Rusty fender repair

[SV_Dude]

Yup, the infamous rear fender rust. It's not too bad in my case but it still needs to be addressed. I'm thinking that since my case of rust is very minor I can clean up the metal and remove all paint surrounding the rust inside and out then apply a bead of jb weld on the inside of the fender and use bj weld on the outside as body filler. That should keep it strong and stop rust from spreading.

Anyone else try this or have any other suggestions aside from replacing the whole panel?

 

[fourwd1]

Congratulations ! i see you too were lucky enough to get the Toyota Rust Package.
I was lucky enough to get that on both my 4Runners.
My 83 truck also had the Advanced Frame Rust Package included.
Toyota was kind enough to do absolutely nothing for me.
I had to replace the frame on my own.

Back to your rust, what you propose may work. On my 84 it was more advanced, there was a large gap between the inner and outer sections. I took small (like 5x7") pie ea of sheet metal, bent them into a kinda U shape the matched the body contour, and rickets them in place. Then bondp and sanded. Turned out pretty damn good for someone that's never done body work.

 

[fourwd1]

Congratulations ! i see you too were lucky enough to get the Toyota Rust Package.
I was lucky enough to get that on both my 4Runners.
My 83 truck also had the Advanced Frame Rust Package included.
Toyota was kind enough to do absolutely nothing for me.
I had to replace the frame on my own.

Back to your rust, what you propose may work. On my 84 it was more advanced, there was a large gap between the inner and outer sections. I took small (like 5x7") pieces of sheet metal, bent them into a kinda U shape the matched the body contour, and rickets them in place. Then bondo and sanding. Turned out pretty damn good for someone that's never done body work.

 

[SV_Dude]

Gotta love the toyota rust packages. I am mainly thinking jb weld because of its strength and it won't crack like body filler. I found a few 10oz size packages on eBay for about ten bucks each. I am thinking one package per side should do the trick.

 

[Nervo19]

Mine was similar to what you show. It seems to come from the chrome wheel moldings holding dirt. I also had holes where the "wheelhouse " trim was. Grind out all the rust. I treated all the exposed metal with Rust Encapsulator by Eastwood. That's the black on the picture below. I pulled the rear plastics (duh) and went in from the rear with fiberglass mat and epoxy resin. The epoxy had a thickener which is the pink in the picture. I finished the outside with Rage (just like Bondo). If I were doing it again I would go in from the back with strips of real metal and body panel adhesive and use bondo glass to finish from the outside. Everyone who welds tells me that welding new steel there will cause warping and the seams will rust from behind after a couple of years. Be sure and give the inside a good coat of under coat or POR15 to prevent future problems.

Here's a pic mid way through:

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This is the other side. The light green is Rage filler. It sands easier than Bondo:

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This is the before. It makes me feel vulnerable and naked. You can see my former shame:

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[Nervo19]

In my tangent about MY white 4Runner I forgot to say: don't just use JBWeld. You have some actual holes. Use something to carry or hold the JBWeld like fiberglass mat or strips of metal. Glass mat is about 4.99 for a small package at Walmart in the Bondo section. Get it good and saturated with the JBWeld before you apply it from the back. I ended up getting white primer from Autozone. It's whiter than the original paint but looks better than gray.

 

[SV_Dude]

How long has your fiberglass been on and how is it holding up? Do you do any wheeling with your runner or is it a street queen? I am concerned about using fiberglass or bondo because as the body flexes when off roading I don't want to have to worry about the fiberglass cracking and/or separating from the metal or the bondo chipping away. I know the JB weld is very strong and my rust is very minimal.

Thanks for your input. If your work is holding up after wheeling with it I may go that route since I am very familiar with working with fiberglass.

 

[4Running Daily]

You could, cut the fenders. And install 35's.

 

[laxbro19]

You could, cut the fenders. And install 35's.

^^^^Exactly what I'm doing so I don't have to deal with rust

 

[Nervo19]

It's been about two years since I did the fiberglass. Epoxy/fiberglass is probably stronger than JBWeld. It is not wheeled except for the beach. The truck is mint in every other regard so I think it's too nice to trash. That's what Jeeps are for.

 

[slacker]

Precision 4X4 Center

sall I'm gonna say !!


.

 

[SV_Dude]

I would love to but it's not in the budget for now. If the rust was a lot worse then it would definitely be a option.