Sealing wheel wells

[Satchmo1]

I have an 87 fj60 that's starting to rust a bit in the wheel well areas. Water is getting in between the 2 pieces of metal that join in the wheel well. What do folks recommend to seal this area? Caulk maybe? Any particular brand recommended? Thanks

 

[tclark]

They make seam sealer just for that. I haven't used it so no specific recommendations, but that's probably the best thing to use.

 

[brownbear]

I suggest no sealer. It will still rust in that area. It's where the inner and outer halves meet. A sealer may hid what is going on.

I've cleaned mine up with a wire wheel and sprayed like a bed liner in my wheel wells, not really thick more like paint. But I also spray a corrosion proofing oil in that area. It gets re-applied often. It's probably best to clean it once and while and paint and then re-oil.

There is also an area where the well meets the outer fender. Thats a bad area. I had to cut mine back a bit when I re-did my arches. But from inside the interior wall panels you can spray oil into this area to help slow down corrosion. It's going to rust. So slow it down.

 

[OSS]

If your cruiser was one or two years old (which its not) you could slap some tar under seal in the wheel wells and they'd outlast the car. But by now, you've got moisture and rust growing between the sandwiched panels and anything paint-like or tar-like will be a death warrant several years down the line as it rusts from the inside out. The best bet this late in the game is to use a penetrating oil-sealer than can creep deep into the cracks to help slow down the rust. And reapply on a schedule.

Any piece of metal on the cruiser that's in the flow line of some sort of oil leak will get oily then grimey as it builds up a protective layer of oil and dirt. Anything that's grimey will never rust out.

 

[cheeese]

Oh, no the Cruiser isn’t leaking, that’s the protective oily grime applicator

 

[aviafx]

If your cruiser was one or two years old (which its not) you could slap some tar under seal in the wheel wells and they'd outlast the car. But by now, you've got moisture and rust growing between the sandwiched panels and anything paint-like or tar-like will be a death warrant several years down the line as it rusts from the inside out. The best bet this late in the game is to use a penetrating oil-sealer than can creep deep into the cracks to help slow down the rust. And reapply on a schedule.

Any piece of metal on the cruiser that's in the flow line of some sort of oil leak will get oily then grimey as it builds up a protective layer of oil and dirt. Anything that's grimey will never rust out.

Any recommendations on a product to use in these wheel well areas?

 

[Satchmo1]

Thanks for the advice So even if I clean up the rust between the panels with a small wire wheel, you'd still recommend against sealing and just spray with an oil sealant or anti corrosive oil?

 

[OSS]

That's what I'd do. But be careful if you're applying anything that can get inside the cabin. Odors can make the air intolerable

 

[brownbear]

Thanks for the advice So even if I clean up the rust between the panels with a small wire wheel, you'd still recommend against sealing and just spray with an oil sealant or anti corrosive oil?

I've tried a lot of things on my cruiser for rust control. The worst thing I found was POR-15, as rust continues under it, and it is not what it claims to be. I painted my entire cruiser in it, thinking it would slow rust down.

But now my philosophy with rust is remove as much as you can, then treat the rust with a converter that changes it. Not sure if that truly will work, but might help. I prime and paint with regular rust paint like rustoleum. Nothing fancy.
In wheel wells I also use a rattle can bed liner. But I also use spray oils like Krown.

The metal in a 60 series is thick, but inherent to rust. Must have been recycled or not protected very well. So many seams were made that are bare metal, spot welded together and start rust on day one.

You can find rust free cruisers in southern climates, or deserts. But I think they still have rust but it's rusting very slowly due to the lack of humidity.

I put oil on top of paint in wheel wells.

 

[Satchmo1]

I've tried a lot of things on my cruiser for rust control. The worst thing I found was POR-15, as rust continues under it, and it is not what it claims to be. I painted my entire cruiser in it, thinking it would slow rust down.

But now my philosophy with rust is remove as much as you can, then treat the rust with a converter that changes it. Not sure if that truly will work, but might help. I prime and paint with regular rust paint like rustoleum. Nothing fancy.
In wheel wells I also use a rattle can bed liner. But I also use spray oils like Krown.

The metal in a 60 series is thick, but inherent to rust. Must have been recycled or not protected very well. So many seams were made that are bare metal, spot welded together and start rust on day one.

You can find rust free cruisers in southern climates, or deserts. But I think they still have rust but it's rusting very slowly due to the lack of humidity.

I put oil on top of paint in wheel wells.

 

[Satchmo1]

Thanks. Very helpful guys.

 

[g-man]

I plan to work on mine soon. I am starting to see some daylight through it. I"ll hit it with a wire brush and/or flapper wheel on a grinder. Next cut the weak metal out and weld in new. Finish with primer and undercoating paint. Air tools, grinders/cutting wheels and a welder will make short work of that.

 

[joebattle1]

Been there. Done that. I chose the cut/weld/repair option rather than the POR-15 route.

Carpet Install / Tint Removal / Wheel rust repair

So of course I thought this was going to be just a quick afternoon job. I of course was wrong... My truck has now been laid up for three weeks while I take care of a bunch of misc repairs. I got the carpet kit from Reevesci. Couple things to note with his kit. It does not come with backing Jute...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Satchmo1]

One more thought: Are there rubber pieces that fit over the wheel well area that help keep water out of the seam?

 

[OSS]

There were vinyl molded covers that covered the wheel well humps inside the cruiser. There's nothing for the outside near the tires. It was just a thicker textured coating/paint from the factory.

 

[franklin40]

ive recently had the body on my truck redone. the rear wells were cut out and all new metal including wolf steel fenders were used. i have been having a serious amount of water and mud getting into my wells though and have already started to rust them again. i have sealed the grommets that the wires go into the inner fender with eurathane and i have tried sealing around the rear tail light lenses. is there a common place for these trucks to leak. i will clean the mud and junk out and dry it out and with in a few km of gravel driving on a wet day i'll have 1/4 inch of mud in there. i can't seem to find where its coming from. my body guy is stumped too but he's willing to try to sort it and redo the work to get it sealed and dry we just need to know where to look

 

[Freewheel]

The rear wheel wells of the 60's are a bad design, and the stock mudflaps suck for Canadian salt slush and mud. Especially at the back, where there is very little protection for the bottom area at the very back of the truck. I used thick sheet galvanized aluminum to fill the gaps in the back of the wheel well and used a large square generic mudflap to protect the areas behind the flaps. I also spray the underside area liberally with Crown oil or equivalent. Going on 12 years of mud and salt slush with no rust holes or leaks into the truck.

 

[TexasLandCruiser]

I used Rhinoliner on front liners and held ok, 2 years later started to come loose on the horizontal piece at the 3 bolts at radiator support. I’m with the first response “if I can see it I’ll clean it, don’t seal it, soak it”. I stripped the wheel wells to metal and sandwiched 3M seam sealer in between the lap joints up front, rear held like a champ. I will never do that again but worth the experience. Where the front wells met the fender I floated Gorilla rubber sealer and rolled to match texture, was the last thing I thought would last and it’s held the best. The M8 black bolts are from the Chevy house and saved my cup washers for something else