Rustproofing 1st gen 4Runner

[INTMD8]

Just wondering if anyone has used anything to successfully allow a 1st gen to be driven through salty winters without quick destruction.

I keep coming across mention of this stuff-

https://www.krown.com

I have a pristine 1st gen and thought I might try to rust proof it and start using it as a daily driver but the more I think about it I'm leaning towards getting something less perfect to drive but still would want to keep it in one piece as long as possible.

My previous 1st gen pretty much seemed to rust from the inside out. Rockers, tailgate, fenders/quarters. Seems like it may live with a good coating of something to start with before getting exposed to a harsh winter.

Anyone driving theirs through the winters and keeping rust away?

Thanks

 

[Bad_Vision]

I live in Michigan. All the roads are heavily salted here I drove one 4Runner in the winter for two years and it rotted out and had to be sent to the scrap yard. The best thing you can do is buy a 500$ beater and keep you truck off the winter roads!
If that's not at all possible make sure you go through a car was at least once a week to wash away any salt!!! I have 2010 Tacoma and it has a little rust on the frame from the previous owner but has not increased the past 3 years because I am adamant to wash it one a week.

 

[INTMD8]

I live in Michigan. All the roads are heavily salted here I drove one 4Runner in the winter for two years and it rotted out and had to be sent to the scrap yard. The best thing you can do is buy a 500$ beater and keep you truck off the winter roads!
If that's not at all possible make sure you go through a car was at least once a week to wash away any salt!!! I have 2010 Tacoma and it has a little rust on the frame from the previous owner but has not increased the past 3 years because I am adamant to wash it one a week.

Well that doesn't sound promising! I also thought about doing all the fiberglass panels on one but you still have to worry about floors/rockers/frame.

I have other cars to drive, it's just that my only two 4WD vehicles are 80's Toyota's and I can't drive them in the winter

 

[Bad_Vision]

The best way I can think of would be to strip down the paint to bare metal and put a good paint job in it. The problem with rust on Toyotas was not the metal. It had to do with the bonding of the primer to the metal. So protecting the steel would mean coating the metal with a corrected primer like self etching that kinda eats into the metal molecular structure and bonds to it.

Fiberglass is great [MENTION=3959]slacker[/MENTION] has some really nice and easy to install panels but I'm waiting for him to produce a fiberglass chassis [emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6]hint hint

But anyway you could try a body off hexoceramic coating. Lift the body off the frame and paint the underside with the hydrocarbon reinforced hexoceramic coating. I use this stuff on my trail rigs and man it takes a beating!!! And doesn't let any moisture in at all!!! Rust is a electrolytic reaction it needs moisture and oxygen so if you prevent one you stop the reaction and moisture is the easiest one to mitigate.

http://www.monstaliner.com/monstaliner_why_choose.htm

They have colors and can match the factory color of your vehicle.
If you feel like doing some work you could make your truck rust proof. But you will have to San blast the frame and do that at the same time.

 

[89FourRunner]

I also live up north where the roads are salted every single time any winter weather is on the way. I daily drive my 89 4Runner - and I found the best way to keep the frame rust free is maintainance.

Every fall I buy 10 cans of cheap flat black spray paint and heavily coat te entire frame. I lay under the truck for about two hours and coat it all. Its flat black, so it appears factory and you really cant mess up - no gloss - you can paint any old way down there. People ask me all the time how my frame is rust free and I tell them, 10 dollars and two hours of my time each year.

Of course I wash it whenever I can as well.

The body is a bit harder - and constant washing is required.

 

[BigRyan1986]

Would it work to get a gallon of bed liner and roll it on the frame and under the body or POR15?

 

[T4R2014]

Spray paint to look pretty, and then blast the hell out of the frame inside and out with used motor oil or Fluid Film.

 

[89FourRunner]

Would it work to get a gallon of bed liner and roll it on the frame and under the body or POR15?

I have used POR15 in the inside of body panels, and I did a frame for an F350 with POR15, it is pretty good stuff. I have found about the same luck with basic paint though - as long as the frame is clean to begin with.

 

[BigRyan1986]

I have used POR15 in the inside of body panels, and I did a frame for an F350 with POR15, it is pretty good stuff. I have found about the same luck with basic paint though - as long as the frame is clean to begin with.

alright makes sense. Would the por15 last longer without having to do it every year? I dont get salted roads here just wanted to know to save both my 2nd gen and my brothers 1st gen from rust later on

 

[89FourRunner]

alright makes sense. Would the por15 last longer without having to do it every year? I dont get salted roads here just wanted to know to save both my 2nd gen and my brothers 1st gen from rust later on

It depends on what gets scraped off and what chips as time goes by. Por15 is the best you can do. Take your time and paint on (with brushes) two good heavy coats. Every now and then you just visually inspect the work and look for trouble spots. If you find any, fix them and apply por15 again.

Oiling everything would be the ultimate protection, as was stated by T4R2014 - thats why you never do see any frame rust where old oil has collected and coated on a car or truck, but if you arent seeing any salt and you dont want to deal with a mess like that POR15 is about the best you can do.

 

[BigRyan1986]

It depends on what gets scraped off and what chips as time goes by. Por15 is the best you can do. Take your time and paint on (with brushes) two good heavy coats. Every now and then you just visually inspect the work and look for trouble spots. If you find any, fix them and apply por15 again.

Oiling everything would be the ultimate protection, as was stated by T4R2014 - thats why you never do see any frame rust where old oil has collected and coated on a car or truck, but if you arent seeing any salt and you dont want to deal with a mess like that POR15 is about the best you can do.

About the worst we get is some salt over the mountain passes. The real rust causer around here would be mud i would guess

 

[nathan25]

Just give her baths!

 

[T4R2014]

People may look at me funny when I tell them to spray used oil under their vehicles, but the reality is that this is common practice in other parts of the world simply because it is proven and cheap. The the smelly tree huggers may cringe but I could give two shits when I see rusty deathtraps sharing the roads with me. Besides, you really think that a few oily trucks out of thousands will hurt the world? It stops dripping after a couple days. Not nearly as bad as people that don't fix their leaky engines and transmissions for years. Which do you think causes more oil spillage?

 

[4Ruinned]

I've thought about this issue a lot and came to the conclusion that the best way to keep rust off of a car is not driving it in the winter.

I daily drive an old 4runner in IL too and that thing is rusting out fast. The problem is, like the OP said, these trucks rust from the inside out and I don't know a practical way to rustproof the inside of the frame and body.