box rusting out

tony53546 · November 10, 2015

How many people are having issues with the box rusting on 2007 and up Silverados. Both sides of mine are already rusting out and I'm seeing quite a few in my area with the same issues. I wouldn't think a truck that new would already be rusting as bad as it is

sahls01gmc · November 10, 2015

Seeing as you live in the "Salt Belt", it's completely normal. 8 winters on a truck is very hard on them.

tony53546 · November 10, 2015

That would pretty much mean that every 07 vehicle around here should be rotted out and that's not the case at all. There is some sort of factory plug on the inside of the box and this is the exact place it started

sahls01gmc · November 10, 2015

Well, everyone's maintenance habits play a role in that equation as well.

tony53546 · November 10, 2015

I wash my truck every 2 weeks in the winter. If it was a maintenance issue the rest of the truck would be going to shit too. I'm chalking it up to cheap parts. My buddy has an 03 jetta and it was rusting and volkswagen stood behind it abdominal fixed it. The dealers response was it's beyond the warranty coverage. I don't see hardly any of the nbs boxes rusting out

brucelimerick · November 11, 2015

It isn't normal. Just GM BS. This has been going on for over a decade. I have an 01. Frame is toast. Box was fine for 10 years, the rust through warranty period. 10 years and 2 months and it exploded like a teenager with zits. Rockers?, they don't exist anymore. I always did a though under cleaning as soon as it got above freezing. It helped but the GM protection system is crap.

According to the GM warranty maintenance isn't required and undercoating will void the warranty.

I have heard they are covering this stuff if you bitch hard enough. Pay particular attention to your frame.

My 01 is the last one I ever buy from them.

'01LS1 · November 11, 2015

I wash my truck every 2 weeks in the winter. If it was a maintenance issue the rest of the truck would be going to shit too. I'm chalking it up to cheap parts. My buddy has an 03 jetta and it was rusting and volkswagen stood behind it abdominal fixed it. The dealers response was it's beyond the warranty coverage. I don't see hardly any of the nbs boxes rusting out

Are you the original owner of the truck? I do auto transport & have pulled newer used cars/suv/trucks out of Matteson(Chicago) Manheim of multiple brands that have panels flapping due to rust.

It isn't normal. Just GM BS. This has been going on for over a decade. I have an 01. Frame is toast. Box was fine for 10 years, the rust through warranty period. 10 years and 2 months and it exploded like a teenager with zits. Rockers?, they don't exist anymore. I always did a though under cleaning as soon as it got above freezing. It helped but the GM protection system is crap.

According to the GM warranty maintenance isn't required and undercoating will void the warranty.

I have heard they are covering this stuff if you bitch hard enough. Pay particular attention to your frame.

My 01 is the last one I ever buy from them.

Paint & corrosion warranty State side is/was 6 years, not 10. Unless you purchased an aftermarket or secondary deal?

The thing we forget to compare is the liquid crap they dump on the bridges/corners etc.(at least here in the midwest). That crap eats through everything, including wiring/harnesses etc.

tony53546 · November 11, 2015

Who do I call to bitch? Anyone know?

sahls01gmc · November 11, 2015

On an 8 year old truck, "bitching" won't get you far. Probably will get you in worse shape than you are now. I wasn't implying that you weren't taking care of your truck. I was just referring to that fact you live in a heavy salt state, and your truck is not brand new. Mine isn't either....

My rockers are completely shot, although the frame only seems to have surface rust on it. I bought it used in 2006 from the original owner in Minnesota. Perhaps I got lucky.

Here's what mine looked like before:

And here's how I fixed it. 3M undercoating:

What does yours look like?

tony53546 · November 11, 2015

I would expect a 14 year old truck to rust. The body shop couldn't believe that it was already rusting for only being 8 years old. I don't have a picture but it's directly over the rear wheel well. Directly behind the rust spot is some sort of factory plastic plug. Seems the be an engineering flaw if you ask me. All that plug did was collect junk and ruin the box. No other spot on this truck has any rust.

brucelimerick · November 13, 2015

We had a 10 year GM perf warranty on Canada in 01 anyway when I bought my truck new. It has been changed back to 6 years.

That "liquid crap" is brutal. We also use it up here as a dust suppressor on the dirt roads. It draws moisture and holds it. So if you don't keep the crap off it is a huge rust accelerant. Beware of rained on dirt roads.

My rockers are shot, box is pretty good considering, frame toast, back bumper toast. I can stop though, had to do all the brake lines last summer.