Rear Wheelwell Insert Alternative

Denali_Joe · March 29, 2010

I was sick of my white truck having black wheel wells in the front and white in the rear from the box. I was considering the black liners and also got a price quote to have them coated by Ziebart. They wanted $150 to do Rhino liner or underbody coating in the wheelwells. After inspecting an undercoating job they had just done on a Ram, I wanted nothing to do with that sticky tar mess. It looked like they frosted a cake, except the cake was the whole entire bottom of the truck. Looked horrible IMO.

So, I went to wally world and picked up 2 cans of Rustoleum aerosol bed liner, $7.50 each. They had them at the local Advance Auto, except they were over 9 bucks a can. I also picked up a roll of 2" painters masking tape for 6 bucks.

I prepped the wheelwells by washing them with a degreaser (Jungle Jake, cheapo alternative to Simple Green) and a sponge. I wiped them dry and then blew them dry with my shop vac. I went over the inside of the wheel wells with some 500 grit sandpaper and then taped off the wheelwells and covered up my wheels. I didn't remove my wheels, I jacked the frame up on the truck to give me more room to work.

After checking it out this morning in the light, I am very happy with the results. If I had any rattle can skills, it would be perfect. I manged to start spraying with the can too close and got a couple runs. I put 4 coats in each wheelwell.

This editor blows, I forgot to add that when I masked the wheelwells I cut up some bags and pretty much covered the entire side of the box with cut up grocery paper bags. Don't want any black mist on my white truck!

If you are looking at some liners, I suggest giving this a shot, real easy to do, just take your time with the spray in liner. I figured worse case scenario if I royally messed it up, I could still cover up my mess with the liners. No need to now and it only cost me 20 bucks in materials. Here are some pics, you can see the run in one of them:

lsuguy · March 29, 2010

Looks great man. Love the dog

csheatz · March 29, 2010

Thats what I did. If you have a hard winter they might start to fade a little, but just spray another coat. Mine have been done for over a year now, I just gave them another coat because I was under there painting the frame rails and thought it wouldnt hurt to give them a little touch up. I also did my fronts above where the plasic liners stop. I dont know if its the same on the 900's or not.

rbiggers277 · March 29, 2010

That looks great! I have been wanting to do something like this. Doesn't sound hard at all.

DFWSierra · March 29, 2010

I did the same thing but with 3M brand rubber coating. I just figured out if I spray them with mothers tire cleaner and then hose them off they look perfect. I don't even have to scrub them with a brush. Something to try out next time you wash your truck.

welscher08 · March 30, 2010

I did mine early last fall with 3M...and love the results. Living on gravel though i see they are getting wore through to metal again, so this spring now i will have to touch them up. Haven't decided to go 3M tho, or if i could try something out like what you used over the top.

Great pics...only you will notice that run...so don't worry about it!

Denali_Joe · March 30, 2010

Got a few guys at work that want me to do their trucks now! Hoping it will hold up good, so we'll see. I got 4 coats on! An annual touch up wouldn't be so bad, but it sure dried rock hard and hopefully Rustoleum isn't too crappy, it was the only aerosol liner I could find. I tried to do the prep as good as I could for best longevity results. Didn't want to use the tar underbody coating.

The dog is a good one, she is 9 now. Getting another one this weekend, gonna be a monster, Bullmastiff. Hopefully that puppy doesn't leave any waste in the back seat on the 4 hr ride home on Saturday.

Also hit the rims up with some Turtle Wax chrome polish, and damn! Highly recommend, they look brand new and shine like no other now!

jblakeney · March 30, 2010

I did mine on my 99 last year... 3 can of 3m 08883 in each wheel well..... Dunnnno how many coats it was.... I just remember it being a case per axle.

Nothing beats 3M!!!! Best stuff out their......

PDF

MMM 08883

I think I am gonna pull my truck apart this summer and soda blast the frame and POR15 it..... and I might put the cab up on the rotisserie and spray the bottom, firewall (might leave the firewall alone and just have a cut line the coating) and bottom of the bed....

Jbo

crepitus · March 30, 2010

I went the Ziebert route and was very unhappy with the results. It was just all over under there. They even managed to get it on the back of the can between the bed and cab. I complained and called the headquarters but they didnt really care. Last time I will ever use them for anything. I wish it did it myself like on my last truck. I went with the Ziebert this time because when i used the cans after 1 winter they were brown for the salt mix they use up here. I pressure washed them but it didnt help. Well guess what same thing happened this winter with the Ziebert coating.

C. Charles Hahn · March 30, 2010

I went the Ziebert route and was very unhappy with the results. It was just all over under there. They even managed to get it on the back of the can between the bed and cab. I complained and called the headquarters but they didnt really care. Last time I will ever use them for anything. I wish it did it myself like on my last truck. I went with the Ziebert this time because when i used the cans after 1 winter they were brown for the salt mix they use up here. I pressure washed them but it didnt help. Well guess what same thing happened this winter with the Ziebert coating.

Just go over it with a coat of black spray paint over top of the coating; that will seal it and fix you right up.

jblakeney · March 30, 2010

Yeah, the ones their are some of the under body coatings that you can not paint over. I know you can not the NAPA MAC's 8400 it is oil based. Fuel will wash it off....... The hardener in the paint will do the same thing. The 3M 08883 can be top coated I think. I know the underbody Schultz can be sprayed.

Jbo

C. Charles Hahn · March 30, 2010

Yeah, the ones their are some of the under body coatings that you can not paint over. I know you can not the NAPA MAC's 8400 it is oil based. Fuel will wash it off....... The hardener in the paint will do the same thing. The 3M 08883 can be top coated I think. I know the underbody Schultz can be sprayed.

Jbo

You can paint over just about anything, you just have to use the right kind of paint for the type of coating you're dealing with.