bed fenders rusting.

[F250419]

I hear that it is a waste of time to repair the fenders. I was thinking of just putting on a set of Bushwacker cut out fender flares. Who here has done this and did it help with the rust?

[george g]

You're still going to have to get the rust removed,or it'll get worse.

[SharkDiver]

I was thinking the same thing.. I was going to grind out the rust that is there and maybe have to cut some sheet metal out then prime the metal and cover with fender flares.. Im getting ready to order some flares now. I hope this workd because my fenders paint is bubbling and getting worse fast..

[444 ci]

i would cut out the rust and paint the bedsides inside and out with por-15 and put the flares on.

[Karls03]

Originally Posted by george g

You're still going to have to get the rust removed,or it'll get worse.

Bushwacker cut outs would remove the corrosion. Cut outs are exactly that, cut outs, as in some fabrication required. These are not bolt/bond on flares that only require minior surface prep and maybe mounting screw holes.

That being said, after the cutting is done, proper corrosion prevention should be employed, a seal of some form. Eastwood has all sorts of corrosion nuetralizers, primer sealers, and stuff like that.

In the end though, the cut outs make a HUGE wheel opening that will 'dwarf' your current tires (any contact issues will be removed also). Having the bed re-skinned or a rust free bed may be more cost effective in the end.

After your corrosion problem is taken care of, a run through a car wash to blast off the road salt in the winter would do wonders for keeping the corrosion away. I know it sucks, but it would work great.

[letitsno]

For some reason Ford put foam in fenders not sure on all, but alot & that is what causes rust out on back upper edge. have to get foam out & clean-up rust, then repair. 04 had to clean it up last year, factory mud flaps also rubbed paint off under the flapps. So no more mud flaps, chip guard paint then repainted. My question why the foam, noise in bed?

[444 ci]

ford put the foam in between the inner and outer bedside to keep them from ratteling when you hit bumps very bad idea.

[SharkDiver]

Originally Posted by 444 ci

i would cut out the rust and paint the bedsides inside and out with por-15 and put the flares on.

I ordered a Por-15 starter kit yesterday..Ive seen this stuff on TV before but never used it. What kinda of body filler should we use to fill in some of the small dents before we paint it? Any ideas?

[20046.0]

Fiberglass besides

[xjeeper]

I did this repair last fall, the spotwelds inside let water/salt into the foam , I cut it out, cleaned out the foam/rust, painted inside with Rust bullet welded in a patch, thin bondo and sanded. Many people use cutout style flares from bushwacker, they look like cut outs, but with out the cut out. with those you must stop the rust underneath. If you use real cut outs prep and paint the cut edges to stop future rust.