Need advice on frame 1999 LX470 (1 Viewer)

[ffl3883]

Hello,

I just bought a 1999 LX470. 80% of the frame is still covered by undercoat. I found out there are some bad rusty spots at several locations on the frame. In particular , the body mount at left rear (Picture #8) and bottom of the frame (Picture #6) in the middle of right side. I was wondering what everyone thoughts on the frame condition. Does it worth the effort and money to repair the rusty spots to be able to drive another 1-2 years ? I am not looking to tow any thing. Just wondering if its safe to drive long distance. If the frame is still good, shall I strip the undercoat of the entire frame , remove rust, then recoat ?

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• ffl3883
• May 23, 2017

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Regards

Fliu

 

[flintknapper]

Hello,

I just bought a 1999 LX470. 80% of the frame is still covered by undercoat. I found out there are some bad rusty spots at several locations on the frame. In particular , the body mount at left rear (Picture #8) and bottom of the frame (Picture #6) in the middle of right side. I was wondering what everyone thoughts on the frame condition. Does it worth the effort and money to repair the rusty spots to be able to drive another 1-2 years ? I am not looking to tow any thing. Just wondering if its safe to drive long distance. If the frame is still good, shall I strip the undercoat of the entire frame , remove rust, then recoat ?


Fliu

Sorry to say, but your best bet might be to strip off all the undercoating you can to see just what is under it.

Undercoating can help prevent rust IF it is applied first to a clean rust-free surface.

Spraying undercoat OVER a rusty surface (when someone wants to hide rust or in error thinks it stops rust) is like putting SunBlock on a SunBurn.

I'd have the frame repaired for sure.

 

[ffl3883]

Sorry to say, but your best bet might be to strip off all the undercoating you can to see just what is under it.

Undercoating can help prevent rust IF it is applied first to a clean rust-free surface.

Spraying undercoat OVER a rusty surface (when someone wants to hide rust or in error thinks it stops rust) is like putting SunBlock on a SunBurn.

I'd have the frame repaired for sure.

Thanks for your reply. I believe the undercoating was done by original owner when they first bought the truck. When I knock on the frame , they feel pretty solid. Maybe the hard coating is giving me false positive. Whats the best way of removing hard undercoating ?

 

[JMan5000]

How did this turn out for you? I just bought an 02 LC and the frame was never coated by the previous owner(s)...so it's 'au naturale' and the surface rust is out in the open and ready to be fixed...no holes and it's solid (so I think). I would knock the coating off to see what's underneath...pics 6 and 7 look nasty with the holes in the frame so who knows what else is going on. So many people on here just freak out at the first sight of rust. I feel like I need to throw my $10,000 LC in the garbage b/c it has some rust on the frame after reading people's posts about it on MUD...for crying out loud! Anything from the Salt-Belt ... just toss it in the trash - that's the overall consensus on this site.

Here's a video of a really entertaining guy...crazy for what he did to restore his truck frame for sure (dude put 100's of hours into a truck that would maybe be worth $5-8K after he's done), but it's a very good learning video on how to get the flaky rust and the powder-coating off. He's got several videos of the full frame restoration and I'm sure you'll see those after watching this one. The air chisel tool he uses is from Harbor Freight for like $25 and he added a heavy-duty rubber band to it so it works like a jack-hammer, and it just pulverizes the rust and undercoating from the frame metal. This is where I'm starting this summer, and I'll see how good or bad my frame really is.

There is another tool from Harbor Freight - the air needle - that's $30 and works well in tighter areas. Compact Air Needle Scaler

Another thing I've learned for Salt-Belt vehicles is to coat the frame, suspension, undercarriage, inside the body panels, inside the frame tubes, etc. with Fluid Film, or a mixture of boiled linseed oil mixed with toilet bowl wax after your rust removal and repair. Keep it away from all rubber parts though and clean those areas up thoroughly after application. The new coating (preferably a rust converter) can be covered and less likely to chip and expose raw metal to water and salt. Sounds messy, and it is, but it will provide a protective barrier to help prevent, or resist future rust from forming or getting worse when exposed to salty roads, salty mud, etc. Rust needs oxygen to spread...cut the oxygen and it will stop or significantly slow down. Just do some research on how the old Ziebart vehicles from back in the day are holding up...there's a science to rust prevention and repair...but I'm guessing it's not wide-spread knowledge b/c the Man needs you to buy a new vehicle after your old one falls apart. I'll take before and after pics and create a new post on here once I get started. I hope yours turned out okay...

 

[joseywales]

Those needle scalers work very well. I’d use that mostly and just the chisel for the serious stuff.