Hello,

I've got an 02 Dakota that has rust on all the wheelwhells. It started from the paint chipping just under the fender and rear wheelwell. From what I can tell, the rust is not through but it is spreading.

My question is: can it be saved?

I plan on grinding it all down to bare metal, apply some filler, sand, prime, paint and clear it. These are the only rust parts on the truck. Frame is fantastic and absolutely no rust on the doors, rocker panels or tailgate.

I plan on having a body shop mix me some paint and then I'll paint it myself, and then buy some fender flares to help cover the bad paint job(which I expect).

Im not expecting a perfect paint job by any means, but I wanna do a decent repair. I don't want this rust coming back in a year or two.

Can it be saved?

 

I think your repair is the only option. My Durango is starting on the drivers side door and rear quarter next to the gas filler.
FF

 

I'm actually planning on doing my two rear wheel-wells this week and should be posting pics, ect by this weekend. I've planned much in the same manner as you, paint and cover with Bushwhackers, however I found this paint called POR-15. This stuff is supposed to be a cure all to rust, I'll post back later on the results (if all goes well O_o).