Many people complain that their Ford F150 doors won’t close during winter when it is freezing outside, while they work fine during the warm weather. It can cause an issue for people when they are ready to go out but cannot close the driver or passenger side door.
Ford F150 doors won’t close when cold because of snow layers around doors, frozen locks, contraction of door material, shrinking of door latches, and cracked rubber gaskets.
You cannot drive with opened doors on the driver’s or passenger’s side because it is risky for other traffic on the road and also causes the cold air to come inside. People can get late from work when they have to wait a few minutes to resolve the issue.
| Causes | Solutions |
| Snow around doors | Cover the exterior body with old blankets or indoor parking |
| Frozen locks | Coat with sanitizer or hair dryer |
| Contraction of door material | Park in sunlight or use covers |
| Shrinking of door latches | Aerosol sprays and alcohol |
| Cracked rubber gasket | Use WD-40 or silicone lubricants |
Snow around doors
You can often not close the Ford F150 doors completely for driving because snow can get stuck on their sides. In addition, the accumulated ice layer causes hindrances in their proper locking.
The issue comes in winter when you park your vehicle outside without covers. This is because the opened garages are cold than the covered ones during cold weather.
It causes the snow to come on differently due to high moisture and snowy conditions. The snow makes a layer on different things and interrupts their normal functioning.
Moreover, you can also face this when you park them outside while shopping in freezing weather.
You can also face the issue when you drive at night in freezing nights of winters People living in extremely cold areas frequently face the issue.
Many people quickly add warm water to doors to melt the ice, which is not good practice and can cause damage. Water enters the door panels, making the electric components and locking system faulty.
Avoid using warm water to resolve the problem because it can quickly solve it but leave damaging effects. Instead, you can use the scrappers to remove the snow from the exterior body of the truck.
It is better to use old blankets usually present in your homes to cover their exterior body at night if you have open garages in your houses.
You can also purchase vinyl covers from the market according to the size and model of your vehicle to prevent them.
Frozen locks
You cannot completely close the powered doors of your truck in the cold because of the frozen locking mechanism. The locking mechanism allows their proper latching when you by engaging the striker plate and other components.
The locking mechanism gets stuck and cannot function to lock them correctly. As a result, you can see gaps between them when you hit them for closing.
In addition, these can also come back when you hit them against your vehicles for locking. The key also causes hindrance in their locking because of the frozen mechanism.
The issue comes when you leave your Ford F150 trucks outside for shopping. You can use different methods to unfreeze the locking mechanism.
People use various techniques, but I prefer hand sanitizer because it is quickly available, and many people keep it in their pockets.
The alcohol in the sanitizers acts as the deicer and treats the frozen locking mechanism. You can also coat the keys with hand sanitizers for their proper functioning.
You can also use a hairdryer and run it between the door’s sides and on the latching mechanism to resolve the problem. The warm air from the hairdryers acts as the deicer and warms up the latching mechanism so they can work correctly.
Contraction of door material
Contraction of the Ford F150 door material depends on its material type. Most of these are made of metal material to decrease their weight.
Metal can contract when it comes to exposure to a freezing environment. Therefore, you can face the shrinking and contraction of the truck doors if you live in areas where the temperature drops during cold weather.
The metal contracts when temperature decreases because of decreased kinetic energy. The atoms take up less space and reduce the size of the metal-made material.
These cannot fit into the latch properly because of their reduced size, and as a result, you won’t be able to close the truck doors. The reduction is slight and is not visible, but it affects the alignment of the latching mechanism.
It is better to park your Ford F150 in sunlight to absorb heat from the environment. The heat from the sun increases the kinetic energy in these materials.
Park your vehicles inside your garage and cover them with old blankets and their vinyl covers.
Shrinking of door latches
You cannot close the doors of your Ford F150 trucks properly in winter because of the shrinking of door latches. The door latches are vulnerable to shrinking in winter because they are made of metal.
The metal contract when its kinetic energy decreases in freezing weather. The shrunk latches cause an issue in locking the doors properly.
The shrink latch causes misalignment of the locking mechanism, and it cannot engage the striker plate. You can use the aerosol lubricant sprays to prevent them from freezing environment.
The water-resistant spray coats their material, and these cannot stick due to cold weather. Moreover, you can also use the spray of alcohol solution on their latches to prevent ice formation there.
You can use a paper towel for rubbing alcohol if a spray bottle is not available.
Cracked rubber gasket
Rubber gaskets are the seals between the Ford F150 frame and the doors. These are made of rubber material and allow their proper closing and opening.
Rubber gaskets can get damaged when exposed to freezing weather. It causes the drying of rubber material, and these can develop cracks.
The cracked rubber gaskets cause hindrances in the Ford F150 door locking mechanism, and it becomes challenging to close the doors of your truck. In addition, the rubber material’s flexibility decreases because plasticizer components escape, which can break easily.
In addition, these can also come off from the exterior frame when moisture from the ice seeps into their inner layer.
These are fastened on the frames with gluing material, which can come off when contacting moisture. You can use the lubricant to prevent the drying of rubber gaskets and their cracking.
Use the WD-40 lubricant to moisten the gaskets so they cannot dry in winter. You can use greasy lubricants such as petroleum jelly to make them wet.
Use the cloth to buff their surface and remove the excess material because it can attract dust and debris from the outer side.
Moreover, excessive lubricant removal is necessary because these can react with rubber material and cause their deterioration.
The silicone-based lubricants also prevent the rubber seals from freezing and drying.
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