Rust bubbles above wheel well...fender flares?

I recently noticed a couple very small rust bubbles above my rear wheel well of my 2010. I talked to one of my friends who owns a body shop and he recommended fender flares as the most cost effective solution. He estimated $600-800 to replace metal and paint it. He also mentioned that at some point it the rust may return above that new piece. Multiply that by 4 wheel wells, and it sounds expensive.

Has anyone gone through this and if so, how did you deal with it? The bubbles aren't bad yet, but I'm sure at some point it will get annoying. I really don't want to drive around with visible rust spots.

As far as the fender flare option...any opinions on painting to match or leaving them black? Maybe I'm weird, but I feel like they only look good black if you are lifting the truck and putting big wheels on it. On the other hand, even if they are painted I feel like it may look odd with the stock wheels not sitting wider.

2010gmcyukon said:

I recently noticed a couple very small rust bubbles above my rear wheel well of my 2010. I talked to one of my friends who owns a body shop and he recommended fender flares as the most cost effective solution. He estimated $600-800 to replace metal and paint it. He also mentioned that at some point it the rust may return above that new piece. Multiply that by 4 wheel wells, and it sounds expensive.

Has anyone gone through this and if so, how did you deal with it? The bubbles aren't bad yet, but I'm sure at some point it will get annoying. I really don't want to drive around with visible rust spots.

As far as the fender flare option...any opinions on painting to match or leaving them black? Maybe I'm weird, but I feel like they only look good black if you are lifting the truck and putting big wheels on it. On the other hand, even if they are painted I feel like it may look odd with the stock wheels not sitting wider.

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Sorry to hear your Yukon is doing this.

That rust is coming through from the back side so the only way to stop it is to cut it out which can get expensive as you have found. Fender flares will only delay the inevitable. If you could see the back side of the panel, by the time it starts to show through, the area affected is likely rather large and it will accelerate quicker than you like. Also, the fender flares will also provide a place for moisture the get trapped and that won’t help either.

Might be limited in options on fender flares depending on if you have a LWB or a SWB.

wjburken said:

Sorry to hear your Yukon is doing this.

That rust is coming through from the back side so the only way to stop it is to cut it out which can get expensive as you have found. Fender flares will only delay the inevitable. If you could see the back side of the panel, by the time it starts to show through, the area affected is likely rather large and it will accelerate quicker than you like. Also, the fender flares will also provide a place for moisture the get trapped and that won’t help either.

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Yeah that's what I figured. My only thought with the fender flares is that it gives me about 4 more inches until I see the rust again...So it just buys me time. LOL

wjburken said:

Might be limited in options on fender flares depending on if you have a LWB or a SWB.

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I know what you mean, I was looking at them online and found that the sets for SWB have an extra piece that goes on the door .

Recently had both rear fenders fixed/painted due to rust bubbles as you describe. Took about 8 years to show up, but it showed up.

KMeloney said:

Recently had both rear fenders fixed/painted due to rust bubbles as you describe. Took about 8 years to show up, but it showed up.

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How much did that run you?

Sorry, I don't recall. I'm guessing it's going to be shop and region-dependent on what it'll cost you.

The rear cancer is unfortunately almost always worse than it seems. I did the repair myself (was't perfect but a lot cheaper). A quarter size bubble turned out to be around 4 inches wide and 2 inches tall rusted metal. My crappy repair held well for about a year and a half and I found the problem spreading past the repaired area. That was on the old tahoe so I am not sure how it looks now. Flares will only cover the corner section, the rust belt on the rear quarter panels will go the entire length of the panel

I just joined this forum for the same kind of question. I have a 99 Yukon SLE I got for $500. Mechanically it's very sound, and I will have it for several more years, so I'm fixing it bit by bit myself. Doing full proper bodywork just isn't worth the cost or mass of hours. Of course, I have the short wheel base which offers very little for fender flares. Only one spot is actually visible rust, the rest is well on it's way.. I've found in the past that you can pretty reasonably grind out rust and cover the missing metal with flares if the rust-through isn't too far outside of the wheel well. That said, without new metal it's only a 1-3yr fix. If you want a true long term fix, replacing the entire panel solves the near future return or spreading on the original panel. It's truly all about how much it's worth to you. About color, unless you have wide tires I would color match. Black would only look right with a flare out of 2-3"+ If you do a 1" similar to the factory shaping but a bit taller, matched would still look more sleek. If you can even find them....