While I was at the car wash I saw a freaking paint bubble on my rear right fender I knew the day would come, I've been reading into it and my main question is I will get it done at an auto body shop and then should I put fender flares on? I found some decent ones on ebay to throw on it that would look good. There is no way I am getting a new truck and this one I havent even done half my mods yet Its about the size of a quarter and there is two of them one like a dime. I popped them with a pin for now, the other fender seems ok.

 

They will continue to spread if you don't take care of them quick.... it happens to the best of us....

 

That’s not a normal problem . normal paint peels with age because government regulations only allow 1mil of clear and in time if not waxed frequently and or is exposed to the sun a lot,, paint becomes too thin to adhere.. it peels. is that what it looks like its doing? Sound to me like the fender has been repainted and some holes were filled with bondo and not welded closed first..
Do you see any sanding marks in the paint were it would have sucked in after being repainted?
can you take a picture of it i can see better? up close
I have been painting cars professionally for 20 years.

 

you are lucky it took 10 years to do that. i've got an 05 and it had them when i bought it in 2010. i knew it was inevitable, so it didn't bother me, i put extended fenders on over a year and a half ago and it is now not an eyesore anymore. before i put flares on, i sanded the areas down to the metal and did the POR15 treatment and repainted with matched color out of spray can and cleared. within a month it was coming back. Disgusting, but oh well.

 

even por15 treatment?
seems to me the bubbles are from underneath, where there are 'drain' holes? cut into the top sheet of 2 sheets over the rear wheel wells.
Has anyone attempted to use POR15 in a spray bottle and hit those areas underneath?
I had 1 side repaired 2 years ago, Still holding up./ the other side has started.

 

I have the same bubbling happening in the same place. But its from the inside between the two skins which I dont have access to. As for P.O.R. thats great stuff, but you have to spray it ditectly on the rust, not the cleaned area.

 

any paint you spray without a hardner is total crap and will not last..dont put spray can on the truck it will just have to be stripped of when you have it dont right.

 

Correct on the aftermarket paint front, but I have to disagree from am OEM standpoint. You have to take into account the AQL (Acceptable Quality Limits), there was actually a set of studies done that identified the ideal paint thickness on a car, which is now an industrial standard in the automotive industry.

Paint (on average) is engineered to last a minimum of 10 years.

That is why Automotive companies only cover paint for 5-7 years and 60,000-120,000 Miles (depends on the manufacturer). Dodge for instance covers rust for 5 years or 100,000 miles.

Aftermarket (non-OEM) Paint is a completely different world, and is subject to nearly infinite differences depending on anything from temp & humidity right through to drying times and chemical compositions. but I am sure you are well aware of all of that.

Only reason I know quite a bit about this, is one of my professors back in college used a few technical journals and case studies about OEM automotive paint thickness to illustrate all types of quality testing and design of experiments that lead to improvements in quality and decreases in manufacturing costs. Was actually a very interesting class.

 

I'm going to get it quoted by a painting place somewhere in the industrial area here, he said it all depends on when he starts sanding if its really bad damage or not. If he's priced to high then I will check with a connection I have to a friends friend. We also have an 05 Dodge Cummins and its got it bad on both sides with actual rust coming through and showing mine doesnt look as bad as that yet. I looked underneath inside where it would be coming from the inside out and it didnt look that bad as to why it would be coming through. There is no other rust on it except for the underneath of course, I guess it is getting old but its in very good shape and should last quite a while longer so I'll just repair it. Its better than getting another loan.

 

Good Luck