How would you fix this? Rust on fender&bumper

I was looking around my truck today and saw rust starting on my fender&bumper from scraping. When I mounted my bumper I just thought wow how clean does that look? Didnt consider the fact their may be some future flexing and scrapping. Obviously I'll try moving the bumper down a hair, but if that's not possible, could I sand and paint the bottom of the fender like people do with glass? Also, would a rubber weathermolding or something of the sort be a good idea to attach to that part of the fender? Any ideas or creativity welcomed.

 

Yes, edging would most certainly help. I use this stuff and it is awesome.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07CG41NXD?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

If it were my truck, I would let it ride!

 

I dont mind scratches, I dont mind dents, but when I see rust, . I dont want it getting any worse, considering the bumpers shy of 6 months old.

 

Before you do any fix, I'd figure out why it's binding at that point.
Jeff

 

Remove the bumper, touch up that area, reinstall making sure it has a gap to prevent rubbing. Adding the edging linked above will do nothing if it is still making contact with the bumper.

 

That's just how it sat since I put it on. The bumper was kind of a PIA to put on because the bolt holes had NO play. That's why it's making contact like that.

Yeah, I know itd just get ground up and destroyed. Would it be better to sand/trim the bit of the fender, or open up the bolt holes to drop the bumper down a touch? I'm weary of modifying the bumper cause I'm paranoid it could slide out of place if the bolt holes are turned into slots

 

What bumper is it and how's the gap on the other side?

Have you tried to loosen all the bolts a bit and adjust it? Shouldn't need to slot them if it's not bent or off from the fabricator. Maybe loosen all the bolts and wiggle it around a bit to see where it settles in. If that corner needs to come down more have someone stand on it when everything is still loose and see if that brings it down.

 

As a few others have stated try adjusting the bumper with the help of a few friends. You could also cut that small portion of the bumper rubbing up against body panel. What bumper is that? Can you show us a picture of the other side and the whole thing as well?

 

Victory 4x4 strike bumper. Its built solid as hell, but it took some real effort to get into place. Good idea though, I'll loosen it up and try bouncing on it a little bit. The fun part will be painting everything back up and trying to slip on some wheatherguard. I'll have to contact victory to see if they have a preferred repair paint or something.

 

You shouldn't need to use any edge guard, the bumper should simply have clearance with the components around it.

 

Depends on how much it wants to move, if at all.

 

The problem here is your bumper touching body components; putting some edge guard between your bumper and body panels won't solve that. If the bumper position can't be adjusted the bumper should be cut until there is clearance between the bumper and all body panels.

 

As for the blue paint, just use some touch up. The bumper can be sanded in that area and rattle can it satin black. I would recommend painting the whole bumper while your at it to make it match and make it look new again. Your only option is to loosen the bumper and adjust as others have suggested. You should always have a small gap with an aftermarket bumper to compensate for flexing.
Adding weatherstripping won't prevent damage to the area. It can make it worse since you are adding more thickness to an area that's already lacking gap which can result in that fender area getting warped due to increase pressure. It could be why that adjacent trim piece is not mounted properly.

 

As said fix your bumper gap. ARB recommends something like 20mm

 

Looking at Victory's example photos, it looks like theres not supposed to be a gap, but maybe just cut out more on the inside? I sent victory an e-mail, so we'll see what they say.

 

Just to "close up" this thread, I finally got around to doing something. Decided to remove the bumper and take a dremel to the areas that rubbed off powder coating. Resprayed it with some wrinkle coat texture spray paint and touched up the fenders. The only reason I decided not to drop the bumper was because I didnt want to change how it mounted. I also thought about spacing it forward with aluminum shims, but didnt like the look pushing it out 1/4". Hopefully this will be the end of it.