Rust on truck frame

[donut757]

Recently went to put air in a tire and noticed frame of truck was not looking too good. I knew frame and undercarriage/axle/leaf springs were showing sign of rust, but really never paid any mind to it. Honestly, i was kind of taken back when i got underneath.

Its a 2005 Silverado with exactly 60,000 miles on it. I have planned to keep this truck til it falls apart, but hope its a really long time. I use the truck for hunting, pulling trailers periodically, and hauling stuff as needs. Its not a daily driver and might only put 5-6k a year on it. With that said, i dont wash the truck very much. Might wash mud off the body, but dont make it a point to really keep underneath.

Without removing the frame from the truck, cananyone give me a good place to start? I know there are some good antirust products out there, but have never dealt with an auto frame before. I have vechicles undercoated when new, but not sure if i want to undercoat over a rusted frame???

Any help/advice would be appreciated. Its a good truck, no problems, maintained, and runs strong. Out of curiousity i called a buddy who sells cars to give me idea of trade value because i have a soft spot for wanting a Regular cab 4x4 for hunting...he said $6k... i knew it wasnt gonna be a huge price, but i was really thinking $10k or so, mostly due to the age he said... i laughed at him and told thanks for the help.

 

[Justice B. Swift]

OK, I can't help myself. I'm gonna have a little fun with ya, then I'll help you along a bit. First, move out to the west coast.we get enough rain to keep these things washed real well underneath. Second, buy a Ford. I have three of them, a 1985, a 1991, & a 2014. No rust on any of 'em.
Now that I've given you a hard time let's see if I can be of some honest help. Get on line and look at Eastwood' s web site or catalog. They specialize in products for auto restoration and have a solid reputation as well as knowledgeable staff. They list quite a few products for frame reconditioning, coating, etching, etc... they also have several different paint products designed specifically for chassis finishing and protecting. They are not always cheap, but be assured they have quality products for use by the home mechanic / average guy. If you don't spot what you think your after give them a call and ask. Likely they have it and the phone call is cheap. Good luck to you sir.
Rick

 

[57springer]

It really looks decent to me and I am a body Tech. I would recommend a product made by Berkebile called PFC , stands for protection first class . It comes in aerosols and is good stuff, check it out .

 

[Kevin]

Not sure why your worried. It looks really clean to me. I had a Tacoma and after only 4 Chicago winters, the underside was completely trashed. It was $4,000 to repair it all.

There is a cold front in Dallas right now, it's all of 50 degrees. Thank God for Texas.

 

[donut757]

I guess with all my vechicles the undercoating has always held up... not used to seeing all that rusted. Im glad it seems like an over reaction... will likely still look into it this summer.

 

[Kanook]

A friend that restores planes uses this http://www.por15.com/ hope it helps some.

 

[Bull Barrel]

That truck is worth much more than 6k. He was telling you trade in value. He would sell it for 2-3k more.

 

[rugerjunkie]

What kanook said! POR15 is a rust converter and a top coat more durable than undercoating. What you have isnt bad at all but the por15 will stop it from going any further and it'll be chassis black when you're done.

 

[donut757]

What kanook said! POR15 is a rust converter and a top coat more durable than undercoating. What you have isnt bad at all but the por15 will stop it from going any further and it'll be chassis black when you're done.

Just looked at it... seems i would have to prep/etch frame then coat, correct?

Ill certain do some research on that, as far as bolts/leaf springs/etc.. would a coating such as por15 or whatever be safe to coat?

 

[donut757]

That truck is worth much more than 6k. He was telling you trade in value. He would sell it for 2-3k more.

Yeah $6k is a joke... he said he could prolly get me another $500-$1000 and some help on other end of purchase... im not one that is dumb enough to think its worth $20k, but in my online searches some models are going from $6-6.5k (reg cab, 2wd, 200-250k mi), average prices $9-12k with average miles and similar configuration (130-170ish mi), and as high as $15+k with similar miles and similar/higher level trim. So appears my $10k was about what they are being listed at. If selling privately might be able to get that, maybe a tad more?

Been a while since trading in a vehicle that wasnt on, or close to, its last leg... they really atick it to ya for that convenience of trade. I know they have to make money and pay for their workers to clean/fix/advertise/tag and title/etc. Almost Like offering $300 for a prestine Gold Label.

