Northernpathy Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 (edited) Anyone actually look under the fender flares on their truck? Even though things might look good, it doesn't mean that all is well. Pictures of the truck with the flares on. The pictures were taken just before the snow hit: All looks fine right? Slight bit sticking out in the rear, but the rest looks great. Removed the flares today. There was a little bit of rust coming out from under the flare on the rear left side and I decided to take a look. As expected I found a few little things. Left Rear (Drivers Rear) Left Front (Drivers Front) Looks great doesn't it? All must be fine underneath. Well not really. More pictures below. Edited January 11, 2011 by Northernpathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpathy Posted February 15, 2010 Author Share Posted February 15, 2010 (edited) Right Rear (Passengers Rear) Forgot to take a picture of it with the flare on, but you didn't really see anything coming out. Right Front (Passengers Front) Looks great again, no? Trouble again. Truck outside in the sun so that you can see it better. Now just because your truck looks fine it doesn't mean there is no rust. Rip those flares off and take a look. Even if you don't find anything, at least you will know everything is okay. Ah...the fun continues Edited January 11, 2011 by Northernpathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUELER Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 HOLY.... that is AWFUL! Thank god for southern california weather !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSlowReliable Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 step by step repair thread? I got alot more than that on my wd....not sure what route to take Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shift220 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 I already know mine are at least that bad underneath. That's exactly why they are staying on. Your Pathfinder is 5 years newer then mine too. Front fenders are easy to repair. Find a good pair and replace. The back, not so easy. I would probably cut off all the rust, paint the cut line and put the flares back on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01silvapathy Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Road Salt FTMFW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skulptr Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 they salt there instead of chemicals?? that would be your problem. move to anthoer state! lol and i put flares ON just to hide my little rust patches over the rear passenger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpathy Posted February 15, 2010 Author Share Posted February 15, 2010 Found an AD in the local classifieds with two brand new fenders still in the original boxes from Nissan. They want $300 for the pair. I will see about making a trip to go have a look-see and maybe getting a little better deal. If/when I get the new fenders, I intend on covering the rear of the panel with bed-liner spray to help make it doesn't rust again Replacing the front panels, as shift220 stated is pretty easy and straight forward. Unbolt old panel from the truck, then pop the new panel on and bolt into place. You might have to do a lot of fine adjusting once it is on to make sure all the seams are straight and line up, but that is pretty easy, it just takes some time. The rear repair will not be easy as I will have to fix the exterior metal work, as well as the inner lip. If I do not fix the lip then water/mud/salt will get back in there and rust it back out. I don't intend on putting the original flares back on. Not sure what I will do, but I was thinking of looking at the large rubber ones made for big trucks. They would allow me to easily keep them clean, as well as protecting the truck while on the trail. I will take a look at it only once I have fixed the damage to the vehicle. I think I will ask a friend who works at a body shop to come by and take a look at it. Maybe he can give me some suggestions on how to attack it in such a way that it will not only look good, but also work properly (ie. fixing it so that it doesn't hold onto the water/mud). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekazgtr1984 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Ah, one of the many downfalls of winter in the Great White North. White in regards to all the damn salt on the roads. I thought Winnipeg was bad but clearly not the case. It's pretty much overkill out here with salting the roads... Sorry to see your sweet R50 go through this... I was in the same boat last year when I took my flares off. Quite the nasty surprise. I'm still exploring options to remedy this but it seems like body work may be the only option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekazgtr1984 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 they salt there instead of chemicals?? that would be your problem. move to anthoer state! lol and i put flares ON just to hide my little rust patches over the rear passenger. Just so you know, we don't have states up here. And for the record, every province east of SK salts the road. Hard to justify moving across the continent for that reason alone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 I pull my flares at least twice a year to clean under them. Fortunatly wd21 flares are easy to pull. Happy patching! