Chevy Silverado owners

[Digger 66 3,488]

Any of you guys / gals that own a 07 - 13 Silverado , pay special attention to your rear fenderwells . The top area in particular .

Now that I have noticed this on mine , every other Silverado I look at has rust starting to form under the paint .

You have to look very close but now that I mentioned it you will notice it , trust me .

My truck has been oil coated professionally since I drove it off the showroom floor in 2010 & is just starting to blemish .

Hopefully I have stopped it or at least slowed it down .

There are 4 clean-out plugs in each fenderwell & I suggest those of you who plan on keeping your truck for a while remove the plugs , flush with water & dry .

I went a step further by making a 5 foot extension tube ( with an angle at the tip ) for my blow-gun , removed the taillights & blew air down along the inner fender & wheel pocket seam .

You wouldn't believe the crud ( and water ) that came out of there ! 

I followed by making a crude extension for the little red tubes that stick into WD-40 type nozzles & sprayed commercial engine fogging oil as best I could .

 

 

Edited October 8, 2016 by Digger 66

[Sparky-(Admin) 23,147]

Bummer.....us Dodge guys have been dealing with rusty bed wheel-wells for years.

 Mike.....

 

[rokon 64]

Take a peek under an 03-08 ford superduty bed when you are walking by one. not only do the fenderwells rot out, but the stamped steel crossmembers that hold the bed up all rot out badly. The brine mix they spray on the roads just corrodes cars and trucks at an unbelievable rate. in my opinion, if you drive your car or truck in the winter, it is going to rust away prematurely. in the northeast or the Midwest, it doesn't make sense to me to buy a brand new car or truck for that reason. better off leasing and turn it in before it rots away.

[Walt 339]

I just replace the box on my 90 k1500 last spring with one brought up from Texas. The first thing I did was to remover the chrome wheel well trim since it holds dirt and moisture helping rust to form.

[Digger 66 3,488]

28 minutes ago, rokon said:

better off leasing and turn it in before it rots away.

 

 A lease just ain't for me .

You are always making a payment .

I bought this brand new in 10 & paid cash .

Since then , I've been making phantom payments ( & paying myself 6% too ) since then .

When it comes time for a new one , I'll do the same thing 

Additionally , you cant make any modifications to a lease .

 

I believe these can last a long time if cared for properly . The rest of it is in showroom condition & has only 38,000 mi so I plan to hang onto it until at least 2020 .

 

Aside from that inherent problem with these models , ( which I'll be on top of from now on ) I think the 'ol girl looks pretty good for a '10 .

 

Edited October 8, 2016 by Digger 66

[DougC 2,643]

As a retired GM tech with 40 years experience I must say I am not in the least bit surprised . Also your brake lines along the frame by the gas tank will rust through and your engine has more than likely been noisy on cold start since new and probably uses at least a quart of oil every thousand miles.  Quality has been abandoned and prices have skyrocketed in the last 20 years.   

Talk to the service manager and ask to have a meeting with the zone rep. to discuss any possible solutions to the problems that you are encountering. Sometimes they actually will provide repairs out of warranty, but of course the squeaky wheel gets the grease and you have to make a stand and let them know how dissatisfied you are with their product and in the future you will buy another brand.  I would give it a shot If I were you. I have seen it happen in person many times.     

[squonk 43,797]

Out side of a frt. differential skid plate rotting my 06 Tundra with 182,000mi has 0 rust. 

[clueless 3,233]

160,000 on my 04 tundra, no rust, but down here we put salt in our BBQ rub and on the rim of our margarita glass, not on the roads..

[KC9KAS 4,744]

2 hours ago, DougC said:

As a retired GM tech with 40 years experience I must say I am not in the least bit surprised . Also your brake lines along the frame by the gas tank will rust through and your engine has more than likely been noisy on cold start since new and probably uses at least a quart of oil every thousand miles.  Quality has been abandoned and prices have skyrocketed in the last 20 years.   

