Rust preventative testing

[Ron Burgandy]

if your at the rust stage already, you can try chassis saver paint. applies directly over rust, i put 3 coats on my duramax last summer and 2 coats of acrylic enamel as a top coat. only been through one winter but so far so good.

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[Scramble]

Both of those products are epoxy fortified so I don’t think an epoxy primer would’ve made much difference. And whether to use a rust converter first or just use an encapsulater is kind of tough. They both do the same job when it comes down to it. If the product turns the rust black and into a sealed ready to paint primer over it surface then it’s done it’s job. Rust just sucks, I end up having to redo my trailer every 2 years and I just use chassis saver and then a satin black chip guard clear coat for uv protection. One thing I’ve noticed is that when I paint bare metal with a self etching primer, then sandable, then herculiner, and then satin black chip guard it will not rust. I did my Jeeps bumpers just like that almost 10 years ago and there is no rust on those.

Thats what I did to my SW bumper. All Duplicolor - self etching primer, sandable primer & enamel top coat. It'd holding up well (3 winters) except for the area's with rock chips.

Whats the best top coat that will stand up to rock chips? Or clear coat it?

 

[MN4runnerman]

Thats what I did to my SW bumper. All Duplicolor - self etching primer, sandable primer & enamel top coat. It'd holding up well (3 winters) except for the area's with rock chips.

Whats the best top coat that will stand up to rock chips? Or clear coat it?

SEM makes an aerosol chip guard that I really like. I’ve used the satin black and clear with good results. It’s a thicker enamel top coat that’s more chip resistant. If you look at the bottom of your doors you should notice a more textured look. That’s a chip guard clear. Transtar is another good company to get stuff like this from.

Edit: it’s actually an acrylic not enamel. There’s to much to remember with this stuff.

 

[Scramble]

SEM makes an aerosol chip guard that I really like. I’ve used the satin black and clear with good results. It’s a thicker enamel top coat that’s more chip resistant. If you look at the bottom of your doors you should notice a more textured look. That’s a chip guard clear. Transtar is another good company to get stuff like this from.

Edit: it’s actually an acrylic not enamel. There’s to much to remember with this stuff.

I noticed the texture on my rocker panels. Since I removed my running boards I've been getting rock chips from the tires. I need to sand & paint them too, it's only surface rust for now. I was thinking about some type of bedliner on the rockers but I dont want that look on the front bumper.

 

[kolelt]

I noticed the texture on my rocker panels. Since I removed my running boards I've been getting rock chips from the tires. I need to sand & paint them too, it's only surface rust for now. I was thinking about some type of bedliner on the rockers but I dont want that look on the front bumper.

A lot of cars from factory have bedliner on rocker panel.

 

[MN4runnerman]

I noticed the texture on my rocker panels. Since I removed my running boards I've been getting rock chips from the tires. I need to sand & paint them too, it's only surface rust for now. I was thinking about some type of bedliner on the rockers but I dont want that look on the front bumper.

My rockers rusted out on my 99 so for now they are cut out for the most part. I coated them with bedliner to hold off the rust until I weld in some 2”x3” rectangular tubing in to replace them. You could touch up the paint and then mask off the rest of the car and spray chip guard on the rockers. That’d be an easy afternoon project. Bedliner would work too and I like the look of the silver that you and I have with black bedliner. I painted my sliders with bedliner also.

 

[cleveland222]

Awesome study, thread and info. Thanks so much for putting this together!

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

Been quite a while since we've seen any updates. How are these plates holding up?

 

[kolelt]

Said it again and I will say it again. Reason why the rockers rust out is. Front sun roof drains run into your rocker panels. That’s where the rain water goes. Then it drains trough pinch welds. If they are clogged from mud or whatever. Water sits inside the rocker panels.

 

[dogtail]

Said it again and I will say it again. Reason why the rockers rust out is. Front sun roof drains run into your rocker panels. That’s where the rain water goes. Then it drains trough pinch welds. If they are clogged from mud or whatever. Water sits inside the rocker panels.

That may be true on some, but I just met with someone this Summer that bought a low mileage mint frame/body base model 3rd gen with no sunroof and their rocker was rotting out towards the rear wheel. Rockers on a lot of cars/trucks are of poor design. My friend has a 2008 GMC pickup, no sunroof, doesn't drive it much as a 2nd vehicle with only 80K, garages it always. His rockers rotted out. I see other rigs on the road with same thing.
Rockers hold moisture, drain holes let moisture in, and it doesn't exactly come out, it can hold a lot of condensation and its tuff to dry out thru tiny holes....and you know they don't exactly get the best paint treatment on the inside. So, best thing to do is keep the drain holes clear and open, and do a twice yearly blast spray of RP all up thru the drain holes. The old timers up here in the north been doing an array of petroleum coatings of the undercarriage for decades and keeping their rigs solid. There are many different ways to keep rust off your rig, if you are diligent about it, you'll keep it from getting crunchy.

