2005 Yukon XL Denali. Paid $3,500 last year or so. 190kmi, runs and drives great, needs nothing at the moment.
What's bothering me is the bubbling paint (and a couple small holes) over the passenger rear wheelwell. Same on that areas rocker.
Similar going on with the front fenders but those are easy to replace.
What would you do on a very limited budget and no ability to cut and weld in a patch for the foreseeable future. Expecting the drivers side to follow suit.
I had hopes of passing it onto my son in two years but at this rate, unless major surgery happens, it won't make it.
There's no secret fix I'm missing right? I mean, a new bed or flat bed conversion would help if it wasn't an SUV.
I'm pretty good with rust converter and Bondo...
Drive it, squirrel away money for welder in future? Does your son want to learn some metalworking?
I don't think you can do much without cutting and welding if there are holes already.
Alternative idea: start fixing up a sweet older truck to drop the drivetrain into 
Unfortunately I'm in less position to swap out the 6.0 into a Blazer than I am cutting and welding.
Might be worth seeing what a local metal fab shop would charge to do a little cut and weld. Low budget might mean no perfectly matched nice paint on the fixed parts, but that can always be taken care of later.
Fender flares from a 3/4 ton truck?
It's an unusual situation where I paid so little for a vehicle that at the time was selling at over twice what I paid but I still only paid $3,500. I'm certainly not going to pay that and more to have it professionally repaired
In reply to rslifkin:
Couldn't hurt to ask right?
ebonyandivory wrote:
In reply to rslifkin:
Couldn't hurt to ask right?
That's my thought. A metal fab shop might be cheaper than a body shop for that kind of work, especially if paint consists of "something close to the right color that keeps it from being bare metal" rather than proper paint.
Based on some underbody cut / weld repairs a local metal fab shop did for a few friends, the answer very well might stay in the few hundred dollar range.
If you have a trade school on your area I would see if they can do it. Usually very cheep but usually takes a bit longer.
Only vehicle too, so that's a stumbling block.
FML as the kids say...
$99 ebay factory style fender flares
$8 can dupli color spray bedliner
Great stuff and bondo rockers, bedliner flares, bedliner rockers, install flares, look good for 2 years
ebonyandivory wrote:
Only vehicle too, so that's a stumbling block.
FML as the kids say...
That sounds like the perfect opportunity to buy another car. Time for a Miata!
Patch it up as best you can and drive in into the ground. Chevy SUVs are dirt cheap around here, almost to the point of being disposable.
It's also a body on frame. Most of the body can disappear without the suspension falling off.
ebonyandivory wrote:
I had hopes of passing it onto my son in two years but at this rate, unless major surgery happens, it won't make it.
Nothing you're talking about sounds like it's actually terminal to the function of the vehicle.
Aesthetically ugly, sure. But this is a body on frame V8 truck. It'll motor on with holes in the body for a long time after it's ugly. I guess my point is, I'd worry less about the cosmetics of it.
I've seen plenty of old Tahoe's and Denalis running around Michigan with holes in the gas door, and the bumpers held together by the plastic trim caps with voids where metal used to be.
Outside of that, do what patgizz said if you want it prettier on the cheap.
Well, I'm much more hopeful now.
What was bothering me is a (possibly) strange mental issue.
I've driven trucks with riveted repairs and cut fenders etc.
My holdup I guess was making an upper-class truck look like a Road Warrior as opposed to starting with a "pedestrian" Suburban.
Make any sense?
In reply to ebonyandivory:
It's still just a Suburban - GM just saw fit to stick everything from the Pep Boys dress-up isle onto it and up the price. 
In reply to ebonyandivory:
No?
In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:
Love Woody!
I'm more Mad Max than Zombies though. Just can't take it too far so my wife won't be seen in it with me.
Wait a minute...
ebonyandivory wrote:
Just can't take it too far so my wife won't be seen in it with me.
Wait a minute...
If you take it that far, then she'll make you buy another car so she doesn't have to get in this one
petegossett wrote:
In reply to ebonyandivory:
It's still just a Suburban - GM just saw fit to stick everything from the Pep Boys dress-up isle onto it and up the price.
This. My plow guy uses an Escalade. I'd look into a cheap set of flares to hide the rust if it bothers you too much.
Bigger tires and no lift so you have to open up all 4 fenders with a sawzall.
I had visions of removing all 4 doors for the summer to get back to my Samurai/CJ days.
First, dig around in the top of the rear wheelwells and see whether there are three plastic plugs you can remove to wash the layer of dirt out from between the quarter and the inner. Then hose it full of fluid film, and find a set of chrome flares big enough to cover ths bubbles. Repeat steps one and two twice a year.
I found the plugs in my Silverado when I was fixing rust. Too damn late.
