Don't be too cheap---what an exploding tire can do to the quarter panel:

[autorepr]

People ask me all the time when I'm working on their car, "do you know where I can get some cheap tires?" My response is always the same thing, "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!" (And if you go that route, don't do 85mph. DUH!) It seems like people think the only difference in tires is the price. They're not all built the exact same and to the same level of quality then priced differently. The only similarity is their all round and black, that's it.

[Skunksmash]

Well what are the highest quality factory sized tires? In my experience, the best tires made are Michelin. Then again, they're usually the most expensive tire in a particular size.

[Irish_Alley]

i havnt had any bad luck with a "cheap" tire as long as they are new you shouldn’t have any problem. i see a problem with tires when they are old. most times we sell our old/used tires to south America so they can use them on their roads. their gild lines aint as strict as ours

[Skunksmash]

They probably have a lot of tire problems haha. Then again, its likely they could never afford to buy new tires so they have to buy that old used stuff

[Stewart G Griffin]

Well what are the highest quality factory sized tires? In my experience, the best tires made are Michelin. Then again, they're usually the most expensive tire in a particular size.

i think that's a safe bet;  i'm looking at michelin x, and ltx m/s.  They are about $140 each.   i'm also thinking about giving hankook a shot with the optimo 727.  This is about $100.  It has a 100,000 mile warranty.

My size is 235/75 r 15

[zieg85]

100K mile tires sound great if you can wear them by the time they start weather checking due to age.  I always keep usage in mind when I buy mine.  Educate yourself on the tire dating and see them before you purchase.  I have seen new "2" year old tires before.  DOT stamping after 2000 to be the first 2 numbers are the week of the year and the last 2 are the year, hence 2611 would be mid year 2011, manufactured 3 months ago.

[Stewart G Griffin]

Part 2:

What's happened is that i did not want to attempt to fix it myself---one bodyshop did not want to work on it due to rust---i'll get into that in a sec.

If we can review, we see that the fender got bashed upwards by the separated tire tread.  If we could focus in on the yellow circle:



Note:  The paint IS NOT shiny---it was raining and this was the only time i had a chance to take a picture.

There are actually 2 small rust pinholes at the yellow circle area.  If you can imagine looking upwards from the ground.  i apologize that it is blurry.  i do not know if this was cause by the tire incident or were they there before?



What i DO know is that i would like to prevent further rust spreading until i can find a bodyshop.   i'm looking at por-15 but i read that it won't work properly on painted/coated surfaces.  i'd like to apply it on the inner side of the fender, but isn't there also a  coating or some rustproofing on inner fenders?

What's a good course of action here?

BTW i did get a new tire---a hankook optimo 727, but that's not important now.

P.S.  i may still try to fix it myself but right now the immediate objective is to neutralize the rust.

[bake74]

     I have used por-15 a lot.  But we have some stuff at work that is rust converter.  I can not remember the name right now.  All I know we use it all the time on old machines and we apply it right over the paint.  It works good for me.  As far as por - 15 goes, it is recommended not to apply over paint, it needs contact with the rusted area.
     If you want I can look tomorrow and post back.

[bake74]

     If you are interested it is called, Gempler's rust converter.  Hope this helps.

[Stewart G Griffin]

OK, thanks.  Will look into it.


P.S. the one bodyshop did not want to work on it due ONLY to those two tiny rust holes.  i think they are snobs.  Fine---they don't want money?

[Stewart G Griffin]

Here's a better picture of what we are dealing with:

[Stewart G Griffin]

The rust converter is very thin and doesn't stick very well at first.  Any suggestions on how to get it to stick?


i've tested it on flat(parallel to the ground) surfaces and it works well, but as you can see here we are dealing with an almost overhead situation.   i've tried spraying behind the fender as well, but it runs thru the holes.

[1979C20]

A piece of clear 2in packing tape on tge vack side, then spray then more packing tape on the front?

[VileZambonie]

http://store.73-87chevytrucks.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=7&Product_Code=0855-133-134&Category_Code=7387Beds

[Stewart G Griffin]

OK, scratch that last statement----it does work-----i apparently did not give it enough time to dry;  i had sprayed it at about 5pm yesterday and now it's all pretty much black.  So i guess it does work---even on "overhead" situations.

Will post pics asap

2) as far as the patch panel.  i have not made it up to the point where i can just cut out and weld in new metal.  i may very well go this route.