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Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra Undercarriage Rust

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Comments

  • thingamabobthingamabob Member Posts: 3
     I owned a 2011 Sierra that I just sold off to a wholesaler. I got rid of it because of the excessive rust issues and how quickly it's accelerating.

     The L/F strut rusted through at the bottom and lost all of its oil. I've been a mechanic for over 20 years and have seen my fair share of rust but I've never seen a strut rust through like that. How quickly that truck rusted away is shocking. Another example...I had a brake light bulb go out so I pull the tail lamp and there's nothing left of the bucket that holds the lamp in place. 

     I was planning on keeping that truck for the long haul but that didn't work. Too much rust everywhere to make the repairs needed. If a brake line were to go, which would have been soon, I'd have to replace every caliper, every rubber line, the ABS module and the master due to the level of rust involved. There are no bleeders left, no flats left on any of the brake line fasteners and no way of just replacing the failed component without redoing the entire system. The same holds true for every other underbody component. 

    If you own one of the trucks that's rusting away I'd suggest getting rid of it as soon as possible. 
  • rustyz71rustyz71 Member Posts: 1
    I own a 2002 sierra with all the same problems. Brake and fuel lines replaced. Tailgate and hood rusted. Doors and rocker panels both showing rust. Now the frame rusting and no end in sight. What do you do? Buy something new, what a shame. Are Ford and Dodge the same? That isn't the sad part, what really is bad is gm will not do anything!!!!!! No more gm products here.........
  • forresthforresth Member Posts: 34
    I previously posted that all my brake lines had to be replaced. Well now I have also had a Fuel Line and now the Transmission lower oil cooler line rust out. Luckily it was in my driveway when I noticed that it was having problems shifting and moving.
  • forresthforresth Member Posts: 34
    If anyone is still watching this saga of rust problems. On my 2004 Silverado with only 22940 miles, I went to start the truck the other day and it cranked for about 15 seconds before firing. I smelled fuel but thought it was just because it had sat for a couple weeks. Ended up being another leak in fuel pressure line. I had to have both fuel lines replaced. The one I had spliced in Sept 2017, near the tank failed right above the front crossmember. Since I do not have a lift I decided to take it to the local shop. $812 in parts and $941 in labor to get the fuel system fixed.
    Was also having low speed ABS activations problem and they wanted another $1500 to service. They said it needed new front shafts installed because of rust on the reluctor. I searched and found lots of others saying to check the ABS wheel speed sensors. I replaced them for only $86 dollars and the problem went away. The shop was wrong, I checked the reluctors while I had the sensors out and they look brand new. I guess that is to be expected with less than 23000 miles. BTW the mid tubular cross member is totally rusted away on the passenger side. These 1999 through 2006 models are truly rust buckets.
  • SteadiChebbiSteadiChebbi Member Posts: 2
    2005 Silverado z71 loaded, 200k+, $34k off the lot. Total rust bucket now due tto brine mixed with fracking waste water. Yes, NJ is paid to take waste water and they mix it with the brine they spray on the roads. It's a truck and I treat it like one. Wouldn't pay what they're asking these days and expect tbe same results. I'ld drive it trough their
  • SteadiChebbiSteadiChebbi Member Posts: 2
    WOW did i jinx myself. Went under truck to see if bed bolts were loose because bed was sitting crooked . I found a rusted tank strap just hanging. Didnt even get to see what was wrong with bed
  • EdMcGovernEdMcGovern Member Posts: 1
    No one here commenting about the Kobe Steel scandal. Could it be that substandard Kobe Steel was used in these trucks? Kobe Steel was heavily fined for falsifying steel quality reports. I understand this steel was used by most manufacturers. Now that they have been caught out, will steel last longer again? This is all a shame because back in the 80's pickup manufacturers started using a lot of galvanized body parts. They had the rust problem cured for a long time.
  • kaleighmarie89kaleighmarie89 Member Posts: 1
    Own a 09 Silverado ltz it’s started rusting in the last month on both rear wheel panels. I have noticed every Silverado unless brand new has the same issues in the same place. This is happening to so many, why is Chevy/gmc not taking care of this?!? It’s obviously a flaw in the design. How do we make gmc/Chevy take care of this problem? To fix this to stop the spreading is going to cost me a minimum of $1500 per side due to the “special” paint color. Has anyone looked into this? What can we do?  They should be fixing these for free, this is cause by their design flaw not due to not taking care of my vehicle. Any ideas??
  • AugeorAugeor Member Posts: 1
    I found a 2001 Silverado with low miles and bought it thinking "What a find." It does look great on the outside and after waxing it a few times, close to showroom new outwardly. Underneath, though it was garaged, quite a bit of rust. A lot more than my dad's 1994 F150. The 2001 was almost never in its life on a salty roads. The rockers are still okay but beginning to rust. The shackles and brake lines have a lot of rust. I'm hoping rust converter can save it, that it's not too late.
  • forresthforresth Member Posts: 34
    It is a never ending story. 3 more of the lines that were replaced have rusted through again. Luckily it was in my driveway when the pedal went to the floor. Unfortunately my wife was the one that jumped in to move it for me when the lines failed on her.
  • vanessacrosbyvanessacrosby Member Posts: 1

    Has GM done anything for you?

    GM has not given me any hope of getting my issue fixed. I bought a used 2003 silverado 2 months ago and after purchasing, we looked underneath and to our shock, we found so much rust and damage,. its unsafe. dealer wont do anything. we have to jump the truck off every time we go anywhere. have sunk more money into this truck than its worth in 2 months. truck payment is due and we cant pay it because we have put it all in to getting repaired. and with the rust being so bad and unsafe, i cant even put my kids in it. so not happy having to pay 10,000 for an unsafe truck. what makes ir worse, we traded our old chevy that had so many problems it spent more times down than on the road for one that does the same thing!
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,737
    It's too late for you now this time, but scenarios like this can be avoided by having a shop look the vehicle over pre-purchase. Yeah, you would have had to spend some money for that, but you wouldn't have gone into this unaware of the vehicle's true condition. This isn't a manufacturers problem which is why the dealer can't/won't help you. If you traded this in, they would never resell it to the public even if it was in way better condition than what you have described. This would have gone straight to the auction and they would have been done with it because they don't want involved in any sale that could leave a customer in the position that you currently find yourself in.

    BTW did you buy this off of an individual or a business? Either way have you approached them to see if they would take it back and then maybe you could try again to find a more reliable vehicle?
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