Wheel arch

[Max_Headroom]

I noticed tonight that the rear wheel arch (arrowed below) has no plastic liner the bumper half does but the front part doesn't, its bare metal with some kind of thick tar like substance painted or sprayed on and there is quite a "shelf" at the point i have marked is this normal as it will gather mud, road salt and other nasties if not cleaner regularly and i would imagine over time it will rust.

[flash22]

Correct, give it 15-20 years, and it will rot out

[Max_Headroom]

Glad it's not just mine i had started to worry it may have had some back-end damage in the past and the liners had been forgotten.

Ita a bit of a bad design surely a longer liner would have been better, were the earlier cars the same?

 

 

[flash22]

All the mk3's are the same, no rear liners just the rear cover for the bumper

[Max_Headroom]

3 minutes ago, flash22 said:

All the mk3's are the same, no rear liners just the rear cover for the bumper

Thanks, as rear arch corrosion on earlier cars is not a topic i have seen i guess i can rest easy having read your earlier prediction of 15 - 20 years before problems may appear 😉

[flash22]

The yaris has decent rust protection, 15+ years is conservative

early jap mk1's (99 - 02) can rot around the arches and inner and outer sills in the same place, the French built cars don't seem to be as bad, TBH any car at 18+ years old will have some rot no matter the marque then your getting in to cheap end of the market, run the car till it dies territory or fails its MOT

average life for a modern car is 7 years - Nissan (Renault) have it down to 5 years now

[APS]

Most Toyotas come without fully lined rear arches. Lexus do. Although, I think that's more for sound deadening than outright rust protection. To allay your fears a little. Here's that very same spot on our 2003 Yaris - no liners...

 

I see now that the clumsy photographer didn't set focus on the wheel housing. But if you're interested in tyre walls, that's very much in focus!

[Max_Headroom]

I will get a better picture of my arch later when i go out they really do look like a bad design. (crud catcher)

[APS]

Yeah, there's normally a little shelf to store and carry round a bit of moisture retaining crud to give corrosion a chance. 

[Rhymes with Paris]

I don't know how old you are Max, but if you remember the old Ford Anglia 105e, they used to chuck all the water and mud from the front wheels right up behind the headlights.

Most of them had a semi circular ring of rust on the wing just behind the headlights at best, and headlights pointing at the road being held on by a few threads of rust and paint at worst.

Nothing to do with Yaris wheel arches I know, but I like to ramble and reminisce.

[Max_Headroom]

19 minutes ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

Nothing to do with Yaris wheel arches I know, but I like to ramble and reminisce.

You cannot beat a bit of ramble and reminisce.

My dad had a yellow Anglia similar to the one below, i wish i still had it now.

 

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, Max_Headroom said:

Ita a bit of a bad design surely a longer liner would have been better, were the earlier cars the same?

I've seen this on many cars I've had over the years. I've always assumed it's to catch the worst of the high velocity stones and stuff that are thrown up.

[Rhymes with Paris]

Aye Max, one of the Anglias that I had was a 1200 super,in blue with white flash down the body surrounded by chrome trim rivetted on.

This of course exacerbated the rust.

But as an 18 year old I loved that car , the new wings from the main Ford dealer at the time were around £9 each IIRC.

I think they are worth a fair bit now, but as I remember them they were a pretty good drive for the day.

I was however jealous of a couple of friends at the time, one of whom had a Jensen interceptor in purple,he didn't have it for long though,repod I think.

The other one had a yellow etype that was quite rough, not worth the mega £s that they are now.

But at least my Anglia was paid for 🙂

 

 

[bathtub tom]

Austin Maxi had a 'shelf' above the front wheels to carry the fresh air duct. Similar problem.

[Max_Headroom]

2 hours ago, Max_Headroom said:

I will get a better picture of my arch later when i go out they really do look like a bad design. (crud catcher)

Here it is, you can see the underseal black stuff ends before the metal at the bottom would it be worth spraying some waxoil on the metal parts or am i being paranoid? 

 

Click for large image - 

[Derek.w]

I recommend removing plastic liners and applying Hammerite or stone chip protection depending on if you are going under the car to protect the floor area.

[MikeSh]

2 hours ago, Max_Headroom said:

would it be worth spraying some waxoil on the metal parts or am i being paranoid?

It's been a while since I've used it, but if it's the clearish. yellow, liquid Waxoil I think it would get blasted off quite quickly as it doesn't really set up. It's more for inside cavities where water or condensation can lie.

You need some of the stuff that sets to a thick layer like bitumen so it can withstand 'water-jetting'.

Unless you plan keeping the car beyond about 2030 then yes, probably paranoid 😉

[bathtub tom]

I just hose the crud off the 'shelf' whenever I wash the car.

[Max_Headroom]

Thanks BT that's what I will do and keep an aye on the area. 

[APS]

Max - you got me going with this topic. I've now taken a photo of the Aygo as well...

mk2 Aygo - lovely shelf to bring your favourite crud. This one does have stone chip all the way down. After almost eight years it still looks OK. This is a modern car so, we just drive it.

 

 

 

[APS]

And the Lexus. Here, the shelf is covered by the liner. I'm assuming it all looks good behind there. No reason to believe otherwise.

I guess this is what you pay extra for.

 

[APS]

And for reference - MR2 Mk1 after 33 years...

Well, previous owner painted everything in thick underseal. I'm not sure what horrors lie beneath. But the fact that the shape looks OK make me a little more optimistic.

 

So after all this, I think it is important to point out that most serious rust issues - start from the inside. Inside of cills and any other cavity. So if there is rust in your wheel arch, it has probably started from the inside. The MR2 is case in point. It looks fine as you can see, but I don't know what it looks like inside that cavity 

[Derek.w]

I presume he just removed the plastic liner you probably be suprised at whats accumilated in that space over the years.

[Derek.w]

The problem with underseal it only takes a pin ubik of a hole to let water in then it ballones out.

So check it yearly for maintance to underseal.

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, APS said:

And the Lexus. Here, the shelf is covered by the liner. I'm assuming it all looks good behind there. No reason to believe otherwise.

You'd be amazed at how crud and damp can get into enclosed spaces. That liner is probably just helping to retain a thick layer of salty dirt and stopping the area from ever drying out, thus creating more of a corrosion risk than an open sill (which gets a bit of a flush out in wet weather and dries when it's warm).

Some of this stuff is counter-intuitive.