Hey guys, my day went from good to bad yesterday when I was washing my 96 F-250 pickup and found 2 little paint bubbles right above my passenger rear fender. The rust actually came off by rubbing it hard enough, but the bubbles on the paint surface are what scares me. How long do I have before my whole outside pickup box above the chrome trim looks like crap? What can I do? If I bring it in to an autobody shop, what will they do? or how can they repair this? Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening? I try to wash and wax my truck a few times a year, but obviously it wasnt enough...

Thanks in advance for your input....
Jeff

 

Preventive maintenance is the key, you apparently put good effort in protecting the outside, but what will also help is washing or hosing down the mud/dirt accumulations on the underside of fenders, in the corners and on the inner lip of the wheel openings as well as under the cab and bed. I’m not from the ice /snow country but they have other things which help such as oiling the underside and inside door panels before the winter season.

I’m sure others here will offer other suggestions on prevention and others with more knowledge than I can help you on the repair aspects, but usually the damage is worse than just a few blisters, which sometimes indicate rust through from the backside. The area can be cleaned and filled with waterproof fillers or the damaged metal being cutout (best and most expensive method) and replaced.

 

That is a very common place for rust to occur on the 87 to 96 F series up to the 250s. Dirt accumulates in the fender and lays there then moisture gets in there and the rusting process begins. First thing drill a hole the size off a quarter in the middle off the fenderwell on the curve enough to get a hose in there and you can get what dirt that is in there and flush it out and get a flashlight in there to see if you see any dirt that is left and what rust has occured so far. Youve might have caiught it in time before to much damge has occured. I have done this with my truck after a friend had his truck rust there and havent had no rusting in there. Do this at least once a week or whenever you think about it. Dirt and gravel roads are the worst culprit the dust gets up in there and lays there..To cove the hole just cut a strip off old innertube rubber fold it several times and stuff it in there. If you know off anybody that that has these model trucks tell them about this it will definitly save them some rusting. Goodluck.

 

Thanks for the advice, I wish I would have known sooner about cutting a hole and cleaning the inside out with a hose. Ive always been very religious about washing undernieth the truck (especially under the fenders) when I wash the truck. I brought it to a local autobody shop yesterday and he said he has experience with these trucks and like Huntsman said, Its usually much worse than it looks on the outside. He said the best fix is to completely cut out the rusted area and redo it with new metal. Thanks for your comments and suggestions. I appriciate it.

Jeff

 

Jeff,
I have the same problem on my '95 F250. I wax my truck several times a year. I wash the body and the under carriage countless times in year. But last spring the bubbles showed up on my rear fenders. It has been almost a year, most people would never notice them, but it bugs the heck out of me! I also have the typical Ford tailgate rust starting to form. My body man said it would be cheaper to replace / repaint the gate. And then cut out / replace / repaint the affected areas on my rear fenders. This comes out to be alot of money for a 10 year old truck. I don't know if I should fix it, or buy another truck and sell mine to someone that doesn't care about rust. If I fix it or replace it, I'll definately be cutting the hose holes in. That is a great idea! Thanks 150Ford! They sell automotive style rubber replacement plugs at Lowes and HD. I think I might find some of those to use in the holes.

Good luck with your truck!

Chris

 

Chris,
The same question has already crossed by mind...should I sell and get something else? But I love my diesel and I can live with the rust as long as the rest of the truck keeps running the way it has been since I bought it. Possibly next year I will get the rust fixted. Fortunately my tailgate has not started rusting yet. The rubber plugs is a good idea to plug the holes after you cut them out. Good luck.

Jeff

 

You guys all have a good idea that cleaning out the dirt will keep out moisture but chances are that on a truck thats almost 10 years old, there is already some rust starting at the wheel wells. Adding more moisture is just going to feed this rust and take over the fender from the inside out. I would recomend that after washing out all the dirt as suggested in this thread, that you spray some oil onto the inside of the fender (once it is good and dry) and this will help prevent the spread of the rust by coating it with oil, thus not allowing moisture to get to it. Eventually more dirt will get onto the fender and it sould be washed and dried and then re-oiled. If done frequently, the oil should buildup over time creating sort of a protective barrier from moisture and the water will actually bead off of the oil.

Old engine oil with a thick sticky addative works best, but you could use some WD-40 in a spray can for easiest application. I actually coat my entire truck with used engine oil and Lucas oil treatment (already in it because i run it in my truck) to the entire frame/body and all the inner fenders, wheel wells, doors and tailgate as well as under the hood to prevent rust from starting. If you can get your hands on a gallon or two of used oiled from a diesel engine I have found that this oil is really black and coats excellent also.

 

A neighbor of mine used to spray used motor oil in the wheelwells of his truck and then drive over a dusty, dirt road to build up a mixture of oil and dirt. He also took his new truck to the gas station, had them install grease fittings and filled the rocker panels with grease! Took about $20 worth of grease! He said that used motor oil protected better than clean oil, but I have never found anyone who could give a scientific explanation for that phenomenon.
Someone else told me that he tried the oil and dirt road trick on his Jeep Cherokee and it rusted out in 2 or 3 years. He told me he had mud built up, so maybe he didn't get enough oil to make it waterproof.

I had a VW Rabbit that was rusting around the inside of the wheel wells where the chrome trim was fastened with screws. I bought a bucket of transparent wheel bearing grease and took a putty knife and filled the recesses of the lip of the fender with it. It gradually built up a layer of dirt over it, but it stayed even through moderate exposure to car washes. I have tried spraying WD-40 through into the inside of the fender, but it didn't do much good. I think it is too thin to saturate the rust and stay there very long. I think I will try spraying some RustMort into it and then some thinned ZeroRust. Bit of trivia: (My Mom was a French Teacher) RustMort means "death to rust", but the 't' in Mort is not pronounced in French, so it would be pronounced like "more" in english. Brady

 

Just found this old thread:

Underside oil spray?

For some reason, it wouldn't let me post the link, but you should be able to search for it.

Brady

 

There is mention of drilling a quarter size hole in the fender well to gain access to the rust. Should this be done from the bed (top) side of the wheel well, or from underneath? Seems it would be better from the top - especially if you have a removeable factory bed liner (like I do)....

Any thoughts?