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekazgtr1984 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 I pull my flares at least twice a year to clean under them. Fortunatly wd21 flares are easy to pull. Happy patching! It would be nice to find a permanent solution without having to pull the flares, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 As I said my flares are an easy pull so it don't really bother me. I can do it in my sleep from always doeing it trying to save my fenders as long as possible. (have to remember I been through a couple HBs before getting a Pathfinder). I don't know how it is pulling r50 flares though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekazgtr1984 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 On the R50, the flares attached with plastic snaps. Plastic is already bad enough but a little too much force results in breaking the snap. After bodywork, I'd like to explore possible options to actually mount the flares using some kind of adhesive, not only to keep 'em on snug but to create a perfect seal which would eliminate the accumulation of crud in between the fenders/quater panels and plastic flares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Ouch. I don't have the flares, but one of my front fenders has teh cancer. (After my accident, I totally forgot to get them treated for rust... GRR) I've already patched one rust spot on one of the back wheel wells, and I will likely have to look at them again in the spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpathy Posted February 16, 2010 Author Share Posted February 16, 2010 (edited) Taking the flares off is not too bad. There are 4-5 screws that hold it down on the inside. Then as tek stated, there are snaps that hold it into place. They do break off pretty easily as they are not made to be pulled off very easily. Mine have likely never come off since they were installed in the factory almost a decade ago. I broken a couple taking it off, but you can go pick up a pack of 6-8 of new ones at NAPA for around $5 if needed. Gluing them in place is a good idea, yet I would hate to do that in case you have body damage to fix from an accident and need to remove them to fix it. You will likely cause a good amount of damage trying to pull them off with the adhesive. I am still thinking of buying some rubber heavy truck flares to replace them with. Something like this: Can't find a picture of the exact ones I am thinking about, but they are pretty similar. And attach them with some rivnuts so that they can be quickly and easily removed if needed: There is also this type of fender flare. They are pretty easy to remove. But I personally hate the look of the exposed bolts: Edited January 11, 2011 by Northernpathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbolt Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Does anybody make heavy duty fender flares for our trucks, like in the picture above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 There is also this type of fender flare. They are pretty easy to remove. But I personally hate the look of the exposed bolts: Actually, the "exposed bolts" on most flares like that are fake, and the flare only attaches with 3M tape around the edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooQForYou Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Man, that's some nasty rust! I'm glad I live in Florida- no snow, no salted roads. Though I do occasionally drive on the beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowser Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Grimgreg said it right. I used to install Bushwackers on Brand New Dodge Rams at the dealership and i was totally shocked that all those rivets are purely for show. The ones I installed had some double sided 3m tape, and a few self tapping screws that went into the tiny lip on the inside of your wheel well. DECEIVERS!!! ALL OF THEM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 I am soooo glad mine didn't come with flares. Although my dads didn't either and his fenders and rear wheel arches are starting too. Good thing he is mr money bags and can afford to have the whole truck done at a bodyshop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpathy Posted February 17, 2010 Author Share Posted February 17, 2010 Had a friend who works in a body shop stop over today to look at the rust. He said it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before, but that it also wasn't going to be easy to fix. When I told him I thought about fixing it myself he laughed. His response was "Your pretty good at doing body work. But your not that good!" Thanks He said it will take a lot of work to get it looking right again, as well as not having it rust back out within a year. The biggest job will be rebuilding the inner lip so that the inside of the fender doesn't rust out again. He will cut out ALL the rust and have to completely rebuild it from scratch to make sure that doesn't happen. He said that he would charge me $1000 to fix/paint both rear fenders, the bit of rust on the rockers and well as to repaint the two new front fenders if I were to buy the fenders myself (cheaper for me to buy them). I think that is a pretty decent price for the work involved. He said it should take him about 3 days to do. At that price I don't think it would really be worth doing the work myself. The worse part will be painting everything and getting it to match the paint color of the rest of the vehicle if I were to do it myself. I will think about it I guess. It is still a good amount of money that I would rather not spend. But if I were to do it myself and it ended up rusting out again in a year, I will be back at square one again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12161216 Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 There are two ways to think about it. 1. Get it fixed for a fair price from your friend and know it is good. 2. Spray everything down with stop rust that is available from several manufacturers and cover them back up with the flares and just live with it. I am the type person that option two sounds good but it would drive me crazy knowing the cancer was there. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skulptr Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Just so you know, we don't have states up here. And for the record, every province east of SK salts the road. Hard to justify moving across the continent for that reason alone... guess thats what i get for not payin attention Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I took my dads r50 to a guy in ottawa and he quoted 900 to replace and paint both front fenders, and do the rear wheel arches.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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