Seal rear fenders

[svr]

Is anyone useing something to seal the rear fenders to the bed? About to bolt mine on hopefully the last time and was thinking i need something to keep water and dirt from creeping into the seem. Any thoughts, thanks

[my56chevytruck]

There's two choice I'm aware of, one would be the standard fender welting. you can get it in various colors or buy it black and paint it yourself, the other choice would be a seam sealer, the down side to a sealer I think, is in vibrations you'll see it separate from the body to the fender and or will show signs of cracking. Outside from that, I don't know of anything else that is used.

[Jesse Z]

I've often debated this issue with myself: if you seal tightly between the fender and bed, then dirt - and especially moisture - can't get OUT. Anything you put in between will widen the gap and encourage moisture intrusion and rust formation. Bottom line is, I've always chosen to mount metal fenders directly to the metal bed with nothing between. At least that lets air circulate.

[Black_Sheep]

I've been weighing different options too, because I don't care for how welting looks. Anything that holds moisture out can also trap moisture in. Seam sealer might be effective, but if you ever need to remove a fender it's going to be a mess. I used non-hardening strip caulk to seal the floor plate where the column passes through the firewall and will probably do the same when I install the fenders. It has the consistency of Play-Dough so it will ooze out as the part is tightened up, the excess cleans up easily.

[dwcsr]

Try a clear silicone that has UV protection in it like GE silicone II

http://www.caulkyourhome.com/press-r...cone-caulk.php

I've used it on truck windshields that don't have a real good fitting rubber to the cab.

or permatex flowable silicone, this works great on sealing up hard to seal water leaks.

https://www.permatex.com/products/ad...-glass-sealer/

make sure it 100% silicone whatever you use or it will crack and shrink quickly in the cold and sun.

[youngrodder]

I used 3M strip caulk. It's nice because it's fairly cheap and it stays playable.

Marc

[mr48chev]

They came from the factory with fender welting. I'd go with the strip calk that Youngrodder suggested if you don't want fender welting. It's easy to use and doesn't set up so you can't remove the fenders without a fight. Once you have a package of that stuff around you will find a lot of uses for it. I used it for years to hold front end shims in place while I tightened up the A frame bolts. Handy stuff.

[my56chevytruck]

Not to debate this welting or not to welt, but I've owned a street rod for nearly 20 years and have been in the rain more that I want to admit, and have never found a bit of rust between the fenders and the body, so I don't see that as a cause for concern. my .02 worth

[mr48chev]

Front and rear fenders on my 48 would get muddy water thrown up through what gaps there were between the fenders and bed because I didn't have welting or something to seal it an I never thought of strip calk even though I almost always had plenty of it around. I drove the truck in primer for years on end so that is one reason I didn't worry about sealing the gaps. The welting also cuts down on squeaks a whole lot along with giving a detailed finish to the gaps.

I'd say rust in these trucks is mostly due to the road conditions the truck gets or was driven under and some times how many times the farmer who owned it years ago opened both doors and hosed it out with the garden hose when the dirt got too deep on the floor. Had a guy with a mid 70's truck tell me one time that he loved the rubber floor mat because he could open the doors and hose it out.

[svr]

After much thought and reading the thoughts here I decided to go without anything. Have good paint on both surfaces and have seen to many times areas that trap moisture rust out, although most of those never had any paint in between. I my early years the garden hose cleaning was an accepted practice in pickups with rubber mats, did it many times. Hope the old truck gods forgive me because I sinned a lot doing that.

[_Ogre]

fyi... welting on tf fenders