Alright. Looks like the deep dark cold is letting up. That spring is just around the corner. This has been slowly but steadily growing. It may be time to start looking at this and figuring out what to do about it. A whole restoration and paint job is not an option. What is the minimalist way to deal with this?

 

Remove the fender flair and hit both the inside and outside of the wheel well lip with a wire wheel to expose bare metal. Treat the bare metal with acetone or other decontaminate and hit the area with Rustoleum. It won't look pretty, but it should protect the metal. I wouldn't be surprised if the corrosion is deep enough some holes could be exposed once the wire wheel tears at the rust. Any exposed holes can be repaired with POR-15 Epoxy Putty before applying the primer.

 

Shop the pick-a-part/salvage/junk yards for a rust free bed, of the same color,
be patient, and one will show up, that's affordable.

 

He's up in Canada. Unless the bed has been treated, vehicles up there are know to rot through the engine block (I know Canucks who've told me this from first-hand experience).

 

The rust is not coming from the wheel well lip. It originates from the back side of the panel, coming through from behind, from the joint between the side panel and the inner fender liner. This is a prevalent issue on all dodges of this era and area. It has finally spread enough that it is now permeating through the paint. It doesn't bother me much but folks are starting to make comments about my truck!
I suspect that if I wire brush or grind, there will be thin spots and holes able easily push a finger through. I have been thinking about fixing it. Options stewing over are:::
- getting the cutting disc out and chop an 8" high by wheel width chunk completely out of the panel. Then find a patch piece to weld in and repaint. OR
- wire wheel and grind down to bare metal, carve out any hole throughs, fibreglass matt and resin the holes and panel over, repaint. OR
- do the fibreglass then go with larger form fender flares over it all. If I go with larger flares, then the whole form fit bottom body moulding kit will come off the truck. That would totally transform the shape and look into an entirely different truck, I may be OK with that idea. ....
I don't know yet which makes the most sense for least time commitment, cost effective, and longevity. Or if there is some other fix that is commonly done which I do not know about yet.

 

How much are you willing to spend for a repair, and what kind of repair do you want to effect? One idea is to see if LMC Truck, or some other source, offers the complete side panel of the cargo box (aka bed). The problem is shipping across the border will be high. I wouldn't recommend fiberglass because it's a hack fix that will be visible after primer and paint. You might look for someone local who can shape metal. The key for that is to completely expose the damaged area to get an idea what will need to be replaced. Even then, I would say to pull the cargo box and have it completely media blasted (not sand). That way, a complete and proper repair can be performed, after which an epoxy primer can be applied in all areas to prevent future corrosion.

Just some ideas.

 

For investment; whatever gets it done with the least time effort and cost. I plan on keeping the truck indefinitely. Keeping it mechanically solid and reliable is the main focus. It is getting to be and old truck so I expect it to be aesthetically showing some of its age. These fenders are getting to be a bit of an eyesore though. The rest of the truck is fine.

I have since been eyeballing these, or something like them.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wheel-Arch-...del%3ARam+1500

I am quite handy with the glass, having a separate side hobby of taking on repairing/restoring old boat and watercraft. However I have never done any body work on vehicles other than pounded out the occasional dent. That's why I've been putting this off. Spring fever has me thinking about doing something with it, even if the repair is just superficial for now.

 

OK, that give a better explanation. If you're cool with it looking like a truck that works, but without it rotting away, I'd go the patch panel route. However, that being said, I still say "do it once and cry once" by pulling the bed. I've parted a lot of older vehicles that yield big surprises in the most unexpected of places. I'm also on various forums where guys show amazing rot that has been replaced.

 

Yeah, I think I am decided that the steel patch panels has to be the real fix. It is only by cutting out the old back to good metal that any other hidden issues can be properly dealt with, though I am quite confident there are not any. Pending work schedule, family time constraints, weather, and cash flow ... this may have to get done in two stages.
- Stage 1: remove the body molding kit. Grind out the rust, cut through rusty holes, keep minimal but get back to good metal. Form and fill with epoxy glass matt. Area patch paint. Put those big *** ugly as F fender flare things on to detract from my amateur imperfections. This could last a year or two or more.
- Stage 2: acquire the steel patch panels. Cut out, weld, fill seams and form with expos glass, area patch paint. Put the body kit back on. This is the permanent repair.

Removing the box and going whole hog on it is beyond my shop capabilities as well as the effort and cost that I am willing to put into this. The repair has to be sized to what I can do myself over a 3 day weekend, start to finish.

Anyways, thanks for the insights and the ideas. I will update with progress once I have actually started and done something with it.

If anyone has direct experience having done the steel weld in patches, I would sure appreciate any comments or insights. How did it turn out? Tips tricks twists finds?

Thanks!

 

Alright, SUMMER time. Conditions are good to get on with getting this done. It is time to get this done, cannot delay another season as the rust has progressed now where it is flaked and holed completely through in a few spots. I have some of those bauf fender flares ordered and on the way. Will get started on the repair project once they arrive and I get a good look at them.

I have been bouncing between leaving the flares black or whether to paint them. On the painting idea, my truck is monochrome Graphite color, whole truck one color. The interior is charcoal/black.
I am open to suggestions. Do I leave the flares black, do I paint to match (like the ones in the picture), do I try two tone or some other accenting color scheme. ? If you know of, much appreciate if could please point me in direction towards a digital visualizer tool or offer suggestions of what accent colors would go well with the Graphite?