Undercarriage Rust- Did I do enough?

[CascadeCruisen]

Hello All,

First want to say that this is a great site. I have been lurking for a month or so since I bought my 97. It only had 120k miles on it and it is super clean from the undercarriage up. There was some extensive surface rust throughout the bottom of the vehicle. This is what I did to remedy, if anyone has a better or more thorough solution, please let me know!

I spent a week with it on blocks with various wire brushes and drill bit brushes. Once I got all the flaking of I sprayed it off with Krud Kutter (water based rust remover and inhibitor). I then sprayed everything underneath with three coats of balck Rustoleum. Am I missing anything?

 

[RoverGS]

Pics, of course would be cool.

 

[jfz80]

touche..... schooled by on a newb on you first post; dont worry it gets better from here
Nice score on a low mileage 97 and Welcome to both of you


Sounds like a great angle of attack depending on how bad it was and @RoverGS is right pics would be nice cause we all like pictures here but on the serious side it can help us to help you out. Also consider adding some specs of you rig to your signature line although it doesnt apply for you question here. I would stay on an annual clean and respray (paint) or you could consider a fluid film application but at least neither one of us have to worry about rust like rover there in Michigan

Were you pleased with the KrudKutter results? and which rustoleum product did you use?
I was not a fan of their undercoating and preferred 3m's or a hardy more robust epoxy. For paint in a can stuff i have been pleased with John Deere flat black farm and implement paint.

 

[Output Shaft]

Think not of rattle can rustoleum as a one time application. Think of it more as a cosmetic enhancer and temporary protectant that will need to be scrapped off and reapplied every so often.

If there are any traces of rust under the paint at all, the rust will continue to grow and spread out along the surface underneath the paint. Invisible to you. Growing.

A better choice if you want to use rustoleum is the brush on alkyd metal paint. It lasts a lot longer, with much thicker coats.

 

[CascadeCruisen]

@jfz80 I will add my vehicle to my signature. Pretty stock at the moment though. The Krud Kutter was ok. It did dissolve a little more and in many places I could see clean metal once it had done its job vs the the rust tinted scrapped metal as before. It did seem to create a seal coat that was hard on top of the metal when it dried. I think it is ok, but I have no product to compare it to.

@RoverGS You are correct that pics would have been nice. I did not take any...when a noob one must behave as a noob I suppose. Pics of before and after on my projects from now on for sure.

@Output Shaft- What do you recommend instead of painting? I am open to all suggestions as this truck is mint except for this issue and I am dead set on stopping it in its tracks. What is the nuclear option for rust?

 

[jfz80]

other options to look at include rust bullet and POR-15

 

[CascadeCruisen]

Thanks I will look into those for sure! I guess I would need to take off all that I have done with the rustoleum or just paint right on top with those products?

 

[MoustacheMike]

I highly recommend "Mastercoat Rust Sealer" (aka "Master Series Silver") by PM Industries

One of my prior posts on the topic of Rust & Rust prevention:
Winter is coming!!! What to do?

 

[CascadeCruisen]

thanks! What did the body shop charge to spray it?

 

[Output Shaft]

This is what I use on the frame.

Vehicle Rust Proofing


Isocyanate based. coatings are deadly.
Stay as far away as you can from RustBullet. Deadly product. Evil company.

 

[beachcomberspi]

welcome!!

 

[MoustacheMike]

thanks! What did the body shop charge to spray it?

I don't recall the price off the top of my head as it was several years ago but I was somewhere around $1,000 (give or take a few hundred), if you to save money you can always apply it yourself (spray or brush/roll on). When it comes to rust preventive paint/coatings for automobiles, it's the best stuff available imho.

In theory I can leave my undercarriage alone and not fuss with it for the next 20yrs before I need to be concerned with any oxidation or repainting. If I give it some occasional TLC once in awhile I'll likely be able to extend the zero-rust life span of the undercarriage even longer.

This is what I use on the frame.
Vehicle Rust Proofing

Re-applying that every couple of years along with some inner frame panel/inner frame protectant like fluid film ought to give good results