2008 Tailgate rusting away (pics)

[Sir Dan]

I seen some little rust spots on the bottom edge of my 2008 Sierra tailgate when I looked last summer, but wow! It is noticeably worse now! I thought the bed and tailgate were galvanized or treated somehow. I live in salt area and expect to fight rust eventually but this truck is rusting away too soon. Chrome bumpers are rusting terribly as well. Anyways, looks like a paint job for the gate before it gets much worse if I plan on keeping the truck. Not impressed with GM paint

 

 

[f0st3r]

Have you taken it back to the dealer? GM has a 6 year/100k rust warranty.

[MikeNH]

Have you taken it back to the dealer? GM has a 6 year/100k rust warranty.

 

 

 

Only for rust through, not surface rust.

 

OP- good luck, paint quality/durability sucks on almost all new vehicles it seems.

[MICOMARK]

Here in central ohio we do have salt exposure but I am sure not to the extent you do there in Wisconsin. However, I wipe my door bottoms and tailgate bottom good each wash especially between the door skin and the door seal if yours has that dirt and salt catcher type design. I also rub some clear automotive grease on those areas if I think to do it. I would especially put a coat of grease or similar lubricant on those areas starting to pit and rust to slow it down. Us Jeep guys also use a product called POR 15 that we use on our jeep frames and other steel areas susceptable to rust. http://www.por15.com/ Hope this may help.

[Sir Dan]

Thanks for the suggestions. Yeah, the GM corrosion warranty is only good for rusting completely through. Does anyone use the underbody treatments like Zeibart or the like? If so, does it help prevent rust on only the chassis or would it help in this case...just for future trucks I may buy.

[graycrewcab]

My tailgate did the same thing. I have an '08 Chevy. I also live in the winter salt climate. I keep my truck washed year round as I have a heated garage with water. I took mine back to the dealer and they cleaned up the pinch weld and repainted it about 2 years ago. So far so good. I would have been happier with a new tailgate. The. GM warranty is only good for rust through.

[waumo1]

Given where that is I would clean it up and touch up the paint. Then spray rustproofer in so it seeps into the pinch and runs out the drain holes. Rustproof the inside bottom of the tailgate.

[pjr65]

My 08 Silverado is showing the same rust problem. Dealer said basically come back when it is worse. I have already scraped and resprayed some of the GM applied undercoat in several places as it flaked away underneath the truck. I guess we have to just keep up with all of the places we see issues if we want to avoid having to wait for it to rust thru, which in all likelihood will occur after the warranty expires.

[Hilltopper]

I just noticed today my '10 looks exactly like the pictures above so I came inside and searched and found this thread. Rust through warranty or not, everybody this happens to should still get it looked at so it's documented. I plan to.

[ATMINF]

The new water based paint all the car makers use is the issue. They are still working on them. Bottom line thanks to the new EPA regs our paints are not as durable as the previous generation from about 5-6 years ago. Also Wisconsin just kills cars. I hated what it did to my cars when I was up there.

[pm26]

They doi not call it rust belt for nothing.

[RAT-ON]

My '08 is doing the exact same thing. I live in Indiana and travel to MI quite a bit in the winter, but wash my truck frequently and especially after winter road trips, wax it once a year. I'm going to take it to the dealer and see what they have to say. I wanted to touch up my frame also as it's flaking off and rusting, but it says you will void the warrantly if you do?

[Sir Dan]

The factory corrosion warranty is really useless anyway since it's only for complete hole-thru of sheet metal. If I had it to do over, I would get the underbody treated on my truck right off the lot, void warranty or not. It still might not have stopped my tailgate from looking like it does, but if it slows the decay down somewhat it's worth it to me. Vehicles need all the help they can get with the tons and tons of salt going on the roads here and if you have a heated garage it's even worse since it activates the salt in a wet, warm environment. You can wash your vehicle everyday and still get rust.