Rust Repair/Leave/? Question

[mixwhit]

'03 Ranger. Lives in the midwest. I've had it for about 9 years. Put a reman engine in it about 5 years ago. Has been pretty good to me, though the transmission occasionally glitches.

Anyway, I've got rust starting to look pretty bad over rear right wheel, and a bit of rust on the gas spout cutout. The latter seems pretty solid metal-wise but the right rear definitely has some weak spots. (photos below).

I'm sad to see this, trying to figure out what to do. I don't want to sink too much into it as it's really not worth all that much I presume. I also don't have time or inclination to do this kind of thing myself.

So what are my options? Leave it and live with it is one. Have someone cut it out and replace (expensive i presume!). Is there a third? Sand it down and paint with a rust inhibitor or something to slow it down?

Here's a couple photos...

thx

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

no pics...

 

[mixwhit]

no pics...

Please click here to see the pics

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I am in the same boat with my F-150. Darn good truck but rust is taking over.

Problem with fixing rust is it turns into whack-a-mole unless you do it all and keep it off the road in the winter. You spend $2k on the bed, and then the rockers go, another $1.5 on that and then it is the cab corners, fix that and now it is a floor pan, then bed needs done again... it is just a viscous circle. Might find a bed from down south if it really bothers you (that is the plan for my '85) because like you said... bodywork ain't cheap.

 

[bobbywalter]

certain bodywork can be cheap in dollars. when i reworked my forward floors and rails i had minimal costs in materials... its expensive in time if you want it all to appear as oem. but if you are skilled in body work it is time well spent as it will produce better then oem results both in appearance and lifespan..

i am not skilled in body work by any measure...but i am good at wrecking it and modifying it to fit my needs. i beat my bed to death over nearly a million miles before i built a bed to replace it that suited my needs better then the oem style bed could have ever done. thats one way of getting out of rust repair fenderwell bodywork

obviously you are also not skilled like myself or you would be offering a tutorial and not asking questions.

in my case oem is not possible as i like to run up to 44 inch tires for certain missions. this really makes these types of issues with the wheel wells easy to deal with as i cut off and modify the openings anyway so i do not need pristine metal to get by. modded openings via shear last much longer in my experience as well..

you do not seem to be in this camp so there is no cheap solution, but metal removal and replacement is the best way to fix it or a complete rust free bed if you can find one the same color in great shape....best to you with that idea.. many cut out the bad metal and form and bond glass to much success as well.

theres options, get to goooooglz and see where it takes ya, you may be doing a tutorial for us before ya know it.

 

[scott9]

Buy some fender flares to cover it up, drive if for a few years till the transmission goes then cut you're losses

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[adsm08]

Those both look to be sandable IMO.

I'd take a whiz wheel to them until i got clean metal. Then a rust inhibiting primer and some paint.