Talk to the service manager and ask to have a meeting with the zone rep. to discuss any possible solutions to the problems that you are encountering. Sometimes they actually will provide repairs out of warranty, but of course the squeaky wheel gets the grease and you have to make a stand and let them know how dissatisfied you are with their product and in the future you will buy another brand.  I would give it a shot If I were you. I have seen it happen in person many times.     

I have a 2003 Z-71 with 190,000 miles and doesn't use a drop of oil!

It just now is starting to rust through the body at the rear cab corners and under the doors.

I did just buy a 2005 F250 (V-10) to pull my "Toy Hauler"

It only has 150,000 miles!

[JAinVA 4,636]

Good old sodium chloride was bad enough on the vehicles underbody but since everyone has switched to the more environmentally friendly calcium chloride things have gotten worse.In the north east brake lines don't last any time at all.You might crash into a tree from brake failure but at least the tree will be there because your'e saving the planet.JMHO,JAinVA

[Aldon 4,828]

Mines a 2006. Getting rockers re-done next week. Oil sprayed the following week. As mentioned, brake and fuel lines need to be watched carefully but I think were really bad earlier. Chevy should have done a recall but have slightly improved since then. I had mine out west for a few years so not as bad as most of same year but I think rust is going to drive replacing A-arms on mine soon.

[OHRob72 88]

Spent the day prepping the frame for paint on my 05 Tacoma with 210,000 miles. Its only been through a few of winters and there is already more rust than I care to see on a frame. These trucks are notorious for rusty frames. The rest of the truck is rust free and in really good condition for its age and mileage. I have owned a couple of Chevys and was really disappointed with the quality. I am looking forward to getting a Tundra as my next truck.

[clueless 3,233]

Those Tacoma frames are bad about rusting even down here, but not the Tundra, wonder why.

[squonk 43,797]

Tacoma frames came off the Sai-Pan express and they did a shoddy job of coating them in Calif. At least I was told that when my 90 Taco was recalled. The 4 Runners of the same vintage had USA frames coated in a different plant. I think the same holds true for the Tundra's now.

[mrc 950]

hi diggger 66,  you might want to consider a product called fluid film. regards mike in mass.

[shallowwatersailor 3,214]

Gee, things to look forward to. My 2001 GMC Sierra 2500 HD just turned 54K.  Yes 54K. I have had the brakelines replaced with only those few miles, but no body rust. There is a trace of rust on the rear bumper though.

 

Way back in the '80s, I had a Japanese-built Honda Accord that rusted out in seven years. My ex's uncle had the identical car only built in Marysville, OH. No rust! Obviously crossing the Pacific paid a good part in it.

[can whlvr 994]

just did a backyard body job om my 2007,rear feneder wells are a mess and rusting through the new work,i geuss I didn't get rid of the rust,shes 10 years old and I live in Ontario where we use mountains of salt,and the spray crap too on the roads,ive been VERY happy with my chev,ive used it very hard for work,towed a trailer for 10,s of thousnands of miles,but the rust is getting bad,too bad because mechanically shes awsome

[Ken B 3,189]

On 10/8/2016 at 2:41 PM, Sparky said:

Bummer.....us Dodge guys have been dealing with rusty bed wheel-wells for years.

 Mike.....

 

Like since the beginning of time?

[clueless 3,233]

Rust never sleeps!

[Fun Engineer 859]

My neighbor just brought this same topic up to me re my 2011 Sierra. Yep, sure enough the paint is flaking off the inside lip of the fender wells. I'm going to sandblast and paint as it hasn't made its way to the outside surface yet. Then oil it down. He showed me on his newer Silverado that they are using wheel well liners that are supposed to help. 

 

Its a never ending battle where I live as our gravel roads are sprayed with salt brine from gas wells to control dust and in the winter they use salt on the ice an d snow covered roads.