Warning: rust under rear side windows

[rstl99]

The 80 series I recently bought had a couple of small rust spots under the rubber seal on both rear side windows (the rust was worse under the rear vertical trim, which hides what's underneath it). I had the rust addressed by a small bodyshop (need to remove the windows and the rubber seals). THere were some small holes that required welding small pieces of steel, then proper priming and painting. Looks like I got at it in time, before the damage got worse. After the repair work was done and body painted, I had a look inside the inner fender (by removing the plastic side panels in the cargo area) and there was a good amount of surface rust in the bottom of the inner fender, worse on one side (where there was actually flaking rust) because the rubber plug in the bottom was still in place, which probably meant that water leaked in through the rusty hole under the window seal and pooled there. I treated the rust with rustproofing product, and am glad I got at this in time.

I suppose I offer this as a warning to others who may have "small" rust spots under the rear side windows. Get it addressed soon before it develops into something worse!

Also, might be a good idea to remove the rubber plugs at the lowest point of the inner fender, to allow draining any water that might seep in there.

[Doc]

FYI- if you have rust there you should check the upper hatch as well, remove the inner panels by the access handle and look inside there. I had to remove that panel to address a broken latch and saw a lot of rust that was not visable from the outside of the vehicle. Required $600 in body work from the local shop, including welding in new metal on the lip of the window seal.

[rstl99]

Originally Posted by Doc

FYI- if you have rust there you should check the upper hatch as well, remove the inner panels by the access handle and look inside there. I had to remove that panel to address a broken latch and saw a lot of rust that was not visable from the outside of the vehicle. Required $600 in body work from the local shop, including welding in new metal on the lip of the window seal.

Actually I have barn doors on mine . But there _was_ a small rust spot under the rubber of one of the barndoor windows, which required similar repair to the side windows. No welding required for that one, just sandblasting, priming and painting. I had the panels off both barn doors and there was no rust, but I still applied rustproofing material copiously in there!

Rust is a lot like cancer isn't it: get it detected early and treat it in its early stages and your chances are good that it won't become terminal (not in all cases, sadly, as far as cancer goes... )