New to the whole "rust" thing: Treatment/Prevention

[traben27]

Living in Texas, rust was never a problem. Now that I have my truck up in Utah and having had two snow storms, I've begun to see little spots of surface rust on the underside of my truck. For those that have lived in the snowy/icy states, what did you do to prevent your truck from rusting to pieces?

[Chapman88SR5]

Pray. Por 15. Pray.

[traben27]

Pray. Por 15. Pray.


lol okay. You make things sound so hopeless. I'm not too worried, this will be it's only winter up here as I'm selling it next July/August when I'm back in Texas. Just wondering if there was any trick I was missing out on.

[Bob98SR5]

Living in Texas, rust was never a problem. Now that I have my truck up in Utah and having had two snow storms, I've begun to see little spots of surface rust on the underside of my truck. For those that have lived in the snowy/icy states, what did you do to prevent your truck from rusting to pieces?


traben,

funny a californian woudl be answering this question, but this stupid californian trusted a dishonest POS seller in wisconsin about what the true definition of surface rust is >:|

look at my blog at www.biodieselbob.blogspot.com. read it from the beginning, or at least, look at the pictures.

a few things to note:

rust likes to grow where water can accumulate and get stuck. also, rust likes to find/grow along seams, weld joints, and weep or drain holes. look at my blog and you'll see that thats where it usually starts.

now as far as prevention, if you see surface rust, take a drill w/ a cup or wheel wire brush, remove the rust and the treat with a rust converter/inhibitor like POR15 or my favorite, Rust Bullet. Naval Jelly is a popular brand too, but it is just a rust converter. Note that POR and RB are very harsh in terms of vapor and the ability to stick on your skin, so wear a mask and gloves. Note that all of these products chemically change rust to make it inert (what they call "rust converters"). However, Naval Jelly does not coat and protect the now converted piece of metal like POR and RB do. so they call these all in one products "Rust converter/inhibitors". There are so many kinds, some are one part and some are two parts, but POR is the brand name leader, and imho, RB is the up and comer that improved on POR's formula.

Now if there's rust that has damaged the metal, the best way to deal with it is to cut it out. that will assure you that the rust wont return in that area. if not, repeat the steps above. if you cut it out, you have to patch the hole. there's several methods:

- fiberglass patch (POR15 sells a kit). only use for non-structural repairs
- weld in a metal patch
- glue in a metal patch

now you can also get it inspected and then undercoated again. but make sure the place (or you) removes all of the rust before undercoating. if you apply paint or any kind of undercoat over rust, the rust will still grow underneath.

[traben27]

Bob-
Thanks for the link, made for a good read haha. My thing is, what do I do about steering components, can those simply be painted over with the rust converters? Its weird but the thing with the most rust is the pitman arm I installed a week or so ago.

[MTL_4runner]

Up here where it snows and the roads get nasty, we all use undercoating (heavy oil, grease, wax or asphalt based). It really does help but it also makes a nasty mess if you want to get under there and do work on the vehicle. If you live in an area that doesn't see much salt or sand, even just spraying things down with WD40 will dramatically cut down on rust accumulation. I'm not totally sure from your question if you want to prevent future rust or just fix what's there but if you have a professional rustproofing done, you shouldn't need to worry too much about rust forming if you keep up with it yearly.

[Bob98SR5]

Bob-
Thanks for the link, made for a good read haha. My thing is, what do I do about steering components, can those simply be painted over with the rust converters? Its weird but the thing with the most rust is the pitman arm I installed a week or so ago.


what you can do if its surface rust is apply some naval jelly on it, let it sit for the recommended time, spray bottle it off, apply some metal etch, and then spray some flat black rustoleum on it. i think its overkill, but then again, what do i know about winters? oh, theres another product that i found and its in my blog: phosphoric acid/metal etch. im sure you saw it. anyways, it does all of the above in one product. its easily found at home despot. careful though: it stinks to high hell and is caustic. you also have to water it down.

bob

[surf4runner]

active ingrediant in naval jelly=phosphoric acid.
boating supply house is another good source for it.

itll need a protective coat(krylon/POR15/etc...) applied after use.
ive only had 1 place come back after.

im dealing with repair, not prevention though

[AxleIke]

Nothing you can do. Toyota didn't have a clue when they built these trucks.

Lucky for me, there's fiberglass. For you, I'd treat it as best you can, and sell. Look for a third gen.

[traben27]

Nothing you can do. Toyota didn't have a clue when they built these trucks.

Lucky for me, there's fiberglass. For you, I'd treat it as best you can, and sell. Look for a third gen.


Will one winter, which so far has been very abnormal with a very small amount of snow, really do that much damage? Right now there are only a few very small spots, they don't seem like they'll really do anything either.

[Bob98SR5]

active ingrediant in naval jelly=phosphoric acid.
boating supply house is another good source for it.

itll need a protective coat(krylon/POR15/etc...) applied after use.
ive only had 1 place come back after.

im dealing with repair, not prevention though




yes, youre right. though the stuff i was talking about has metal etch in it too.



Nothing you can do. Toyota didn't have a clue when they built these trucks.


Yes to the first sentence, and no to the second part...i think thats a stretch. i dont think there is any manufacturer who truly makes a rust proof vehicle. its just normal wear and tear.

[AxleIke]

Nothing you can do. Toyota didn't have a clue when they built these trucks.

Lucky for me, there's fiberglass. For you, I'd treat it as best you can, and sell. Look for a third gen.


Will one winter, which so far has been very abnormal with a very small amount of snow, really do that much damage? Right now there are only a few very small spots, they don't seem like they'll really do anything either.


Oh, you'll be fine. one winter won't be a big deal at all. If I were you, I'd leave it until winter was over, then take a weekend to fix it all at once before you drive it down there.

[AxleIke]

active ingrediant in naval jelly=phosphoric acid.
boating supply house is another good source for it.

itll need a protective coat(krylon/POR15/etc...) applied after use.
ive only had 1 place come back after.

im dealing with repair, not prevention though




yes, youre right. though the stuff i was talking about has metal etch in it too.



Nothing you can do. Toyota didn't have a clue when they built these trucks.


Yes to the first sentence, and no to the second part...i think thats a stretch. i dont think there is any manufacturer who truly makes a rust proof vehicle. its just normal wear and tear.


Well, My 4runner was rusting through the fenders when it was 7 years old. My dad's 97 is 10 years old and not a spot of rust on the body.

For the record, I was only talking about the body, not the rest of the truck.

Another reason they didn't have a clue on the first gen bodies, is that they are tin cans. If I am in a side impact of any speed greater than 20 mph, I'm dead.