Just that door. Thats what makes me think it is a manufacturing defect, as all the others are fine.

Whoa, that there is VERY minor rust caused by salt and water getting into the door seam. I see it all the time. The fix is simple - get a can of Fluid Film, spray the seam on all of the door bottoms a couple of times a year on a dry summer day, as well as spray into each of the door drain holes on the bottom. Don't forget the tailgate, brake lines, fuel lines, fuel filter, etc.

Fluid Film

Get a spray bomb. I buy it by the case. Simply the best!

I take it I should still sand it down and repaint it if I use fluid film? A body shop quoted me $195 to clean that up and repaint, and also a small spot on the seam on the underside of my hood. I found my color paint at the local auto parts store. The plan as of now is to clean the rust up, spray some "Rust Fix" on it, and then hit it with rust resistant primer. Then topcoat. I was going to use this, CorrosionX inside the door via the drain holes, and possibly pulling off the interior door panel and spraying some more in that way. Fluid Film seems to be about the same thing, but it is available locally. I might go that route.

FR? CNY? Indyboater? BillyB?

Sound good?

All this on an '04....unreal!

There are many ways to repair your rust. I have personally had seam rust tried to be repaired by a body shop, but it didn't last long at all. Waste of time and money. I have seen other people's vehicles who tried the body-shop route, with no long lasting success either. Sometimes body shops can actually make the problem worse.

CorrosionX will work just fine. I wouldn't try to prime and paint it - you need your spray-of-choice to be applied directly to the rust and you need to let it seep into the seam. Like I said, spray it into the drain holes, and you can spray it on the seam and spread it evenly with a shop towel or the like. I have never removed a door panel to do this, as the spray will creep a bit. Let the excess drip off - you can't use too much.

When I bought my current 03 Sierra in 05 with 12,000 miles, all of the door bottom seams and tailgate seam had rust!! I have stopped it completely with Fluid Film. Simple yet effective procedure that I do twice a year.

Well today was a busy day. Went out to the local John Deere dealer and picked up some Fluid Film. The admiral's Grand Prix doesn't have the issue my Durango has, so I hit each of the door drain holes with Fluid Film and left a good coating on there.

Did the same thing to my Durango, except for the rust door. I chipped at it with my fingernail, and the rust/paint bubble fell right apart. I scraped as much rust out as I could, and went down the seam both ways until there was no more rust. I then painted two coats of Permatex Rust Converter over the entire area. Directions say to let that setup for 24 hours, then topcoat. Tomorrow afternoon I'll prime, paint, and clear coat the area. I'll wait a few days before I put the weatherstripping back on.

The paint doesn't seem like its to late in that area, but on the drivers door the paint is very thin...you can see the primer through the paint on the bottom of the door.

Took some time this evening and drove an '08 Ram, Dodge redesigned the lower door seal, the new design doesn't look like it will hold any water. I might get new lower door seals for my truck....I'll wait and see. Fluid Film sounds like it is the answer to my problem, and I probably didn't have to do all the work I did. Pics to follow shortly....

The worst door seals that I've seen for rust are the late 90's, early 2000's Park Ave's - they have the entire bottom of the door covered with rubber weather stripping and you can't even see the door seam. Yikes, what were they thinking?!! It's ultra-quietness is quickly overcome by the sound of rust eating at the door seam!

Drivers door....faintly painted. I didn't realize this until now.


Rusty door before the repair


Paint off and rust showing


Rust Converted

I hear that. On my Durango the weatherstripping is a round tube, but then a flat piece extends down covering up the drain holes....I'd love to meet whoever designed that! On the new Rams it is just flat pieces of rubber, and it does still cover up the drain holes, but at least it is not a round tube that will hold water.

I guess they thought that when the moulding rusted, that you should take it off and check the door too. Cause all the mouldings rusted at the same rate or faster than the doors.

You're on the right path firecadet.

What he said!

Three coats of paint...followed by three coats of clear coat. Looks better than the rest of the door . I'm happy. I'll wait 30 days for it to fully cure and set up before I spray it down with Fluid Film and put the weatherstripping back on.

Nice job

Apparently it is not unusual for thin areas to occur in the painting process. I had a 88 Daytona that could not pass a paint booth. Only car that I got rid of after only 50,000 miles. The first repaint was when the rear quarter panel faded away. (then it got keyed, and finally, it got over-sprayed from a tower being painted). It may not be that rare as we would like to find too light coverage.

Should I put the lower door seal (weatherstripping) back on? It seems like all it does it hold water. There is a full seal on the body of the truck around each of the door opening to seal it up. It isn't even any louder inside my truck with it off, makes me wonder why they put it there.