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2004 rust problem

17K views 15 replies 15 participants last post by  JFM-jr 
#1 ·
During the summer I noticed a bubble under the paint of my well cared for, 2004 1500 4x4 quad cab (64,000 miles), right above the passenger side wheel well. As the days went on the bubble grew, then cracked and rust appeared through the paint. It then continued to spread almost as I watched it. Then I noticed the same thing started on the driver's side. Called Dodge and made a formal complaint. They had me take it to a dealer to photograph and look and the problem. A few weeks later, Dodge calls back and said that they are not covering the repairs due to environmental reasons. I asked for clarification and they could not clarify that for me. I know I am out of warranty, but i definitely feel like there is water getting stuck somewhere behind the wheel well causing this problem and that the problem really wasnt environmental but a design error. Anyone agree or having same problem? I am pretty angered that a 7 year old truck is going to be rusting away.
 
#2 ·
No rust at all on my truck, and it deals with winter roads. I had a cavalier that rusted in the rear quarters and gm took care of it for me with the car out of warrenty
 
#3 ·
I have the same problem you are having with your truck... one of my bubbles has just cracked but besides that one they are all still really small bubbles that you cant see unless you are a few feet away and looking for them. I am planning on sanding it down and then throwing some rust preventative paint on and then bedlining over that, then throwing some fender flares on.
 
#5 ·
Ive heard alot of this on 04-06 trucks. What happened? I have an 03 in MINNESOTA and have zero rust:huh: I do however make a weekly trip to the car wash.
 
#6 ·
My fathers 2003 Chevy silverado has major rust, 3 of the four fenders (At the top of arch, too) bubbles of rust, along with the rear cab and rear bed. He religously washes his truck every week during the winter months of Michigan to keep the salt/ corrosion down. I'm lucky to live in the southwest where our vehicles dont rust so they last longer, but pay more to enjoy the truck longer
 
#7 ·
i had a 02 rcsb that was hand washed every week, waxed once a month and both wheel wells rusted like crazy starting in 2009. my current truck (03 qcsb) has small bubble on one side. if you look up under the bed you can see where water could gather. my thoughts were to fill it with foam and them put the wheel well liner in it, i think that would stop (at least slow down) the rusting process...in my opinion dodge should be fixing this....its REALLY common so its deff a design fault..but oh well! what can ya do?!
 
#8 ·
My 2004 was just shy of 60,000 miles on it when I traded it in, but it spent a lot of time on winter roads with de-icer and salt and I never had any issues. I think making sure you wash the crap off the truck every week is a big part of it.
 
#9 ·
My 03 has the same problem on both sides and hope to get it fixed this spring
 
#11 ·
Yup, had an 04 that did the same thing, mine was drivers side. Talked with the dealer and was out of warranty by 8 mo. At the time there was nobody making a repair panel to fix the problem, they would have had to replace the bed side at a tune of $2000 to completely fix the issue.
They said you can't fix it from the outside by simply sanding, bondo and paint. The rust is coming from the inside of the panel. From 02-06 dodge put a piece of foam on the inside of the outer skin to help with sound deadening and strength. Of course this traps moisture, sand, and salt on the inside of the sheet metal and rots it from the inside. This is why we all see bubbles starting and then the paint breaks and the rust poors out. Other than constantly chasing bubbles, the only fix is to find a bed from the south and repaint it.
 
#12 ·
Or ditch the bed all together an place a flatbed on it.
 
#13 ·
If you look/feel inside the wheel well, you'll notice a few holes (designed that way). Then look at where your rust bubbling is forming and I bet it matches up with those holes. Now perhaps they are drain holes, but if you ask me, that's how the water or salt gets in and then stays there. Poor design.

My 01 did this on all fenders and even the doors. Dodge would lose so much money if they covered this sort of thing because so many trucks have this problem. It sucks because that was the ONLY problem with my 01. It will likely happen to my 08 if I have it a few more years.

I tried everything out there. POR15, Bondo, etc. etc. and NOTHING will stop it. You can slow it but not stop it. It's rusting from the interior of the metal (not the interior of the wheel well). Body shops won't even touch it unless you replace an entire panel.

Your best bet is to get some fender flares. That's what I ended up doing on my 01. The good thing is that the 3G Rams look great with fender flares!

Sorry and good luck!
 
#14 ·
BTW, how much you wash it has nothing to do with THIS particular rust problem. What you absolutely DO NOT want to do is spray the hose up inside the wheel well. All you are doing is putting more water in there and driving that salt/sand/dirt even further.

Remember, every truck is different. Some are just built better than others. If you get a truck that doesn't rust like this in harsh winters...it's luck!

My dad never washed his 97 Ram in the winter...ever! He waited until Spring. It was practically neglect (in the winter). When he traded at 10 years it had ZERO rust. Likewise, I live a mile away and I washed my 01 regularly through the winters. Mine rusted like crazy.
 
#15 ·
The issue is the foam between the rear wheel well and outer fender panel. It gets wet, stays wet and begins the rust process. Take off your tail lights and look inside and you can see an ass load of rust going on in there. I was even able to see it from under the truck looking up into that area with a flash light. I put rust converter on it, primed it, painted it and sanded down, bondoed, primed and painted the outter fender. Then covered it up with Bushwacker flares. Shitty idea Chrysler had with that foam...and other things. I too take great care of my truck and it still happened. Plain old sucks!
 
#16 ·
If you look inside the wheel well along the inner lip there are some holes. I took Fluid Film and the red tube tip nozzle and went to town in there. Figured id saturate the foam with the FluidFilm rather than water. My truck had no rust when i bought it last year so hopefully this will help prevent it. As stated above if you remove the tailights and look in there you can see the problem area. Sucks the 3rd gen has rust issues along the rear wheel wells and the second gens had their share of common rust areas as well. Thats a long stretch of rust history for these trucks by Dodge.
 
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