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For those of you who live in Texas, you will know that it got quite cold here in the past week or so and froze over on multiple days, and its about to do it again. My truck is a daily driver, and when I go to drive (before and after work) it has a nice layer of ice all over. Today I got out to do my usual fluid checks and noticed 3 paint cracks on the left rear stepside fender. They weren't there before the freeze and I could tell that 2 bubbled up before they cracked. The truck has never been in a freeze (at least where it is coated in solid ice) like this. Is it possible that the water from the rain and drizzle got under the paint, froze and bubbled, and then cracked? I know I have some paint crack on the tailgate where the chain hits and water gets in there easily. Is it possible that this happened to me? I am absolutely puzzled. The last time I hand washed it (soapy bucket and rag) was mid January and ive taken it to the car wash 3 times and hand washed (foaming brush etc) it there also, and never saw and cracks
If you have a flareside, I believe those fenders are fiberglass aren't they? Do they have any plastic shielding between the tire and the fender. If it doesn't, or it's gone, probably a chunk of something stuck to the tire came up from underneath and smacked the underside of the fender, cracking the paint. Fiberglass fenders are bad for that.
That's what I had thought for a while. And it doesn't have the plastic shielding. That would explain the cracks but how the bubbles? There's 2 bubbles with cracks in them but Im not sure how it bubbled. I can upload a picture if need be
-And to note I have driven down some gravel roads here in the past 2 weeks which would explain the rocks getting kicked up. I guess we found the troublemaker.
If you have a flareside, I believe those fenders are fiberglass aren't they? Do they have any plastic shielding between the tire and the fender. If it doesn't, or it's gone, probably a chunk of something stuck to the tire came up from underneath and smacked the underside of the fender, cracking the paint. Fiberglass fenders are bad for that.