New Owner of a '99 Limited. Looking for rust opinions/advice

[vukos]

Hello friends. Let's ignore the wisdom for a moment of asking about rust opinions after already purchasing the vehicle. I've been looking for months and this is the best deal I've seen in a 200 miles radius around eastern Missouri. 108k miles, $5995. The vehicle does have undercarriage rust but my amateur assessment is this is for the most part surface rust. I based my opinion on searching every thread here with "rust" in the title and comparing pictures with what I was seeing at the dealership.

I'm in Missouri and there is a ton of salt on the roads in the winter.

Here goes some pictures:

As you can see, the rusting is very uneven with some places untouched and others seemingly in more advanced stages of degradation. I have beaten on anything I could reach with a hammer and everything seems solid.

Ordered on Amazon I have the following:
Angle Grinder and Wire Wheel
Loads of POR15
Fluid Film

My plan is to sand/wire down any rust I can reach. Then I'll POR15 everything. Then I'll coat everything in Fluid Film.

So. How bad it is? Will I not survive the winter? Did I just waste a ton of money? If I do the above remediation, can I expect this runner to last me 5+ years (assuming nothing else goes wrong)?

I've also got some concerns about the process involved with sanding/wire brushing rust off in preparation for the coatings. I can't fathom a way to reach everything. I'm pretty sure that is impossible. I'm also a vehicular novice and am afraid of POR15-ing over stuff that will later need to be reached for repairs or maintenance.

Any advice is appreciated

 

[Ol'Blue]

Hello friends. Let's ignore the wisdom for a moment of asking about rust opinions after already purchasing the vehicle. I've been looking for months and this is the best deal I've seen in a 200 miles radius around eastern Missouri. 108k miles, $5995. The vehicle does have undercarriage rust but my amateur assessment is this is for the most part surface rust. I based my opinion on searching every thread here with "rust" in the title and comparing pictures with what I was seeing at the dealership.

I'm in Missouri and there is a ton of salt on the roads in the winter.

Here goes some pictures:

As you can see, the rusting is very uneven with some places untouched and others seemingly in more advanced stages of degradation. I have beaten on anything I could reach with a hammer and everything seems solid.

Ordered on Amazon I have the following:
Angle Grinder and Wire Wheel
Loads of POR15
Rust Mort
Fluid Film

My plan is to sand/wire down any rust I can reach. Then I'll apply Rust Mort to the most heavily rusted out areas. Then I'll POR15 everything. Then I'll coat everything in Fluid Film.

So. How bad it is? Will I not survive the winter? Did I just waste a ton of money? If I do the above remediation, can I expect this runner to last me 5+ years (assuming nothing else goes wrong)?

I've also got some concerns about the process involved with sanding/wire brushing rust off in preparation for the coatings. I can't fathom a way to reach everything. I'm pretty sure that is impossible. I'm also a vehicular novice and am afraid of POR15-ing over stuff that will later need to be reached for repairs or maintenance.

Any advice is appreciated

That thing came from IL is my guess. Are you in the Stl area? Car in Springfield normally do not look like that. You are going to be doing alot of work buddy. Also take a good look at the axle seals also. At one time it looked like they were leaking. How much did you pay for it and mileage? It can be saved but that is going to be some work no question about it. You will love the Multi Mode in the winter though.

Blue

 

[vukos]

Yeah it's from IL. What makes you think it had axle leakage before?

 

[raKnizek]

I am from the rust belt area and I have experienced some pretty brutal rust. From the pictures It looks like the frame has some pretty normal rust. Nothing serious but when you start going with the wire wheel you will find out. Try to get inside the frame rails as well. Start with a hose and try to wash anything out. Keep the drain holes clear(can't stress this enough)! The rear axle looks like the worst of it to me which is more easily replaced if it comes to that.

As far as your plan to tackle the rust I think that is a great way to go if you can get a good application with the POR15. I believe it actually requires surface rust to adhere properly so just take off any scale rust and chips. I don't have personal experience with the product but from my own research I am not sure the rust mort is needed. May actually make it worse by not allowing the POR15 to do its job. Fluid film all the way.

