Under carriage rust

[RunninWarrior]

So my 08 has some serious undercarriage rust due to road salt, snow ect.whats the best fix and where can I find it? I would like sandblasting but it’s damn near impossible to find that in southern Oklahoma

 

[Supersonic]

Been studying the issue a bit too, my conclusion is to spend a little more on doing the inside of the frame with something like the Eastwood Product line, Rust Paint - Rust Proofing Products - Rust Protection - Corrosion Control - Eastwood then doing a less expensive treatment on the outer/visible areas. That's at least what I think my budget is going to get me. Luckily I already had winter beater ready so I parked the 4Runner for the winter.

Meanwhile, the immediate rust proofing for the winter beater, 2005 Matrix, was to spray the lower control arms and surrounding area with Liquid Wrench lubricant, the blue can, says it's good for displacing water and rust prevention, so I gave it a try thinking I am not going to do a lot of extensive work on this car but I do want it to last another 3 to 6 winters. WD40 also has some off the shelf stuff that should be readily available if one goes this route.

Now the big question, Oklahoma, a 2008, and your rust is that bad? I gotta believe it's from another state or something, thinking Oklahoma is not really part of the rust belt is it?

 

[Schamattack]

What do you consider bad rust? All vehicles will get undercarriage rust eventually if you drive year round and your driving a 10 year old truck. Most Undercarriage rust is surface rust and yes can eventually get worse over time but will take a long time to eat away the metal, It would take a lot of load to break the actual frame, even rusted out. If you are concerned about it consider doing some research on POR 15, Zebart, etc. My 07 has some rust down under and I just try to keep washing it as it snows and the roads are salted. My worst area was the rear end and I just used a wire brush all around it, cleaned the area then coated in some Stop Rust by Rustoleum, re-apply in spring and again before winter. Takes like 30 minutes.

 

[RunninWarrior]

Been studying the issue a bit too, my conclusion is to spend a little more on doing the inside of the frame with something like the Eastwood Product line, Rust Paint - Rust Proofing Products - Rust Protection - Corrosion Control - Eastwood then doing a less expensive treatment on the outer/visible areas. That's at least what I think my budget is going to get me. Luckily I already had winter beater ready so I parked the 4Runner for the winter.

Meanwhile, the immediate rust proofing for the winter beater, 2005 Matrix, was to spray the lower control arms and surrounding area with Liquid Wrench lubricant, the blue can, says it's good for displacing water and rust prevention, so I gave it a try thinking I am not going to do a lot of extensive work on this car but I do want it to last another 3 to 6 winters. WD40 also has some off the shelf stuff that should be readily available if one goes this route.


Now the big question, Oklahoma, a 2008, and your rust is that bad? I gotta believe it's from another state or something, thinking Oklahoma is not really part of the rust belt is it?

Yea lol, so the vehicle is from Maine, I’m in the service. Another service member brought it down here and I purchased it. I’m origonally from up north so I know that I need to stop it now before it continues.

 

[RunninWarrior]

What do you consider bad rust? All vehicles will get undercarriage rust eventually if you drive year round and your driving a 10 year old truck. Most Undercarriage rust is surface rust and yes can eventually get worse over time but will take a long time to eat away the metal, It would take a lot of load to break the actual frame, even rusted out. If you are concerned about it consider doing some research on POR 15, Zebart, etc. My 07 has some rust down under and I just try to keep washing it as it snows and the roads are salted. My worst area was the rear end and I just used a wire brush all around it, cleaned the area then coated in some Stop Rust by Rustoleum, re-apply in spring and again before winter. Takes like 30 minutes.

Just surface rust from what I can tell, but I’d like to treat it as soon as possible. Gotta keep her looking good ya know

 

[sauer]

What do you consider bad rust? All vehicles will get undercarriage rust eventually if you drive year round and your driving a 10 year old truck. Most Undercarriage rust is surface rust and yes can eventually get worse over time but will take a long time to eat away the metal, It would take a lot of load to break the actual frame, even rusted out. If you are concerned about it consider doing some research on POR 15, Zebart, etc. My 07 has some rust down under and I just try to keep washing it as it snows and the roads are salted. My worst area was the rear end and I just used a wire brush all around it, cleaned the area then coated in some Stop Rust by Rustoleum, re-apply in spring and again before winter. Takes like 30 minutes.

I think is going to be a project for me one of these weekends. Perks of buying a 20 year old vehicle!

 

[morrissimo]

I've been wondering the same thing lately - how much is too much rust? I have a '99 that I drive infrequently, but always when it snows (in Virginia). The undercarriage is pretty rusty. I need to get it cleaned up and try to put some protectant on it.

 

[Arik07]

This is the worst I could find on mine. Is this bad? I've had other older cars, some older than this 4Runner, and a few with triple the mileage but none looked like this despite being daily vehicles.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[J.F. Sebastian]

Is there such a thing as Naval Jelly still available? If you can spray that stuff on somehow, that'd definitely be an option to treat surface rust.

 

[Ultraphage]

I’m no mechanic but that looks like surface rust. I just used a wire brush attachment on the drill and scoured off a bunch of rust I could reach and painted on rust converter. Not sure how long it will last.

 

[Arik07]

I was thinking of trying the POR15 on the rear. It's big and easy to get to. Was wondering if it would make sense to first use rust converter then POR15 and afterwards spray with Fluid Film. Or does th POR15 need to stick to rust only? The rear does seem to be just surface rust but the front.... around the radiator support does have scaling and flaking.



Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[bsa70]

Ditto, very heavy, pitted, flaking, surface rust. The problem you have, is that if it was immersed in salt, it is still there in the metal eating it away. What can you do, not much. The problem is you can treat the rust you can get too, but what about the rust hidden away or impossible to get too. Only thing you can do is attack what you can get to with a chisel and wire brush. Spraying with a preventive may help and may make it worse if you are sealing the salt and moisture in.

I moved away from jeeps to the otas. What you have is not a problem compared to them. I have seen rig frames so rotted you could break the supports into with a hammer.

POR15 is some wonderful amazing stuff as long as the surface is prepped correctly. If you don't follow the instructions completely, it will flake off in a couple of years. Done correctly, it is bullet proof. There is no such thing as putting por 15 on anything but the bare rusted metal. POR=paint over rust. Again, read the instructions very carefully. You can get small kits on ebay that have everything you need for about $25. I would start with that so you can get an idea of what you are getting in to.

All that other preventive stuff is snake oil...

 

[sam-sack]

I rinse the undercarriage with Salt-Away frequently during salt/winter season - it keeps it at bay, and will slow down any already occurring rust.