Dealing with rig cancer...AKA RUST

[adventure_is_necessary]

How does everyone deal with rust? I have some rust on the underbody I know I need to deal with soon. While it's just surface rust, I need to deal with it ASAP since winter will be upon us before I know it. My experience tells me to hit it with a wire cup brush to knock all of what I can off, clean it well, and hit it with a few coats of rust preventative paint. I have heard about POR-15, but know nothing of it or which exact kind to get. Please share your wisdom as I have not found anything in regards to the underbody. Thanks!!!!!!!

 

[smcallaway]

I don’t have my rig yet, but I live in the Midwest so I feel your winter pains. I hope to get the ‘07 4Runner next week and the first thing I’m doing is rust control. I’m going to knock off as much as possible then do a few passes with a rust converter. After that I’m going to coat it with CRC which is a semi-permanent heavy duty undercoat. It needs 12 hrs to cure into a hard “wax”, it doesn’t come off with power washing or anything. It can be removed with petroleum based removers. I wanted something that would stand up to slush going through wheel wells and the undercarriage along with underbody washes to remove all the slush and salt already there.

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

Rust is the death knell of any rig, especially for those of us in jurisdictions that use salt or similar products to attack road ice in the winter.

When I find rust, I do the following:

1) Clean the rust with a wire brush. I use one on a grinder. I also usually clean a wide area around the visible rust too — rust can creep under paint so you want to be 100% you got it all.
2) Once I’ve cleaned it, I hit it with a rust converter. Eastwood sells a good one. This product chemically stops the oxidation; I have found that without it, the top coat will slow down the rust but eventually it will come back. Not so when it is treated.
3) Topcoat with an enamel paint. POR15 works, but tremclad works too and is available in a lot of colours so you can even match body paint.

To prevent rust in the first place, we take our vehicles to RustChek, and it’s well worth the $150 a year. RustChek drills holes in the rig to ensure the treatment gets everywhere, and it creeps so it displaces any moisture in hard to reach places. An alternative DIY option is to use fluid film or lanolin; I will often retreat my rigs with fluid film after a good wash just to ensure it’s protected.

 

[Virginiawilderness]

That is exactly what Rachel and I did to our sliders this month... in doing so, we noticed that the rot on our rocker panels is getting out of hand. Welcome suggestions on our rocker dilemma on the thread below...

3rd Gen 4Runner Fabrication Question

Afternoon Overland Bound! Rachel and I drive a 3rd Gen 4Runner, 1997 SR-5. Like nearly every older car here in the mid Atlantic, we’re starting to have rust problems. For now, the main problem is the rocker panels below the door sill and under the rig. We are not welders and we live in a...

www.overlandbound.com

 

[Jaytperry89]

After a few years of running around on the beach I've noticed some rust developing underneath my cab corners. I noticed it when giving the truck a bath. I've been looking for a way to save my truck. So thanks guys and op I'll use some of this info to hopefully save it without a ton of body work put into it. My plan was to sand the bottom of the doors. On all sides of the cab up to the body line. And use a rust inhibitor to kill the oxidation. Then I was going to coat it with raptor liner.

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

After a few years of running around on the beach I've noticed some rust developing underneath my cab corners. I noticed it when giving the truck a bath. I've been looking for a way to save my truck. So thanks guys and op I'll use some of this info to hopefully save it without a ton of body work put into it. My plan was to sand the bottom of the doors. On all sides of the cab up to the body line. And use a rust inhibitor to kill the oxidation. Then I was going to coat it with raptor liner.

I would suggest that you use caution with the Raptor liner — maybe in general, but for sure at least until you are 100% certain you have solved the rust problem. If you haven’t, it will continue to rust but it will be behind the liner and you won’t see it, and while I know that by using the rust inhibitor it should prevent it from getting worse, in my experience there is always that one “Oops, missed a spot” that will go from pin-prick to rust holes rather quickly.

If you are familiar with the Australian 4x4 community you will have heard of John ‘Roothy” Rooth; he is in a good video with A.S.P. White of 4XOverland that covers rust protection:



The best rust prevention on my experience is regular and frequent cleaning and oiling, with Fluid Film, Rust Check, or Lanolin. Sealing it prevents your ability to re-treat those areas, and I don’t know of any product that is one-and-done when it comes to rust proofing and actually worked long—term.,