
This aluminum trim is originally attached with clips along with the adhesion tape. After this concern was reported to Ford, they implemented the revised installation process which started around 7/27/05. It’s great to know that Ford keeps improving the product.

I hope this helps to put some minds at ease.

Charles
 
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