Anyone spray paint axle/suspension parts while it installed? (1 Viewer)

[rc51kid]

I know this is not ideal but here is the situation. I bought the truck with 182K on it about 9 years ago, southeast truck not a speck of rust on it. I now had 340K on it a nd stil no real rust. But the nice solid black color of every component under the truck has worn thiner and some areas on the axel housings, control arms and so on are getting a speckled" color where you can see little bits of orange peaking through where road particles have worn the finish down. I dont have any loose rust at all but i dont want any. I know the right way would be to remove the housings and links and paint everything nice. No way can i do that in the near future.

I was thinking i could hose everything down under the truck as best i can. Get under there with some rags and brushes and try to get it all pretty clean. Then using some plastic and cardboard see if i can get a few coats of black pain on things. Obviously some things like bushings and bolts would get painted. Probably some lines and stuff. I would probable wait until i have the front springs out to focus on areas like lower spring perches and stuff. I would be careful with the over spray and not just "spray bomb" the underside of the truck. Mostly just axle housings, panards and control arms if i can. Then maybe get a good layer of fluid film on.

Has anyone done anything like this? does it work out OK or does it make it a mess to have paint on suspension bolts and stuff? I would rather not have paint on my bolt threads but rust is even worse. For years I have always just put a quick coat or two of black pain on my sliders every few months with a sheat of cardboard blocking overspray. That has always worked well for me.

Bad idea that creates more problems or good idea if done with some care?

 

[South Texas 97]

Good idea if done carefully. See my
Post in thread 'South Texas 97 - New to me'
South Texas 97 - New to me - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/south-texas-97-new-to-me.1239447/post-14161732
, I just did both axels, but out of the car. That was quite a bit of work, but definitely worth the additional protection. Degrease, derust and sanding back would be the way to go.

 

[Comet]

Fluid film or woolwax? Seems like the easy button to me for surface speckling.

 

[voodu3]

I cleaned up and painted mine on the truck. It turned out well. Just tape off whatever you don’t want to paint.

 

[gummycarbs]

Thoroughly degrease and clean. TSP and a scrub brush work really well for this. Remove any loose rust with a wire brush. Maybe take a maroon Scotch-Brite to everything, both to take off rust and to scuff the paint. Wrap anything you don't want painted with blue painter's tape.

I've touched up my axles with Rust-Oleum this way. Cadmium/zinc plated bolt heads look nice, but I'm perfectly happy knowing that mine look nice under a coat of black paint.

Oh, and normal rattle-can paint is nowhere near as chemical resistant as anything used from the factory on any of your parts. So if you get overspray on, say, some Dobinsons coil springs, or OME shock bodies, you should be able to remove it easily with mineral spirits and a rag.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Shake it, spray it, and wheel it!!!!

 

[Sandy Cruiser]

I've rattle caned stuff with Rustolum Pro after some rock rash. Nothing crazy. Prep is the most time consuming thing.

 

[Railwelder93]

Every time I go under my truck for any reason I take a can of flat black rustoleum and absolutely fog it down. Works out fine.

 

[on the rocks]

Worked well here,but in the high desert environment and a fairly rust free 80. Not sure I would do it if in the south or east rust belts. Used SEM Ultra trim black and a lot of it. I'll likely touch it up every year or two.
I would suggest removing all clamps, shields, bumpers and so on as you go just to get it cleaned up right. I than put them back on and gave it another coat to touch them up also. I spent alot of time scrubbing with wire brushes and scotchbrite pads with a good de-greaser. I think most my time was removing some sort of dealer added undercoating tho. Pictures in my build to see results. The color matched to OEM well.

 

[cartercd]

Go for it. I have a rust free Arizona truck and have repainted the entire underside a few times to keep it looking new. I have my underside professionally steam cleaned, mask everything off, then hit with Rust-Oleum. I've done both the rattle can and the paint gun approach.