Dodge Dakota Rear Fender Rust Recall problems

Dodge Dakota Rust Recall problems

Do a quick internet search for “Dodge Dakota,” and you’ll probably see the same types of forum posts that tend to come up about most vehicles: the main computer quit, a quirky mod went wrong, road salt ate through the brake lines, and so forth. But there is one topic that seems to be a specialty of the Dakota: rusted-our rear fenders. The problem seems to start with little paint bubbles over the rear wheels, and quickly decline into ugly brown holes with a growth rate to make a teenager jealous. The truck pictured on the right is a 2000 Dodge Dakota in Nashua, New Hampshire. A Dakota owner posted in Dodgetalk.com:

I have some bubbles appearing over the rear fenders and want to stop it before it spreads too far…. I had a piece cut out last year to replace the piece over the fender but not enough was taken out, and it is appearing next to where it was cut out.

and received an informative response:

My local body shop relates that there is a foam seam seal between the box fender lip and the inner panel. This foam holds moisture and so the end result is corrosion. They suggest that the only way to get an extend fix of the panel is to remove the foam and oil spray the area…but only after the panels have been replaced with new sheet metal in total…no patch work repair…but a completely new exterior box side panel or panels…. My right rear fender was repaired under warranty back in 08…before the truck was owned by me (I bought the truck off a good friend…it’s an 03) So here we are 2011…and guess what…same spot and there’s the beginnings of a bubble in the paint again. A quick look at the left side box fender lip show the micro begins of a paint bubble there also…go figure. My truck has only 57K km’s on it. (about 35K miles) but does see regular winter driving in Ontario Canada…the salt use capital of the world me thinks.

Many forum posts speculate about a possible rust-through warranty from Dodge. According to CarCarePeople.com:

The Dodge corrosion warranty includes repairs to rust through on any original sheet metal panel that is provided by Dodge. The warranty covers the cost of repairs if the rust through is caused by a manufacturer defect or workmanship. There are two mileage and time limits to the Dodge corrosion warranty. For sheet metal panels, the warranty applies for 3 years regardless of mileage. For outer-body sheet metal panels, the warranty is valid for 5 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. The Dodge corrosion warranty is fully transferable from one Dodge owner to the next. There are no limits to how many owner the vehicle can have in order for the warranty to be valid.

If you’re like a lot of New Hampshire drivers, it takes you a lot less than 5 years to get to 100,000 miles, especially if your Dakota is a work truck. And since even the newest Dakotas will be 5 years old this summer…well, you do the math. However you choose to repair or replace your rusted Dodge Dakota fenders, you’ll want to follow that up with a good rustproofing treatment so you don’t have to go through the same headaches all over again. In New Hampshire, rustproofing is available from NH Oil Undercoating Inc The Rust Stop Pro.

Here is the first part of our 2017 workshop series.
What’s covered in this video; Part 1
1) introduction into NH Oil Undercoating® Oil-based Rustproofing
2) surface preparation and inspection
3) the science behind Oil-based Rustproofing ( how it works )
4) equipment and maintenance
Covered in next video Part 2; Application