Would You Be Concerned About This Body Rust?

Looking at a 2006 DC 2WD w/ 200K. Seller wants around $5K. Looks like it's in decent shape, and mechanically sound w/ solid maintenance history. Problem is some rust on the wheel wells. Frame looks good, but have only seen pics. Still need to inspect first-hand. I'm okay w/ an imperfect truck, but how worried would you be about this rust and bubbling around the wheels? (And how treatable is it?)

Thanks for any opinions and thoughts!

 

I would

 

Yep, I’d be worried. However you can get it treated and primed for paint now while there’s still plenty of good metal.

At that point you have two options, leave unpainted and primed like I see a lot of other trucks or do a 2nd class rattle can spray yourself. Although paints have gotten much better over the years so it may be doable (many here have done it with good results).

Whichever way you decide, at least get it treated so it doesn’t get worse down the road.

 

Thanks. Yeah, was thinking I'd treat it asap, as it's the only apparent rust and doesn't seem too far along yet.

 

So..... Frame looks real clean, and the stock exhaust doesnt have any of the tale-tell signs of living in the rust belt. The biggest tale-tell on the stock exhaust is the steel hangers that are welded to the tubes, they flake and rust and get thin. These on this frame look really good, which would tell me the frame isnt in bad shape inside the rails either. There is minimal surface rust in pix, honestly the frame is real clean.

HOWEVER, the fenders look pretty poor, Daryl would be saddened at how his truck looks. My personal opinion would be to pull the inner fender liner out and sand the rust down on inside and outside with a heavy wire wheel first, then with DA sander, and then a good epoxy primer on the inside and outside. Once you have the rust stopped, i would then personally find some fender flares that you like, the earlier flares with the mud flaps built in look great to me i would bolt a set up and 3M tape them down and rock and roll.

 

Thanks. Good ideas. And agree, fenders are definitely pretty ugly. I'm up for a little in-depth restoration, even though I haven't attempted a rust intervention before. Also agree that the frame and exhaust look like they are in decent condition, which gave me hope for this rig.

 

If that doesn’t scare you right off, I’d mention all the stuff you’ll have to do to it and how many hours that’ll take and go hard on the price.

 

At that price point, knowing it's a Waltrip with the highly desirable front grille and trim and such, if you're cool with replacing the bed, I'd go for it.

I say that seeing the frame doesn't look horrible, and knowing the fender welt on these trucks was screwed up into the fender lip, which is how the water was sitting in that spot to rust 'em out that bad. Just know you may be dropping $500-800 for a clean bed, and you'll lose the custom Waltrip graphics in the process. May be tough to find one color-matched. You won't know how bad the rust is until you get it down to bar metal, if any is left.

That said, at that price, I'd expect the timing belt to have been replaced recently.

 

I say clearance (all the rusty metal from the wheel wells) and roll the fender edges. Then you can lift and stuff bigger tires, or drop it on the frame and roll some dubs

 

Man, I'd be sweating bullets making those cuts. But it can look really f'n awesome when done well. This is one of my favorites. That Waltrip would look sick (and actually appropriate) done up like so.

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Another gratuitous pic from the rear.

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Timing belt done at 148K. Interesting about the fenders. Was wondering why the rust appears so localized, but that makes total sense. Still need to inspect the vehicle first hand, so fingers crossed rust is no worse than in photos.

 

Oh, wow. That is bad. ass.

 

Dr_Omiz on IG, I think.

www.thedirtbaggarage.com

I don’t remember if it’s still setup for LT or not, might’ve dropped back to MT. But it is a beautiful truck with a LOT of money in it.

 

Love it. $3-4K on wheels/tires alone, I'm guessing.

 

Likely around $2,800-3,200, I'm guessing. For proper offroad wheels you're looking at $275-300/wheel + $275-300/tire on a good day. I was in $1,400 on wheels alone after tax, and another $1,100 on tires. Looks like Method has the gold 315s I ordered on sale at 40% off right now, only $272. That's $50/wheel cheaper. I'm tempted to buy a full size spare...