Question for Northerners about rust
Hello all, I've finally got my 15 posts so I can start a new thread,lol. Just have a question that's been on my mind for quite awhile. We all know the effects of salt on metal and we know the roads get salted every time it snows. What do people up north do to protect their vehicles against this? Or is it just an impossible task? About a year ago I bought a 95 Wrangler from a guy in Ohio for parts to use on the 88 I had at the time, (I now have an 05 T4R), and it was absolutely eaten up with rust. Living in SC we get very little snow; sometimes it might be 2 or 3 years without any significant snow. But when it does and I have to drive on the salted roads I can't wait for it to be gone so I can clean up my vehicle. I go to the drive through car wash that has the high pressure undercarriage spray to try to make sure all the salt is gone. I'm thinking if I lived up north I'd do this every time it snowed. Would that be enough to keep from having a rust bucket or is it just a foregone conclusion that all vehicles in that climate are going to rust? Just wonder how people live knowing that their vehicles are slowing heading to a rusty death.
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Theres not much you can do. The newer frames are coated better, but older vehicles there is nothing you can do
There are months where the roads are salted every day/ multiple times a day or it doesnt rain/ clear from the road. There are also limited car washing options when it is below freezing every day. You do the best you can to hose off the undercarriage when able You kinda live with knowing that if you drive the vehicle in the winter, eventually itll rust out. |
Fluid film
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you can also wash it periodically regardless of temps. i live in the upper midwest where it gets VERY cold & can snow 2 or 3 times a week... all car washes in climates like this have either heated water to use year round or the nicer car washes have heated bays or doors to close & function year round... people wash their cars here when its 0*f! granted the water will freeze when you pull out of the bay, but its better than brown salty ice chunks sticking to your wheel wells & frame etc. so yes, wash it as needed & consider a spray on protector product if you live in an area that salts the roads. |
Sadly these things seem to rust from the inside out. A coworker has had his 05 since new. He tells me he always washed underneath and had the inside of the frame oiled yearly. Guess what, last year he had to have the frame patched because of rust, he was dumbfounded because of all the precautions he had done. Living in the rust belt it is my opinion that the best you can do is slow the rust down but is inevitable at some point. Some frames seem to be more susceptible than others.
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there are hundreds of thousands of 4th gen 4runners on the road in winter climates that dont have holes in the frame or need patching or are rusting that bad from the inside out that fast. mine is from this area with ~150k miles & while it did have some failing factory coating & heavy surface rust, the frame is still 99% solid & no signs of heavy scaling or pitting rust inside the frame. my post was mainly to say there is definitely somethings that can be done to help with or greatly stop rust. but i also agree that some frames were neglected or had other outside things make them rust worse than the large majority of others. |
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One product you may want to look into is POR-15. It takes quite some prep, but it should work good and it's permanent (i.e. doesn't need to be re-applied).
I bought my 4Runner from Wisconsin and it has some surface rust. My plan over the summer is to drop various shields/covers from underneath and exhaust, then use wire wheel and various tools to remove loose rust/paint, clean it up well, use rust converter that comes with POR-15, and then finally coat it with POR-15. It won't stop 100% of the rust, but it will slow it down significantly. |
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The sooner you can get around to removing and preventing, the better. Start with as clean of a frame as you can. |
I guess WD-40 could work since it displaces water, but would have to probably apply it often.
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As for POR-15, it certainly has it's uses but how do you clean and get it into the crevices inside the frame? Mustie1 on YT lives in this area, he swears by bar & chain oil I think (or maybe ATF?). He heats it and sprays it inside all the places that can collect crap. Lastly, Fluid Film....the jury is still out on that one for me. I had the Runner sprayed everywhere underneath in the fall after I removed all the scale. It looks like it all washed off so not impressed so far. |
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ive used POR 15 quite a bit & while it is good for what its intended for, i would suggest following instructions carefully & only apply it to surfaces that are rusted metal, it is not designed to be applied over existing paint like the factory black coating. POR stands for "paint over rust", meaning clean or wire wheeled rusty metal. ive seen it flake & peel off of smooth bare metal that wasnt prepped right with an etcher & even clean sand blasted metal & previously painted surfaces. i would suggest a high quality paint or epoxy paint if you're going to be covering the factory black paint, you can use por 15 for rusted areas like the weld seams that always rust first or areas that have had the coating removed or rusted away. also remember por15 is not UV resistant, it turns a weird greyish uneven color after a year or so if exposed to any sunlight, & the underside does get reflected sunlight during the summer. por does make a top coat but the price for everything is not cost effective, especially if 90% of the frame has the factory coating, using a good quality paint works best in my experience. |
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