I've got a 2012 l 8' bed, 80K miles, and the rear wheel wells are starting to bubble from rust from the underside. Structurally it's still sound. Every body shop I've had look at it won't even discuss repairing the rust; they all want to remove the entire bed, replace and repaint the entire outer skin, cab to tailight. The quotes are almost half of what the truck is worth. One shop I talked with at least left me feeling they were straight shooters in their approach. They told me they used to do patch panels, which IMO is the right approach, but customers were coming back in 1-2 years with crazed paint or hairline cracks and wanting the job redone, so now they only replace the entire outer skin.

I'm looking for feedback on how you fixed your rust on your wheel wells. It seems this is by far the first place steel bodied trucks of all makes and models start rusting. I'd also like to know why patch panels won't hold up. Thanks.