Icon stage 1 rust

[foxtrot]

Hey everyone, I installed a stage 1 icon kit on my 4Runner in the middle of December. Since then I've washed them every other week. They are developing rust at a very rapid pace and I was wondering if this is normal. (I know it's dirty in the picture but it just snowed here)

 

[cbielat]

Same thing with mine(Radflo). I see you live in a Northern region. It's going to happen.

 

[foxtrot]

I expected it to happen, just disappointed that it only took two months, seems early to me. My buddy has coilovers and has had them for over a year and they have no rust

 

[t-man]

Power wash, spray liberally with WD-40 at regular intervals... Don't know what else you could do. Anything you could spray on there to stop it would gum up the threads.

 

[Jeremy556]

The shock body is aluminum, it isn't rust. They do corrode, but not like that. Here are mine after 80k miles, and several cleanings during disassemble.

 

[Troymclure]

That does seem like a lot of corrosion. Does it come off? If so, You can wax the bodies with normal car wax to help keep them from corroding also

 

[2014 Warthog]

As Jeremy said, the corrosion on aluminum would normally be white, but maybe it's picking up color from mud or something.

I spray mine down somewhat regularly with silicone spray after a good washing every few desert trips. Mainly to keep the coil sets lubed up and not squeaking

The silicone spray will dry on the threads and leave a coating that should last a while.

At this point I'd probably think about taking them off, remove the coil, use a fine wire brush and some wd40 and clean the threads out. Then dry it off, silicone spray it, put back together, then give another hit of spray after install. That should keep it pretty well.

 

[Runner27]

yea the shock body is aluminum so it does not rust like that. I installed my Icon in summer 2012 and the shock body looks intact. The only thing that start to show some minor rust is the coil but I guess that is normal for almost 3 years of use in the northeast.

 

[Greydog]

Ya, that seems very abnormal for an aluminum surface. I would take some pics and send to Icon or whoever you bought them from.

Do you drive through water with high mineral content somewhere or regularly?

Almost looks like the water you may be washing with has ALOT of iron in it?

 

[foxtrot]

Update: upon further investigation, looks like it is only the drivers side with the problem. I called icon and sent them photos, and after about 30 minutes to review, they are sending me a new coilover with a return label for the old one. I am very impressed with their customer service. Would recommend them to anyone