Just found out how much paint thickness specs actually matter for aluminum panels

I was working on a 2022 Ford F-150 in my shop last week, the one with the aluminum body. I had to do a blend panel on the driver's door and figured I'd just shoot it like any other job. But I got curious and checked the Ford repair manual online. Turns out they spec the primer thickness down to 0.3 mils for aluminum, which is way thinner than what I usually do on steel. If you go over that, the paint can actually crack around the rivets later on. I never thought a few extra passes with the gun could cause real failures like that. Has anyone else run into issues with aluminum panel paint jobs cracking down the road?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_vera26d ago

Did you find it messes with the adhesion too? I had a 2019 Silverado aluminum hood I screwed up exactly like that, had to redo the whole thing a few months later when the clear started peeling right around the edges...

taylor.mary26d ago

Wait, you mean my shortcut budget hack wasn't a permanent fix?