I was doing some minor maintenance and clean up on my wife’s Duramax Silverado the other day and came across something that may save some folks a lot of grief, especially if you live in an area that uses salt on the roads.

At the bottom of the door openings, between the door and the front wheel I noticed some leaves and dirt so I started cleaning them out. I found a black piece of foam, sort of like a cover over the area.

Location of foam cover – drivers’ side.
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Close up of foam cover – drivers’ side.
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I moved it aside and found the underlying cavity packed with dirt and rotting wet leaves. It had been several days since the truck had been wet and all the crud was still wet. I started digging all the mess out, and finally had to get an air hose and blow it out. I got out a good sized hand full of stuff.

Foam cover removed, showing cavity – passengers’ side.
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Thanks for the tip. I checked mine out today (didn't even know I had them) and found both sides caked in sand from the winter, actually 2 winters now. Great spot for rust to start, I'll be giving them a clean out from now on.
Edited by: TC Dmax

Can the area behind the foam material be washed out in any way. Since I live in the "Salt" Lake City area, it would be great if I could direct some clean water down to that area.


Thanks for the heads up on the problem.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif

I am sure you could stick a hose in there and wash them out. I did not want to get the interior wet but if you are careful you should have no problem. You can even push the foam out of the way if you want to but I wanted it out. I could see no good reason for it to be there, it is not like it is an area that shows or anything. I can imagine a bunch of road salt accumulated in there and working on the metal for a year or two. We do not have a salt problem here in Georgia but we do have a lot of small laves and that was what was in mine.

My guess is the foam is there for sound deadening.

<DIV>It is in there for sound deadening, I just move mine and clean behind them every so often. Never had any build up of any kind though.</DIV>
<DIV>But you are right, it is a good place for rust to start, keeping them clean can't hurt.</DIV>

Thanks for the pointer