Feathermerchant

For those with this gen truck and especially if you park outside...
I went out to clean out an area that routinely gets full of junk. It is behind the front wheel. There are four blots and two plastic push pins that secure the lower front fender to the wheel well splash guard. Remove them and you may see this:

About a pound from each side. And it was all damp. So I removed it and sprayed fluid film to inhibit corrosion.
Then I replaced the screws etc. I'm thinking I should do something to prevent or at least reduce the accumulation of junk. Under the hood you can see it falls between the outer fender and inner bodywork. There is nothing to block it. Fill it with foam? Fabricate a screen?

Further back there are several holes in the inner body some of which have tape on them, some it looks like the tape fell off. So I fluid fillmed inside and used alcohol to clean the surface and used Gorilla tape to cover the holes. I have not seen any corrosion yet.

doanster

it appears to be all big pieces - i would not use spray foam as it may just trap moisture there - how about using a piece of nylon door screen or something similar - it will allow it to breathe while keeping the big crap out. Just a thought!

Feathermerchant

My idea was to put whatever barrier at the very top so it would stop stuff from going down there. I would still need to open up the bottom to check on it.

Feathermerchant

So I have started the process of plugging the holes that lead to all the junk in the fender. As a bonus it will be impossible to drop a socket into the void. Ask me how I know...

So here is the drivers side entrance into the abyss:



It is the really black area.





Closer but not close enough to get drawn in.

Here is is covered with the panel I cut from Home Depot aluminum. It is siliconed in.
Note the duct tape handles.


Finally here is the pattern I used to cut the aluminum. It worked well.

terraformer

Interesting. Without having looked at it myself, is this an area that would be blocked with wheel-well covers? I have them installed so wondering if I need to worry about this.

Feathermerchant

As far as I know my truck is stock in the front. The area is between the wheelwell and the fender. The only entrance is from the engine compartment above.

M0RRIS

You might be setting yourself up for corrosion with that being aluminum. You need to separate the steel and aluminum with some type of isolator. I'm not sure if silicone will be enough.

Feathermerchant

There is silicone and paint. That an I can keep an eye on the aluminium.

M0RRIS

As long as your aware.

Feathermerchant

What I'd like is to see someone else open up that area behind the front wheels and report what they find. I can't be the only one.