Inner Fender Well Lining Material

[Badge767]

Quick question for those of you who've had your K2XX Silverado for a bit:

 

I've only had my 2017 LT Z71 for a couple of months, but it only had 788 miles when I purchased in December 2018. The truck is still clean as a whistle, so I'm just posting this question as a pro-active measure.

 

I noticed the inner fender well lining appears to be a black material, almost reminiscent of indoor/outdoor carpet.

 

I like the look of the material, and I assume Chevy used that texture to help mitigate road noise in the cab.

 

However, it does cause me to wonder if the material has a tendency to hold moisture more so than, say a spray-on rubber based coating. I've noticed after washing my truck, the material does seem to dry pretty effectively, but hard to tell what moisture may be trapped behind it or around the edges.

 

Has anybody seen any indication of rusting behind or around the fender well lining material?

 

Thanks in advance for sending any information my way!

 

 

 

 

[Armo325]

I have the same truck as you. Purchased in Feb 2017. Time will tell but I’m two years in and haven’t had any moisture issues related to the OEM fender liners. No rust at all.

 

The first year and a half for the truck were in Memphis. I’m in Virginia Beach now.

 

[1SLOW1500]

I have had mine in and out many times. And it is flexible stamped abs plastic and only the visable under side is spray carpeted. It isn't a issue as you state. But it you ever remove it look at the lowest part of the fender by the rocker and door jam. You will see large debris that comes down from the windshield in the corner by antenna also in that super small are is recycled cloth like material same as you see inside the truck under carpet. And it hold a lot of water. I have concerns of this area. Aside from just removing it nothing one can do.

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[Badge767]

36 minutes ago, Armo325 said:

I have the same truck as you. Purchased in Feb 2017. Time will tell but I’m two years in and haven’t had any moisture issues related to the OEM fender liners. No rust at all.

 

The first year and a half for the truck were in Memphis. I’m in Virginia Beach now.

 

That's encouraging, thanks for the response!

 

 

[Badge767]

28 minutes ago, 1SLOW1500 said:

I have had mine in and out many times. And it is flexible stamped abs plastic and only the visable under side is spray carpeted. It isn't a issue as you state. But it you ever remove it look at the lowest part of the fender by the rocker and door jam. You will see large debris that comes down from the windshield in the corner by antenna also in that super small are is recycled cloth like material same as you see inside the truck under carpet. And it hold a lot of water. I have concerns of this area. Aside from just removing it nothing one can do.

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Good information on the liners Slow...that helps explain the fairly rapid drying.

 

Also good tip on the debris catchers...seems like all trucks tend to have those somewhere or the other. Fortunately for my Silverado, my wife volunteered to give up her garage space for her 2003 Expedition so I could put my truck in there instead. (God lover her!) So hopefully that'll help with the debris collection, although it still sounds like a worthwhile endeavor to engineer a way to mitigate the collection of debris and moisture in those areas.

 

On the Silverado, I do see some evidence of GM addressing those types of issues (like the weather strip on the rear of the hood to prevent debris from entering between the hood and the cowling below the windshield). Still makes me wonder why the engineers can't come up with a preventive measure on those problem areas you mentioned. Surely there's a GM engineer somewhere that has owned one of these trucks in the past two decades or so that knows first-hand where the problem areas are!

 

My 2005 Avalanche is showing early signs of a little decay in that ever-so-infamous junction of the rocker panels near the "C pillar" just forward of the rear fender well. Addressing that issue is on my radar now that Spring appears to be on our doorstep.

 

 

[CCGMC]

I’m sure these liners were well thought out so I wouldn’t worry about moisture causing any long term damage. These types of liners have been used on European luxury cars for many years. Just took the US auto makers time to catch on. 

[OldBlue61]

I had my truck Ziebarted shortly after buying it.  I made sure to remove the bed liners when I had it rustproofed in the hope that they would coat those areas well, and they did.  I let it dry for a few days and reinstalled the liners.  I take them off each year for touch ups.  Gotta do what you can to prevent the salt from destroying our trucks.

[1SLOW1500]

I had my truck Ziebarted shortly after buying it.  I made sure to remove the bed liners when I had it rustproofed in the hope that they would coat those areas well, and they did.  I let it dry for a few days and reinstalled the liners.  I take them off each year for touch ups.  Gotta do what you can to prevent the salt from destroying our trucks.

You may have missed the ziebart post. But that company and that product is bad news. Many law suits and damage vehicles.

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[OldBlue61]

The only things I've seen about Ziebart are on things other than rustproofing.  Between my father and brothers, we have been using them for rustproofing for 60+ years, on over 25 different vehicles.  None of us have ever had any issues, and all of the vehicles we've had rustproofed by them have help up much better than most cars/trucks around us, smack dab in the middle of the rust belt.  I'll take my chances.

[templar]

Just got a 2020 Silverado, and yes it has no rear inner fender liners.  The sales person told me Chevy pulled them due to rust issues(not sure I believe this).  The painted surface in the fender

well will be Swiss cheese in weeks.  Any suggestions?  What about spay-on liner?

 

 

[15slvrDbl]

On 12/19/2019 at 2:31 PM, templar said:

Just got a 2020 Silverado, and yes it has no rear inner fender liners.  The sales person told me Chevy pulled them due to rust issues(not sure I believe this).  The painted surface in the fender

well will be Swiss cheese in weeks.  Any suggestions?  What about spay-on liner?

 

 

They pulled them to make more money!  They are now optional. More rocks, salt and debris to wear the paint away in the wheel well will make it rust faster and sell more trucks. Get them protected. I took my truck apart the first week I had it. Fender liners, door pads, fenders and used a waxed based rust proofing everywhere inside the rockers, fenders, hood, doors, bed, bumpers and rubber rust proofing behind the fender liners to prevent any rubbing for debris.   I probably went overboard. But I plan to keep it awhile. 

[templar]

I finally got the service and sales managers.  You are right these are optional.   They agreed to order the liners for me.  This is beyond stupid.  I definitely will be cleaning that area before they install them.