How to best "protect" a 10 year 100 in the rust belt

[Kigiin]

I am the original owner of a 2000 LX that has quite a bit of underbody rust.

Just in the last year since deciding I am going to die in this truck, did I decide to take reactive/proactive steps to deal with the rust. Today, I have used Fluid Film, Loctite's Rust product, and a few others, but am uncertain if this is really making a difference.

I am looking for advice on how best to deal with the existing rust at this point... now that it's pretty widespread?


Thanks

 

[dmaddox]

Strip and clean the area and POR 15 it. There are some other products out there. I have tried a lesonal (pretty sure) product called "frame saver" it's a por-15 sister product and rust bullet as well.

CLEANING and prepping the area (making sure it's rust-free and dry) is key. It will last.

If you want to poor-boy it, just dip your paw into a tub of axle grease and goop it all over under there (bad idea, but get's a fella by).

I suggest power washing it, allowing it to dry, going at it with a 7 in 1 tool or a scraper to ensure the area is clean, use muratic acid, etc.. and then pick up a quart (45 bucks) of por 15 and get a little 1" brush and just go at it.

good luck

 

[JohnnyC]

after you fix the rust you already have....the best i have seen is oil undercoating...places in VT do it...very messy sticky stinky but cheap...they do it once a year.

a friends father had an 87 4runner for 15 years in vermont as their DD from new...never a spot of rust...nothing.

most states its illegal to do...environmental people dont like it

but hands down its the best thing to keep the rust away.


In NYS you cant get it done...however before winter i used to apply from Napa "Open Gear Lube" worked really well.

 

[Kigiin]

I was afraid the advice was going to be to totally strip it - makes sense but is time consuming and I need a lift to really get at it. I am thinking about asking my mechanic for a day on his lift to do this work.

 

[Eric Winkworth]

start oiling it yearly, if you had of done it sooner there wouldn't be rust just fresh paint under oil. It's honestly never too late!

Use stuff that creeps and clean the under body well after every winter and either apply in spring or fall.

Salt only corrodes metal in above freezing temperatures so in the winter leave the truck outside NOT in a heated garage (most people make this mistake) use a block heater if necessary. I like to clean mine well after winter with a strong power washer let dry and then oil trouble spots myself with a product like Krown T40 or Rust check coat and protect both products come in aerosols and jugs. Krown can be a pain to find if you don't have a krown garage near you... I think rust check is just as good of a product. Then I let a garage do a full spray in the fall before winter.

I wouldn't have a truck if it weren't for those two products my truck had 7 rust check stickers on it when I bought it in 2005 and it's an 1986 model year, there are some spots that are bad but still mainly good metal. It's something to keep up on.... I also look after two 20 year old honda accords both have original brake and fuel lines and basically rust free bodies which I with out a doubt contribute to oil spraying.

I personally don't like painting over rust, but after using POR-15 heat resistant paint first hand on rusty exhaust pipe I can tell you that stuff loves adhering to rust!!!

 

[Kigiin]

So Krown T40 or Rust Check are oil products? So to oil properly, it needs to be on a lift?

 

[snapaxle]

The oils have there drawbacks as well from what I read and have heard from my buddies over in Canada. If the oil is applied to certain types of plastic, or any type of rubber, it will warp and deform them. The Canadians can do it legally so it is a popular thing to do over there. Gotta love that MI, and OH are both on top of ginormous salt deposits.