Preparation for undercarriage sand blasting?

[RND1]

I have an '03 LC that has typical undercarriage rust consistent with living in New England. I've been using fluid film since I bought it a few years ago, but it's very thin and I have noticed that it doesn't hold up if you use the high pressure undercarriage wash at the car wash (which I do in the Winter).

So, I'd like to find a more permanent or at least longer lasting solution. A fellow mudder referred me to a local guy that will sandblast the undercarriage, then epoxy prime and paint. He's done a couple of 80's and the guy who referred me said it came out great even though he had some damage to a brake line and gas tank seam. Even with these issues, he said he'd do it again.

First question - should I go this route? Why or why not? Second question, if I do go this route, what should I do in preparation to protect vulnerable areas such as brake lines, gas tank, exhaust, etc? Will duct tape work or will the sand just blast right through it?

I don't have the time, tools, or desire to spend a weekend under my rig with a grinder removing rust and using something like POR-15. If I don't do the sandblast, I would most likely try Amsoil HDMP to see if it holds up better than fluid film. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[dirtyboots]

Not worth it IMO. It's going to be near impossible to get the rust removed blasting the undercarriage without removing the tub from the frame. It will definitely look better initially, but ultimately the issue will still be there. Just thinking about around the body mounts, and places the rust will eat that the blaster may not reach. Also, unless the rust is totally removed, it keeps coming back. Seems like shooting in to an assembled undercarriage wouldn't totally kill the rust. POR and stuff is okay, but never actually solves the problem. Rust is literally like cancer, you have to get underneath it and remove completely, or it grows back. For that matter the steel itself is just returning to it's natural state so unless the clean metal is sealed it will also rust. Again.

The idea of blasting and epoxy is dead on though. Remove the rust, epoxy prime, then top coat of choice.

Will it look better and slow everything down, for sure but it seems like a lot of effort. If it's not going to put a hole in the floor I would just run it until you trade it in. If you want to hold on to a 100 series and keep it built start over with one from out west. Then follow some of the threads on how to protect the chassis. From what I have read it is super time consuming to prevent rust back east.

Duct tape would help protect parts from the media, although it would be a freakin mess trying to remove partially blasted sticky duct tape from a part. Maybe get some old air hose, or even garden hose and cut a slit in it, zip tie, and go to town. Hope that helps.

 

[PAToyota]

I have to agree with the above. Unless you’re taking everything apart, cleaning it all up, painting it, and reassembling it you’re going to have a lot that gets missed and end up with a false sense of security. It will look nice, but what you’re not seeing will be where the rust continues.

 

[thecrazygreek]

Dustless blasting . .. look it up... that would do the trick without the mess....