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With projects piling-up by the dozens around the house, l decided to do the right thing and grab a beer, sit on a stool in the garage, and spend a bunch of time with a wire wheel removing strips/globs of ancient double-sided tape residue around the wheel arches and rockers... a PO had gone a little nutty with a JC Whitney catalog and tarted the old girl up with some shiny stick-on stainless steel gimcrackery. I think that all happened about the same time the awful tube grill made it's debut.
Anyway, l uncovered this odd little rust-through spot on the left fender...
... it's not horrible, and a pretty easy fix... I'm not freaked-out over it.
I'm just wondering if this is a common rust area on an otherwise rust-free desert truck... ? I haven't gotten a look behind it yet, but the way the paint bubbled it looks like it rusted from the inside.
Weird.
The only other rust-through I've found is a similarly sized and shaped spot on the inner rocker, underneath the driver's door, only visible from the gound.
I would say that area is not normal to have rust based on my truck. As for the drivers side rocker...see below. Fluid Film has done a good job over the years. My truck does have the JC Whitney patch panels over the rear tires.
This picture was taken June 2012, I cut the rust out sometime in 2008 or 09. Bonded the panels on 2019, and finally got around to finishing that one side a few days ago.
Maybe someday... I'll get good at body work... I lack patience.
I'm glad you included this picture. I'm filing it away in my brain alongside using using a scissor-jack to pull dents.
Whatever it takes... as long as it takes something l already have it in my junk pile.
Yeah, I had to figure a way to hold pressure on the panel to keep it somewhat flush with the fender. Someday I'll sand it a little and get some more bondo to help smooth it out... because we know, looks are everything...LOL
It is a little strange but also I can see it being there.
If you look at the fenders you have the inner part that the lug wrench, washer tank, etc bolts to and the outer part you see the rust on.
When welded at the factory there is no way the factory would coat it and why it rusted thru.
My front fenders had a little rust down at the front of the wheel opening.
Again inner & outer parts welded and water & dirt makes it rust.
In the rear over the wheels you have the same thing.
The outer panel and the inner wheel hump welded and no protection and it rusts.
Dave ----
If you look at page 47-30-3 in this link, you can see there are some braces with threaded bolt holes in that area that hold the inner fender in place, the perfect place for dirt to gather and rust to form.
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Yeah, I had to figure a way to hold pressure on the panel to keep it somewhat flush with the fender. Someday I'll sand it a little and get some more bondo to help smooth it out... because we know, looks are everything...LOL