 

[T4R2014]

I’ve come to the conclusion that living in the rust belt is just a shit idea.

 

[dogtail]

I’ve come to the conclusion that living in the rust belt is just a shit idea.

I've been working on the wife to move out of salt country, but she really has a fetish for our season changes. I prefer a warmer climate. Other parts of the country have fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. We have salt.....which would be better suited for a margarita glass than our roads. They really need an alternative road treatment, salt wrecks a lot of stuff, our steel bridges take a beating, concrete gets eaten up bad by salt, its not good for our ecosystem.

 

[Mark_BC]

I just don't drive mine in the salt. Luckily we get frequent rain to wash it away. Sometimes I would need it though in a snowstorm because the DD will spin out.

 

[ToyotaBrah]

I just don't drive mine in the salt. Luckily we get frequent rain to wash it away. Sometimes I would need it though in a snowstorm because the DD will spin out.

Hmm..I thought Vancouver was one of the few cities in Canada that didn't use salt? A lot of cars I've noticed there are as rust-free as Seattle cars. Probably the frequent rain helps with washing the salt away as you mentioned.

 

[kolelt]

That may be true on some, but I just met with someone this Summer that bought a low mileage mint frame/body base model 3rd gen with no sunroof and their rocker was rotting out towards the rear wheel. Rockers on a lot of cars/trucks are of poor design. My friend has a 2008 GMC pickup, no sunroof, doesn't drive it much as a 2nd vehicle with only 80K, garages it always. His rockers rotted out. I see other rigs on the road with same thing.
Rockers hold moisture, drain holes let moisture in, and it doesn't exactly come out, it can hold a lot of condensation and its tuff to dry out thru tiny holes....and you know they don't exactly get the best paint treatment on the inside. So, best thing to do is keep the drain holes clear and open, and do a twice yearly blast spray of RP all up thru the drain holes. The old timers up here in the north been doing an array of petroleum coatings of the undercarriage for decades and keeping their rigs solid. There are many different ways to keep rust off your rig, if you are diligent about it, you'll keep it from getting crunchy.

I’m fixing my rear dog leg rust. There is no glue between inner and outter metals. Only spot welds every 3 inches or so. Very easy for water to get in between the metals and drip down inside the rear rocker. As it’s not fully sealed between to metals. Especially if you have the fenders and remove them. You end up removing factory pain where it’s held by little bolts. But I agree with you.

 

[T4R2014]

I’m fixing my rear dog leg rust. There is no glue between inner and outter metals. Only spot welds every 3 inches or so. Very easy for water to get in between the metals and drip down inside the rear rocker. As it’s not fully sealed between to metals. Especially if you have the fenders and remove them. You end up removing factory pain where it’s held by little bolts. But I agree with you.

Are you sure they didn't use any seam sealer? I thought they apply it from the inside. It can decay over time regardless. Either way the source of your problem is NJ.

 

[T4R2014]

I've been working on the wife to move out of salt country, but she really has a fetish for our season changes. I prefer a warmer climate. Other parts of the country have fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. We have salt.....which would be better suited for a margarita glass than our roads. They really need an alternative road treatment, salt wrecks a lot of stuff, our steel bridges take a beating, concrete gets eaten up bad by salt, its not good for our ecosystem.

God, I hate seasons. Just give me summer all year. Best of luck with convincing her. I'm wondering if Commiefornia is worth the trade-off for no road salt.

 

[Mark_BC]

Are you sure they didn't use any seam sealer? I thought they apply it from the inside. It can decay over time regardless. Either way the source of your problem is NJ.

I redid one of mine recently, if we are talking about the same thing. It had separated down near the bottom of the wheel well and was rusting. I ground it all out and sealed it up again. It is sealed from the factory but a nick from a rock (easy to happen in a wheel well) can start the rust and it will rust out the pinch weld into the rocker. The other one was fine.

 

[Mark_BC]

Hmm..I thought Vancouver was one of the few cities in Canada that didn't use salt? A lot of cars I've noticed there are as rust-free as Seattle cars. Probably the frequent rain helps with washing the salt away as you mentioned.

Tons of it. Any hint of clear skies overnight and frost and they salt em up. The last 2 winters were bad so they used a lot. It washes away frequently with the rain.

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

God, I hate seasons. Just give me summer all year. Best of luck with convincing her. I'm wondering if Commiefornia is worth the trade-off for no road salt.

Nothing is worth moving to commiefornia for. Plenty of other beautiful states that are warm all year that actually respect our rights as Americans.