flash2021

need help here

Have had my truck for about 2 years now. a few weeks ago I noticed the paint starting to bubble on both rear fenders above the wheel well. I took some pictures, might not be easy to see.

One of the pictures shows up in wheel well facing out where two pieces mate and there is rust swelling in between them...I'm assuming this is where it all started and migrated inwards. The truck has always lived in Ohio, so road salt/etc it's whole life

I've done some reading, I know its a systemic problem...but not much I can do but take my truck to a body shop to see what they can do? I was thinking out getting the rust stopped and then adding fender flares to cover it up, but without the panels having the factory holes pre-drilled, can I even do it? the last thing I want to do is go drilling holes in the panel and create more rust

i want to stop the problem before it gets worse, as cheap as possible...any suggestions?

2008__XL

There's no way to really fix without removing all of the rot. It starts from the inside of the wheel well. Actually, the top side where you can't see. You can wash out the wheel wells all you want, but it won't prevent this. The top of the wheel well and the beside come together and form and V. This is where the rust starts. But you can't see it, and most don't know to clean it out.

The only way to stop this from happening is to constantly flush out the top of the wheel wells. If you look up from up the rear bumper on each side, you can see the opening. This needs to be oiled in the winter, and flushed out with a high pressure hose weekly. Keep that in mind if you get these fixed.

You can either replace the whole bedsides, or cut out the bad spots. Adding fender flares will cover it up for a little bit (eBay has no drill factory looking flares that apply with clips and 3M tape) but the rust will keep growing and eventually spread past the flares.