What to do about rust.

jaslo · April 18, 2016

I have rust showing up on the outside of my fender well, is there anything that can be done to fix this? Or am I looking at all new panels and whatever to get it fixed?

sahls01gmc · April 18, 2016

Here's a quick and cheap way.

Probably won't last long term, but looks pretty good for now.

Your other option is t go to a body shop.....and yes, that is expensive.

You say fender wells, would aftermarket fender flares (or factory ones like mine) cover it up? If so, maybe you could at least get the rust to stop spreading, then cover up the bad spots so you don't have to paint.

finn5033 · April 18, 2016

If it's just a small spot find a nail polish that matches and touch it up. I did that on a car when I was younger and it held up and stopped it from spreading

muddkatt · April 18, 2016

Here's a quick and cheap way.

Probably won't last long term, but looks pretty good for now.

Your other option is t go to a body shop.....and yes, that is expensive.

You say fender wells, would aftermarket fender flares (or factory ones like mine) cover it up? If so, maybe you could at least get the rust to stop spreading, then cover up the bad spots so you don't have to paint.

What about having it Line-xed instead of the cheap rattle can stuff. It won't cost THAT much, and they will grind the rust off before shooting it. The Line-x will never come off.

sahls01gmc · April 18, 2016

I was quoted $1,100 from Line-X. They also would do a good job masking everything off, so that plays into is as well. I went on the cheap route to hopefully get 5 more years out the truck. So far it has actually held up fairly well. Like most things, it's all in the prep work.

jaslo · April 19, 2016

I have touch up paint for the truck already, the paint is only bubbling, but I do not know what is underneath. Should I pop the bubbles and take a look? and then use touch up paint?

cjb321 · April 19, 2016

Sand it down and rattlecan bedliner it, worked on a friends truck, his was rotting at the rockers. Still holding up to this day 4 years later and he lives at the coast.

efritz · April 19, 2016

Get rid of the truck, once you get a little rust it all goes in a couple years

jaslo · April 19, 2016

Get rid of the truck, once you get a little rust it all goes in a couple years

I already proposed that to the wife, to get a crew cab and she won't go for it. I don't really want to add the fender flares, because right now the truck has a nice clean look to it. It has the painted running boards on it.

The truck only has 94,000 miles on it and it has leather and everything. It does have the engine knock, that is the only bad thing about it.

efritz · April 20, 2016

I already proposed that to the wife, to get a crew cab and she won't go for it. I don't really want to add the fender flares, because right now the truck has a nice clean look to it. It has the painted running boards on it.

The truck only has 94,000 miles on it and it has leather and everything. It does have the engine knock, that is the only bad thing about it.

Tell her this is what it will look like in 2 years...

Badass69 · April 20, 2016

It's rotting from the inside out... not the outside in. Sanding and all that won't do anything. Start washing out between the inner and outer bedskins in the future with a different truck obviously and you won't have this issue. Patch panels or box skins to do it correctly... anything else is a bandaid on cancer

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Daryl Z71 · April 20, 2016

Tell her this is what it will look like in 2 years...

That is how my parents current 07 GMT900 started to look. Dad decided to just buy a whole different bed, paint it to match and put it on the truck.

sahls01gmc · April 20, 2016

Fender Flares may not look the best, but they look better than rust! If you do go that route, I'll say it again.....fix the rust to keep it from spreading!

jaslo · April 20, 2016

Fender Flares may not look the best, but they look better than rust! If you do go that route, I'll say it again.....fix the rust to keep it from spreading!

That is what my dad did to his old truck. I don't really care for the fender flares on my truck. I am going to go buy a auto body shop and see what they tell me.

KMGZ400 · April 20, 2016

Might be cheaper just to find a new bed then replace the panels. If you fix one side.. The other side will have bubbles next year. There are tons of beds around for that truck. The GMT 900's have zero paint protection around the rear wheels so it literally just eats the paint off the bed from rocks and road debris