Don't forget to inspect the body/sheetmetal for rust as well. Wheel wells, rockers, under the door, etc.

Good luck!

 

[mmendelscfi]

I live in the rust belt as well and to me it does not look all that bad.

What I would keep an eye on though is the rear differential cover. That looks fairly rusty and what will eventually happen is the cover will start to seep gear oil through pinholes that develop in the cover.

It's also not where you can see whats happening unless you look at it or check the ground where you park.

I have heard of people using JB weld to seal it but the real fix is the diff cover made by Barnes 4WD. It does need to be welded on and should have the diff removed prior to the welding. Ask me how I know this.

 

[GoodLikeSunkist]

As far as the rear axle oil seal goes, you can tell from the oil on the inner tire as well as inside the rim. If you are lucky it is just the seal, not the entire axle. Cheers!

 

[vukos]

I am from the rust belt area and I have experienced some pretty brutal rust. From the pictures It looks like the frame has some pretty normal rust. Nothing serious but when you start going with the wire wheel you will find out. Try to get inside the frame rails as well. Start with a hose and try to wash anything out. Keep the drain holes clear(can't stress this enough)! The rear axle looks like the worst of it to me which is more easily replaced if it comes to that.

As far as your plan to tackle the rust I think that is a great way to go if you can get a good application with the POR15. I believe it actually requires surface rust to adhere properly so just take off any scale rust and chips. I don't have personal experience with the product but from my own research I am not sure the rust mort is needed. May actually make it worse by not allowing the POR15 to do its job. Fluid film all the way.

Don't forget to inspect the body/sheetmetal for rust as well. Wheel wells, rockers, under the door, etc.

Good luck!

Thanks. Wheel wells, doors, body, etc are all rust-free. Just the undercarriage

 

[Mark_BC]

I live in the rust belt as well and to me it does not look all that bad.

What I would keep an eye on though is the rear differential cover. That looks fairly rusty and what will eventually happen is the cover will start to seep gear oil through pinholes that develop in the cover.

It's also not where you can see whats happening unless you look at it or check the ground where you park.

I have heard of people using JB weld to seal it but the real fix is the diff cover made by Barnes 4WD. It does need to be welded on and should have the diff removed prior to the welding. Ask me how I know this.

Ditto.

It's a PITA to get the rust off the rear axle and differential, you might want to just buy a new one rather than deal with the headaches. You will be surprised how deep the rust goes on your differential cover. You keep grinding until you get no more clouds of red dust. Hopefully you will have metal left. Took a whole day to just clean off the diff cover.

If the frame rust is surface you are good to go, doesn't look too bad. I have read the reviews of POR 15 and seen mixed reviews. I like my Rust Cure Formula 3000 oily spray.

 

[vukos]

Ditto.

It's a PITA to get the rust off the rear axle and differential, you might want to just buy a new one rather than deal with the headaches. You will be surprised how deep the rust goes on your differential cover. You keep grinding until you get no more clouds of red dust. Hopefully you will have metal left. Took a whole day to just clean off the diff cover.

If the frame rust is surface you are good to go, doesn't look too bad. I have read the reviews of POR 15 and seen mixed reviews. I like my Rust Cure Formula 3000 oily spray.

are you suggesting I replace the whole axle and diff cover or just the cover? any idea where I can readily purchase those parts?

 

[vukos]

any opinions on the rust on the drive shaft? how about the stuff under the front skid plate? I imagine ill have to take that down and treat the stuff underneath

 

[Hardizzy]

My 4Runner has lived its entire life in PA/NY, so she's seen quite a bit of salt. Although your diff is pretty rusty, I don't think you need to replace it. Mine was just about as rusty as yours. I wire wheeled whatever was in the process of peeling. Pay special attention to welds. I POR-15'd the diff, chassis, and many other bits and pieces. It's stood up this past winter real good. I stand with the others who have suggested POR-15.

