Front wheel well liners fabric?

[Dsurf]

So I live in MN where we dump all sorts of salt on the roads all winter long to melt the ice. This probably isn't a major concern if you live someplace that doesn't do this. The front wheel well liners are some sort of rigid fabric/ fibrous material that absorbs water and in my case, salt.
I feel like this is going to cause the wheel wells to rust much faster. My truck has only been through 1 winter, so far so good. But I would like to replace them with something more plastic like.
Anyone else thought about this/concerned about this or know of any available replacements? Thanks

 

[GETGONE]

Yeah, it annoys the hell out of me. I live in Michigan and they use tons of salt here. I saw some aftermarket replacements on ebay but it didn't say what they were made of.

 

[Sonny95]

Same issue on my end with the felt liners absorbing stuff. But, I prefer the sound dampening that comes with the felt, which is why they do it.
I had a 2015 with felt liners, no issues with rust.

 

[Dsurf]

Same issue on my end with the felt liners absorbing stuff. But, I prefer the sound dampening that comes with the felt, which is why they do it.
I had a 2015 with felt liners, no issues with rust.

That makes sense. I thought it was more a design of obsolescence. Rusty trucks= sell more new trucks. It's nice to think they at least had good intentions. If I can find something plastic like to replace it I'll line the back of it with sound dampening material.

 

[That21TrailBossguy]

American trucks have a few options, but def going to spend a few hundred $$$$$

 

[PistolsFiring]

If any of you guys have rear fender well liners that are the fabric OEM that you end up replacing I’ll buy them off of you with the hardware. My truck wasn’t optioned with them and they’ve been on constraint through GM.

 

[That21TrailBossguy]

If any of you guys have rear fender well liners that are the fabric OEM that you end up replacing I’ll buy them off of you with the hardware. My truck wasn’t optioned with them and they’ve been on constraint through GM.

American trucks has the GM ones I believe as well

 

[PistolsFiring]

American trucks has the GM ones I believe as well

I’ll check it out. Thanks.

 

[Lnsimpson]

While the embedded felt may dampen sound, it was not one of GM's brighter brainstorms.
They are used on EVs as well, and not just the fenderwells. The entirety of the car is covered in this water absorbing mat. When water gets cold it freezes. It works at the fibers of the felt mat. It is also heavy, especially wet. On our Chevy Volt there are sections that are press formed to fit , but you take a 3'x3' piece of wet felt 5" off the ground, oh let's add snow ruts and chunks of ice, yes, and salt. NY uses lots of it. So after a few years of driving, especially winter, the felt liners are cracked, ripped, sagging, and otherwise useless. If we had the car new, would have love to try to spray a resin on like fiberglass resin to waterproof. At $130+ for GM felt wheelwell liners x 4 and 3 - 4 of them 4'x4' at unknown n own cost... I will try adding galvanized metal sheet under body. May try to form one out of galvanized metal for the fenderwell or will buy rubber/plastic ones for ½ of what GM wants.
Just my opinion. I grew up in an independent shop that was family owned. My father was Shop manager and parts manager back when GM dealers sold Frigidaire appliances. Common sense should told the engineers that the felt would last a few years, but it is a sad attempt at an improvement. Thin plastic is marginally better. GM wake up and pay attention to customer complaints about what doesn't work.

 

[The Raven]

This isn't something new - my 1999 Trans Am had felt wheel well liners. I've seen more vehicles with felt than with plastic.

 

[MonteSS]

Although I don't own this vehicle similar problem in my GM's. I Found this topic! These sound/debris blockers help to keep debris off the hinges, although they call them sound pads! I see in other makes those thick sound pads are made of molded semi rubber material or covered in plastic (Hyundia/Kia/Genesis) that prevents them from getting wet. As my 2002 monte (Winter driver in Manitoba) has rusted out. Also have 2007 Monte SS and 2019 Impala with the same thick material. Looking for a way to waterproof them. I have thought about taking the fender liners off, removing that material and spraying it with Flex-Seal or similar sealing spray or somehow wrapping them in plastic. The drain holes in the firewall above each front fender line also contributes to the moisture. Anybody got an opinion?