I knew the day would come...BUT i don't half to like it....2012 1500 2 wheel drive left fender well has RUST bubble at top center...1st one... any thing beside fender flairs can be done? its 2022 so nothing but cut out and weld patch panel in?? Was told 1300 hundred a side here in central Illinois no paint Will need more than 1 bubble before spend that. Just wanted to see what's out there... thanks

 

I'm not a body and paint man, but I know you have to get on the rust issue, or it will get worse, from everything I know about it. It's like a cancer that spreads. Thankfully I don't live in the rust belt, but if I did, I'd get on this fast. Perhaps another poster can give you better advice. Now, if you ever require a heater or A/C issue or other mechanical issues, I'm your man.

 

Hi there, did you end up moving forward with a solution of some sort? I find myself in the same predicament and I'm finding very little actual discussion concerning tactics to mitigate and minimize the effect before it grows too large. I'm currently dwelling on on what would be the potential benefit of cutting open the arch at the lip, treating the rust, [b]leaving it open for drainage, monitoring and treatment in the future and adding some type of plastic arch solution.

thanks for your time!

 

@schwim
You should provide vehicle info when posting. year/model/miles please.
Rust on the outside is just the tip of the iceberg. Body panels typically rust from the inside out so it's actually worse than it looks, and once you see it, it's far too late for mitigation. Unless you have some kind of collector vehicle, I would just dress it up with some rust paint once in a while if you really need to impress someone. More importantly I would be taking a hard look a the chassis + frame for serious structural rust that poses safety risks.

 

First, thank you very much for taking the time to help. I really appreciate it.

'12 1500 Z71 150k

I should have worded it better. I'm not looking to reverse the rust that I know has already eaten through the layers of steel in the arch/wheelhouse area. Once you see paint bubbling, the time for treatment or slowing is long past. By mitigate, I mean prohibit further growth and my thoughts on that I tried to detail but likely didn't do well on that part either. In my mind, I am considering cutting the joining lip of the wheelhouse arch open, maybe removing an inch up both exterior and in the wheelhouse. Once that was done, I should have access to the layers of steel, allowing me to wire brush, coat with Ospho/rust coververtor then coat the hell out of it with a paint. I wouldn't repair the cut but leave it open just treating the cut edges, allowing me to spray and clean when needed, treat further and monitor. For this to look ok though, I'd need a wheel arch cover, like is often used when using wider wheel tire combos, but in my case, not pushing the space out but just a thin treatment that covers the cut area.

I'm not considering a body shop because in my opinion, these beds are of a flawed design and it will just start the rot process again after thousands of dollars of repair, regardless of how I care for it. I looked at 100's of trucks online and in person all up and down the eastern side of the US before buying this one and when you have to include "has the common rot at the rockers, cab corners and wheel arches", it's a flaw, not normal aging. This is only my opinion of course but explains why I'm not considering patch panels and a respray on the bed.

Sorry for not being more detailed initially. If anyone has some knowledge on doing something like I'm considering, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks for your time!

 

No, I think I understood you. Of course it's impossible to "reverse" rust.

That's what I'm saying. Rust is already well underway. Cutting it up is opening a can of worms. It's just going make a big mess, make it look worse, and open it up to more rust. In my experience, you WILL see rust coming through in other parts soon after anyway. It's like herding cats.
Were it me, I would spend minimal expense/effort on it. My $0.02

 

I understand what you're saying but likely will do something at some point, probably involving some mellow fender flares. The rest of the truck literally looks like it rolled off the showroom floor. Chassis, frame, interior and body look brand new and if you didn't know the model years of the trucks, you would be forgiven for thinking it was a new one instead of a decade old. I don't think I can do worse of a job than GM at allowing drainage and cleaning in that area so when it blows through the paint and looks like ***, I'll put some plan into action as the risks will be quite low at that point.

Another thought I had is keeping an eye out for a flat or service bed. Although I don't use the truck comercially, I legitimately use the truck as a truck and either of those options would be just as useful to me.