Well after the long salty winter this past year (and accumulations from previous winters) I was very shocked to find a paint bubble on my rear wheel opening while I was drying it off from a wash. A hand wash. Closer examination reveals that both openings where the fender liner rides on the wheel opening are bubbled up and crumbling apart.

The warranty book explicitly states the terms of coverage which I will try to have Dodge remedy however, because of where the rust is at, it most likely won't be covered in time. The kicker in my rear is that I've pampered this truck like most of you do yours. It's not even 5 years old and I only have 29,000 miles on it! Yes... TWENTY NINE THOUSAND MILES and its turning to rust. I took delivery of the 2001 RAM QC 4X4 in November 2000.

I had my favorite body shop look it over and they told me rust in this area is "common" with this truck. They went on to examine another "common" area, under the waste of time rubber gasket on the bottom of the doors. Yes, of course, grit and salt are eating that away too!

Just a word to the wise here and check your areas for the rust before it gets too bad. Not sure what if any preventative measures can be taken for those who are lucky not to have the damage already but I am sure a savy reader will come up with something.

Oh the joy of living in... the rust belt[]

 

Show us a picture of this I want to check mine but im not sure where you mean

 

Its going to be really hard to photograph other than the BUBBLE on the paint. Just run your fingers around the wheel opening on the bed, both sides, the flat edge that faces the ground. Look under the door edge, on the bottom, there is a rubber piece that serves no purpose. My body shop is going to remove the piece, get the rust off and apply a light coat of oil. That should do it for the doors anyway but the bed is another story. Thanks for your interest and I'll TRY to get some photos but use your own fingers to feel around your RAM.

 

I solved the whole rust issue. I just bought a 2005 4x4 QC with a HEMI in BLACK with the Big Horn deal!

 

I'm not from the rust belt like guys up in the Northern tier states. I'm from Kansas City Mo. Pull up to any stop sign and note the Dodge Pick ups. 9 out of 10 will have rust over the rear wheel openings. I happen to have a black 2005
Dakota 4 dr Laramie and mine has not started that yet and I have 129k on the clock. I think its a damn shame that Dodge is not stepping up and doing something about it. Glenn Lorei

 

Rust don't discriminate, Your 2005 will look like your 2001 in time.

 

I've sang this song on here multiple times before and I'll do it again. Your ignorance and lack of knowledge on rust prevention is no grounds for putting blame on Dodge for rust accumulation. Any vehicle will rust like crazy in the "rust belt" if the proper preventative maintenace is not performed. Forget paint, rocker guard, POR15, bed liner - all of that crap does nothing to prevent rust for very long. You should have had your vehicle undercoated / oil-sprayed with a petroleum based formula when new and kept up with annual applications. You need to spray this **** EVERYWHERE that you can and cannot see; anywhere there is a path for water and salt to sit or collect needs to be laced. Spraying a layer of petroleum based undercoating will effectively waterproof bare metal which exists all over your vehicle, especially the underside. Inside doors, fenders, bumpers, behind all body panels, inside rocker panels, cab corners, every single square inch of the frame / chassis / motor / transmission / axles / suspension exposed to the elements. The more the better. You are aiming to get the underside of your vehicle as greasy and gooey as you can get it. This is a tried and proven rust prevention method which works brilliantly. Some are not willing to put up with the mess created by oil spraying, which I find bizarre since the benefits FAR outweigh any cons. Not having to deal with rusty bolts / everything when wrenching is one huge plus. I'm staggered at the amount of people that simply don't know about this. Any of my families vehicles (some daily driven in Canadian winters for the past 25+ years) have been religiously undercoated annually. Scrape off the 1/4" coating down to bare metal on the floor pans and I guarantee you they will look like they did when they rolled off the assembly line. My truck has been through 18 winters now and looks damn near pristine for a winter driven vehicle because I and the previous owner have kept up with it.

Some products to look up are Krown, Fluid Film, Carquest Color-Flo and anything similar. Just to be clear these are NOT rubberized / asphalt / textured / painted coatings which are all garbage and will cause more harm than good in many cases. They are PETROLEUM based. It is never too late to apply this stuff even over existing rust.

 

Not having to dig thru multiple layers of accumulated sprayed-on oil, that accumulates dirt.... or undercoating to try and find bolts has its upside too.....

 

I noted a response from an obviously more intelligent writer than I concerning the rust on Dodge pickups. As noted previously my Dodge Dakota is a 2005 model 4 dr Laramie with 128k on the clock and I have NO rust. It has survived 9 KC winters and no rust. It has NOT been treated with Dandy Rust Preventer that I have in MY ignorance omitted to apply. It does however, get a regular under chassis wash down. Who ever it was that offered his rust prevention tip didn't add his name to his comments---? Glenn Lorei

 

No one generally adds their actual name to comments on this forum.