Hey everyone, brand new here. I wanted to get some opinions about some rust on the passenger side wheel well of the bed.

This truck has been in the family since new so it has a lot of sentimental value, therefore im prepared to drop loads of money on it

If i grind this down will i have a happy ending?

 

They all go there, engineered to rust from the inside out. What you need to do is take a picture of the backside above the inner wheel well and see how far up the rust extends. Patches are available for both the external bedside and inner wheel well (outer actually). Or you can go for a clean southern replacement bed. Once repaired/replaced, you'll want to get some moisture retarding product in there.... I use fluid film, but am thinking of trying something that doesn't wash off as easily, like the competitor Protection First Class.

 

Im thinking that since it's rusting underneath the paint that it started behind the wheel liner? This is the only spot of rust on this bed so I'd like to take care of it before it becomes a bigger problem. 16 years of salt and this truck is holding up well so I'm not at the point where I'm considering replacing the bed, ill pull the liner off and see what the condition underneath is, thanks!

 

On my 04 1500, it didn't look too awful on the outside - but it was a royal mess on the inside. If you have a inner liner, its the mopar aftermarket piece and its probably what has helped keep it as clean as it is today.

Here is a picture of that 1500 on the inside, I used a digital camera and stuffed it up inside there and took the picture so I could see what was going on behind there. As you can see, it was really involved.

 

Get a patch welded on. This is common on these trucks. I work with a guy who babies his truck and both sides are rotted over the wheel wells. Mine is doing the same thing on one side.

 

Yeah im just going to buy some panels, does anyone know if 1Aauto panels are decent?

 

I've used these guys before (below). I ordered a rocker for my 2nd gen from them, I had to tweak it a bit - but I made it work and it looked good. No patch panel is going to go on as shipped. Note they have the outer wheel wells as well as the bed side patches. I've looked at different second gen stuff, and it seems like one overseas company makes them all and there are just a bunch of different suppliers.

https://www.fixmyrust.com/index.php?...nt=20&offset=0