Leaves between the fender bottom and body in front of the door

I live in a home with Oak trees all around it. At least 2x a year I have to clean all of the leaves out from between the bottom of my front fenders and the body - right in front of the door on the hinge side. They are always packed in there. I fear these will cause rust over a period of time once they compact in and rot. I have done body work on many a truck that had this problem. Short of putting a cover on the truck or moving to a less tree area are there anyone with suggestions....or am I just being paranoid?

 

Could always take the inside fender liner completely off.

 

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It's amazing all the places these leaves can end up.
I have only had my truck about six months and I am not around leaves where I live and work.
I always seem to find those little oak leaves when I an giving the truck a wash and inspection.

 

I purchased a used '76 SWB C-10 that I started fixing up, etc... When I picked up the truck I could not get a good look in the cowl area. When I started cleaning it up I noticed that the cowl area from side to side was thick with leaves, dirt etc... Once I got it cleaned out, it was rusted through the firewall. It so bad that I was close to scrapping the truck.
That area was ate up across the cowl and down to both inner fenders. Be it that the truck is old, and rust prevention may have been a joke back then, but if you live in an area with a lot debris/dirt that can enter that area, you best take precautions and keep an eye on it. I think you could count on a Taco for a few hundred thousand miles, no need to expedite its demise with remote rust.

 

I just cut the fender liner off right at the bottom where the leaves collect. Now they just fall out.

 

Thanks for the info, I'll check this area out.