Dreaded Rust..

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SteveB

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Don't use rivets. Agree get the biggest patch panel you can. Do your best to clean and convert any rust behind the piece you are cutting out.
 

Tonyrodz

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Like Rocket Man said, find the cause/origin. Does your '04 have 2-piece wheelwell liners ? That is a faulty design and the cause of many dog-legs rusting out.
I'm also have that issue. I've never heard of the 2 piece liner deal before. Is that a known issue? Did they come out with a 1 piece design? Mine is an 03.
 

NoReverseYukon

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I'm also have that issue. I've never heard of the 2 piece liner deal before. Is that a known issue? Did they come out with a 1 piece design? Mine is an 03.

I read about this problem on this forum somewhere. I found a set of 1-piece liners at the junkyard. The photos below are my current 2001 Yukon 2-piece design passenger side and the 2006 Suburban 1-piece.

DSCF3761.JPG DSCF3762.JPG DSCF3763.JPG DSCF3764.JPG

You will see that the 2-piece design doesn't cover the entire wheelwell and those joints between the plastic liner and metal wheelwell allows anything thrown off by the tire to get behind the liner and work it's magic (AKA rust) on the dog-legs and the rocker panel.
 

Tonyrodz

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Sdp1234

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Mine is a one piece. Seems like my
7e750a68a51d16df05a3702f8b46dce5.jpg
issues probably initiate with stuff coming in through this gap


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Sdp1234

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Cut some of the body panel away and cleaning things up. Looks like things inside are pretty good. Plan to cut another couple inches out to make sure there is no rust up higher. My plan is to clean up everything I can see then use a rust encapsulator where ever I can get to. Then primer then piece in the patch panel. When I’m done I’m going to get fluid film in from behind on everything I can get to.

93321adc38dda498c8b33a473bf9df7e.jpg



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Sdp1234

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Also going to remove the fender well to look if there are problems higher up that I just don’t see


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89Suburban

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Cut some of the body panel away and cleaning things up. Looks like things inside are pretty good. Plan to cut another couple inches out to make sure there is no rust up higher. My plan is to clean up everything I can see then use a rust encapsulator where ever I can get to. Then primer then piece in the patch panel. When I’m done I’m going to get fluid film in from behind on everything I can get to.

93321adc38dda498c8b33a473bf9df7e.jpg



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Nothing like dissecting sheet metal. Nice job.
 
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Sdp1234

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Took off another 2 inches. Looks real clean on the back. But... the actual back of the sheet metal skin still has some rust. Plan to go up 1 more inch and remove the wheel well liners to investigate. I don’t want to take out too much more. Looking for a 2-4 year fix
41fcc634c063fb3f0413bd61ae31dca6.jpg


This is the back side of the skin I removed
Arrow is at the top. Seems like water from above? Or maybe it didn’t drain?
d79d2a9414174a30de702628fcab7fbc.jpg




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wjburken

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Took off another 2 inches. Looks real clean on the back. But... the actual back of the sheet metal skin still has some rust. Plan to go up 1 more inch and remove the wheel well liners to investigate. I don’t want to take out too much more. Looking for a 2-4 year fix
41fcc634c063fb3f0413bd61ae31dca6.jpg


This is the back side of the skin I removed
Arrow is at the top. Seems like water from above? Or maybe it didn’t drain?
d79d2a9414174a30de702628fcab7fbc.jpg




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Looks like you are making progress, but i'm not surprised that you haven't found clean metal yet.

In talking with a buddy who runs a body shop, he said the extra sound proofing material they put into the higher trim packages on Denalis and Escalades is one of the biggest causes of that area rusting on the NNBS vehicles. Might have the same thing going on on your vehicle. Said that the sound proofing material soaks up moisture and holds it and by the time you see rust on the outside, the back side is destroyed.

Hope you find clean metal sooner rather than later.
 
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Sdp1234

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Removed another inch or so Looks like I’m past the bad metal.

Now I’m going to clean up and start the repair


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89Suburban

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What about that rusted inner rocker piece?
 
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Sdp1234

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The inner rocker panel is not as bad as it looks. I’m grinding out (flapper wheel is taking most of it out) and using an encapsulator. The metal is still very thick, mostly surface rust
 

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