 

[Ol'Blue]

As far as the rear axle oil seal goes, you can tell from the oil on the inner tire as well as inside the rim. If you are lucky it is just the seal, not the entire axle. Cheers!

Gold star for this guy. He saw it too.

I have a 02 4runner I use for parts. If you want the drive line I think I still have it.

Blue

 

[kolelt]

Ok. So.....

It is not a hard to remove the rust. I'm not going to go into details on how to hold a grinder or what wire wheel to use. It's common sense. But you can knock of almost all of the rust of the rear axle. With just a good wire wheel and grinding disks. However it is easier to remove the axle and bring it to local sand blasting place or wire wheel it then.

With POR15 you need to really knock of ANY LOSE RUST and then apply it. I recommend using their prep chemicals. The gallons aren't expensive and can be diluted with water. I also recommend to use any rust preventive product such as POR15 Or chassis saver in summer in HIGH HUMIDITY. Because it cures from moisture.

Again, patience and time and patience with wire wheel, sanding wheels, knocking of the rust will cure or somewhat prevent rust.

Once you feel comfortable with what you have removed. Prime it or don't and lay some POR15 or chassis saver or paint. I recommend paint over POR15 or chassis saver. Then get a gallon of fluid film. And you can put on a rubber glove, take a hand full of it and go to town into tight areas, tight cracks.

Any form of grease, will simply prevent rust. Ever seen a axle with old engine oil all over it ? Well yea, ZERO RUST. because water will sit on top of grease.

And fluid film is basically grease.

Eastwood makes good products. I recommend their internal frame coating. But YOU NEED TO PREP EVERYTHING PROPERLY !

Whatever you can't reach with wire wheel. Use a electric drill with a small wire wheel. Or knock of as much rust with a pry bar le screw driver.

My build thread has some rust proof experience and photos.

 

[kolelt]

By the way. Looks like you have a rear axle seal leak.

 

[Scramble]

It's weird the way rust works eh. (do I sound Canadian?)
Your frame & cross members look better than mine but your rear axle is way worse than mine. POR15 & Eastwood products work great. Just follow the directions exactly otherwise you'll be wasting tons of time.
Our frames rust from the inside out so be sure to rinse it out thoroughly. I found that a garden hose doesn't get the rust flakes off the insides of our frames so use a pressure washer. Make sure it's dry before using Eastwoods Internal Frame Coating.

You need to take care of your rear axle seals first before you destroy your rear diff.

(Edit 2800 posts!)

 

[Kanoe]

And please get a grease gun on those drive shafts! It looks like they have never been done since it got of the boat from Japan!

 

[kolelt]

It's weird the way rust works eh. (do I sound Canadian?)
Your frame & cross members look better than mine but your rear axle is way worse than mine. POR15 & Eastwood products work great. Just follow the directions exactly otherwise you'll be wasting tons of time.
Our frames rust from the inside out so be sure to rinse it out thoroughly. I found that a garden hose doesn't get the rust flakes off the insides of our frames so use a pressure washer. Make sure it's dry before using Eastwoods Internal Frame Coating.

You need to take care of your rear axle seals first before you destroy your rear diff.

(Edit 2800 posts!)

Air pressure does a good job

 

[vukos]

And please get a grease gun on those drive shafts! It looks like they have never been done since it got of the boat from Japan!

Thanks.I looked into the procedure and it looks like i'll need some sort of pump and other expertise I lack. Any idea what this might cost at a mechanic?

 

[kolelt]

Thanks.I looked into the procedure and it looks like i'll need some sort of pump and other expertise I lack. Any idea what this might cost at a mechanic?

No a grease gun with a flexible end. Push it over the zerk and pump grease till old one comes out and you see the new grease. But pump only few pumps for the slip yoke.

 

[Mark_BC]

To save me searching since I am super busy, what grease should we use on the zerks? I need to do mine.