Looking for opinions on rust

[TRDOffroad03]

It all depends if it has structural rust or not...

The OP is looking at a truck with 102K miles.... That's a long way from a truck with 160K or 200K miles. At 15k miles per year (avg) he's got 4 - 6 years of driving before its at an equivalent amount of overall wear and tear....

If the OP buys a "rust free" truck with those sort of miles on it, he will be pushing 300K on the odometer after that same time period, and guess what? That truck that used to be rust free will end up rusty anyway. The end-result is the same, why pay a premium for a rust-free example?


That's not to say the OP should be cavalier about rust.... If the truck is basically solid, it still makes sense to deal with any bad rusty spots IMMEDIATELY to slow the creep of future rust.... Rust inhibitors, or rust encapsulators are better than doing nothing. Getting into a habit of doing yearly oil undercoating treatments will help a lot too. Most New England mechanics would prefer to work on an oily undercarriage, than one that's completely rusty so that every bolt must be torched-out to do repairs.

To be clear, this advice is for buying a "year round" driver in New England (or any other salty region). If you want a truck to enjoy only in nice weather, then absolutely seek out the cleanest and most rust-free one you can afford!


-G

 

[stonepa]

If you live in the north east your chassis and suspension will be rusty after the first winter. My LX has not even had one full winter here in NE Ohio and every iron part underneath has started to rust. Any one you buy will do this in short order. Just how it goes.

 

[n55luvr]

Agreed, they did a shady rattle can cover up. You can see overspray everywhere. Just look at the exhaust pipe right after the cats. You can see a huge black spray paint circle. I'd pass just based on intended deception alone.

 

[Lowbudgetlc100]

You should be able to do way better for $14k. You could ship one from the west coast with 0 rust for that much.

you can have mine for 14k i will ship it to you jk. walk away.

 

[Cruiser20001]

Thanks for all of the advice, guys. I was drawn to this truck for the low mileage but given it's not a clear winner I'm gonna pass. Happy to give anyone else who might be interested the info on the truck.

 

[LEX]

Seriously consider looking somewhere where it doesn't snow. Bring it home and treat everything with Fluid Film or something similar. I personally like how Amsoil MPHD works. You spray and it drys to a candle wax type touch. Keeps everything clean, rust free and it doesn't attract dust like Fluid Film would. Both excellent products either way.

Treating mine with Amsoil. It doesn't snow here, but I go to the beach a lot.

Oh and if you happen to find something near me, I'd gladly check it out for you. Good luck!

 

[SWUtah]

Agreed, they did a shady rattle can cover up. You can see overspray everywhere. Just look at the exhaust pipe right after the cats. You can see a huge black spray paint circle. I'd pass just based on intended deception alone.

The one in the pictures you posted is a rust bucket. You can tell buy the unpainted rust and the texture of the paint over the heavy rusted areas.

Actually I had two LX470's in KC for years. If you clean up your under carriage every spring and fall including spraying everything with rattle can Rustolieum you can keep rust to a bare minimum. For rust to form and grow it needs oxygen, that is why painted surfaces don't rust like bare metal. My KC area LX's looked new on the bottom. Takes about 1 hour spring and fall. Most owners don't care that's why they can look so bad. I would want to get under this rig and see if the paint was covering up bad rust (Looks like it does from these pic's) on future trucks you look at, is it a owner that maintained their rig preventing rust build up? If the later one then if they worked hard to keep the rust off the bottom I bet they also maintained the rest of the truck to a higher then normal standard, I know I did.

 

[GregLCA]

Actually I had two LX470's in KC for years. If you clean up your under carriage every spring and fall including spraying everything with rattle can Rustolieum you can keep rust to a bare minimum. For rust to form and grow it needs oxygen, that is why painted surfaces don't rust like bare metal. My KC area LX's looked new on the bottom. Takes about 1 hour spring and fall. Most owners don't care that's why they can look so bad. I would want to get under this rig and see if the paint was covering up bad rust or is it a owner that maintained their rig preventing rust build up? If the later one then if they worked hard to keep the rust off the bottom I bet they also maintained the rest of the truck to a higher then normal standard, I know I did.

Agree 100%

Having lived on the west coast (NorCal) for many years, I understand why most guys take such a strong position against rusty vehicles. It's easy to talk tough, and take a hard-line when your vehicles never touch snow or salt. It was always amazing to me how many OLD vehicles were still on the road, and looked absolutely pristine underneath..... it's really a car enthusiasts dream come true out there.

The guys in the rust belt, don't have that luxury and are forced to be more pragmatic about rust.... and their relationship with it. We do our best to keep the rust at bay... and you're right... if you keep up with it and do some preventative steps and repairs a vehicle can still last a LONG time.

-G

 

[SWUtah]

My LX470 has spent its life in Las Vegas and now Austin Texas. But I still spray the under carriage with Rustolieum hammer coat paint. But I think you can see the difference in my pic's and the ones posted of the rust belt truck. Hope this helps you know what to look for in pictures.

 

[n55luvr]

The one in the pictures you posted is a rust bucket. You can tell buy the unpainted rust and the texture of the paint over the heavy rusted areas.

Actually I had two LX470's in KC for years. If you clean up your under carriage every spring and fall including spraying everything with rattle can Rustolieum you can keep rust to a bare minimum. For rust to form and grow it needs oxygen, that is why painted surfaces don't rust like bare metal. My KC area LX's looked new on the bottom. Takes about 1 hour spring and fall. Most owners don't care that's why they can look so bad. I would want to get under this rig and see if the paint was covering up bad rust (Looks like it does from these pic's) on future trucks you look at, is it a owner that maintained their rig preventing rust build up? If the later one then if they worked hard to keep the rust off the bottom I bet they also maintained the rest of the truck to a higher then normal standard, I know I did.

Makes sense if you do that while the vehicle is in decent shape to begin with and you rinse and repeat yearly. But it's definitely not something that is going to help once rust already started. Huge difference between general preventive maintenance and deception.

 

[SWUtah]

Makes sense if you do that while the vehicle is in decent shape to begin with and you rinse and repeat yearly. But it's definitely not something that is going to help once rust already started. Huge difference between general preventive maintenance and deception.

Totally agree. Figured my pic's compared with the others would make that easier for others to see when looking at pictures a potential seller might send them.

 

[n55luvr]

Totally agree. Figured my pic's compared with the others would make that easier for others to see when looking at pictures a potential seller might send them.

For what it's worth, the bottom of your rig is beautiful. So jealous! I'm in ohio and the amount of rust hear is insane.

Reminds me of a story my buddy told me when he was living in AZ. He said 'Man, we don't have salvage yards here, we have pick apart yards. There is no rust so every single part is pickable on older vehicles'. Compare that to up here in the rust belt, I can't even tell you how many times I tried to pull off a bolt or some hardware and it just disintegrated. Yuck!

 

[SWUtah]

I bought a 99 LC out of Tuscon AZ back in 2007. It to had no rust but the trim was screwed up from the sun