A friendly reminder to prevent fender rust-out

[JPX]

I took off my 1996 Legacy's front factory mudguards to clean out the dirt that accumulates behing them in the fender. It was annoying to my car-wash obsessions because a little stream of dirty water always poured out from the seams between the front door and the front fender at the rocker panels.

About 2 lbs of dirt came out. While my area does not have lots of road salt or snow to deal with, any place that does makes this area vulnerable to cancerous rust.

 

So be warned! If you haven't done it before the snow starts, get the old stuff out! And make sure to clean this junk out periodically.

[YellowSub]

Thanks for the tip. I never thought to look there.

[Snowman]

Replacing them with plain old mudflaps will cause less junk to be trapped in there.

[michaelbteam]

Replacing them with plain old mudflaps will cause less junk to be trapped in there.

NICE TIP--it's salty around here, Salt Lake City, they put it all over everything the first sign of snow.

[fishy]

My 94's front fenders are nice and lacy down in those corners because of this exact reason. Unfortunately it all happened long before I had the car so I had no chance to stop it. I would imagine that if you blew all the junk out of there with a hose, let it dry well, and then soaked it beyond reason with undercoating spray it would keep very well for a long time.

[Kilroy]

My 94's front fenders are nice and lacy down in those corners because of this exact reason. Unfortunately it all happened long before I had the car so I had no chance to stop it. I would imagine that if you blew all the junk out of there with a hose, let it dry well, and then soaked it beyond reason with undercoating spray it would keep very well for a long time.

 

You could also clean it out and spray it thoroughly with a rust inhibitor. Another thing to watch for (especially if you own a truck) are those chrome or plastic wheel well guards that go over the wheel wells to make your vehicle look pretty. Many newer trucks (4x4s usually) have huge plastic ones that trap a ton of dirt!

[avk]

As seen in the photo, there's a drain hole that needs to be kept clean. Water collected in the box which houses wiper linkage and HVAC air intake also drains into the fenders. If you don't have sand there, you'll at least have leaves.

[yohy]

Several times a year, I take the hose with the nozzle set at “jet”, open up each front door and point the flow at the opening where the fender meets the door sill. I get the nozzle close to cut down on the splash back, but just let it run for a minute or two. This process will flush out the problem area. Now I became acquainted with the problem of dirt getting caught in that area when I pulled the fenders off of my ’93 due to rust on the dog legs. right where all of the road dirt collects. I was amazed when I had to dig out several pounds of packed in dirt (yep with all of that winter salt) from that area. Anyhow, up till the time I sold that car, I was amazed at how much dirt I would break loose each time I hosed it off. Now I own a 97 Legacy and it has the same dirt trap and again, am amazed at how much dirt/sand gets flushed out each time. Just did it a few days ago. Now my 04 Forester doesn’t seem to have the problem, but for the few minutes it takes to flush the area, it does keep the drain holes clear.

[fnlyfnd]

Another way to clean it out is thru the door jamb. Just open the door and spray into the opening at the front, from inside the door.