 

[powder smoke]

Up here in the Rust belt due to treated roads for Ice and Snow we know a little about
rust on the undercarriage of vehicles. Damn salt and or calcium are corrosive as
hell.

What I do in the spring pressure wash the undercarriage then treat it it with Fluid
Film or another favorite is ATF transmission fluid. The ATF rather than regular oil
is good for all the rubber bushings on the chassis. Fluid Film is a rust inhibitor
specially made to under coat the chassis. Either one IMO are equally as good. ps

https://www.theruststore.com/Fluid-Film-C67.aspx

 

[Mobuck]

I wouldn't consider frame rust to be a problem until the metal starts scaling off in big rusty scabs. At that point strength is being compromised but lets face it, this is LIGHT DUTY pickup so the frame is way over built vs the load capacity of the rest of the unit.
In Midwest farm country where common everyday loads often exceed the load ratings by 100% or more, frames do break due to rust damage.

 

[powder smoke]

I wouldn't consider frame rust to be a problem until the metal starts scaling off in big rusty scabs. At that point strength is being compromised but lets face it, this is LIGHT DUTY pickup so the frame is way over built vs the load capacity of the rest of the unit.
In Midwest farm country where common everyday loads often exceed the load ratings by 100% or more, frames do break due to rust damage.

By the time you get to that point it is too late. In Maine that is what send vehicles
to an early grave. No garage will give you an inspection sticker with the steel scaling
off frame. That right there is why one has to pay attention. Like I stated above RUST
is the major problem with vehicles in Maine. Road salt is literally used by the tons.
Turns into a corrosive solution when mixed with melted ice and snow gets into all the nooks and crannies. ps

 

[Kevin]

No garage will give you an inspection sticker with the steel scaling
off frame.

They inspect the frame for rust before issuing an inspection sticker? That seems like a lot.

To the OP. Could you post a picture of the whole truck? I'm just curious since the discussion has turned towards the value. I'd like to see what it looks like.

 

[donut757]

No garage will give you an inspection sticker with the steel scaling
off frame.

They inspect the frame for rust before issuing an inspection sticker? That seems like a lot.

To the OP. Could you post a picture of the whole truck? I'm just curious since the discussion has turned towards the value. I'd like to see what it looks like.

This was maybe 2 months ago? Its a W/T trim level. Has 5.3L, tow package, remote start, XM, exhaust and other basic functional features.. basically no power window/lock, and no carpet (vinyl flooring from factory). No major costemtic issues int/ext, overal i would consider it Good/Average.

 

[Kevin]

Thanks, I'd mirror what others are saying. That truck is worth way more than 6,000. You could get the underside spray coated and keep it for 10 more years if you wanted.

Nice looking truck by the way.

 

[donut757]

Thanks, I'd mirror what others are saying. That truck is worth way more than 6,000. You could get the underside spray coated and keep it for 10 more years if you wanted.

Nice looking truck by the way.

I appreciate it.

That PFC stuff that was mentioned earlier is rather appealing. Seems the Por15 is best used when frame is removed and everything can be etched and cleaned.

Ideally, would be great if i could find something that could be pressure washed/degreased a few times and cleaned real good and then treated. I think it said PFC was oil based, so spraying on i think would help get into some extra nooks and crannys?

 

[sebtool]

Kind of off subject, but a guy a work had the frame on his Tacoma replaced by Toyota last summer, under recall/warranty! :shock:

I believe it's a '07-'08 model, so not exactly new, but I still can't see how it was cost effective. He was actually thinking about trading it in on a new 1 before the recall, but figures on keeping it for awhile now.

I think he paid them for a brake job that needed to be done anyway, no other problems found.

 

[gtxmonte]

That frame is not really rusty, its just that the factory coating, whatever that was has worn thin. You could treat it with some kind of coating, but really all it needs is a good pressure washing and a coat of "chassis black" sprayed on it. You can pick that up in spray cans at the local parts store

 

[Acorn]

There is another product in the same vein as POR15 it's called Chassis Saver. It runs around $35 a quart. It goes directly on rust. You just need to remove loose rust and scale. It can be brushed. A quart is more than enough to do a truck frame. A little goes a long way. A few words of caution. If you get it on your body, hands, face etc. get it off before it dries or else it doesn't come off until it wears off. If you get any in the rim of the can clean it before put the lid back on or it will glue the lid to the can and the only way to remove it is to cut the can open. Once you open the can before float a small amount of thinner on top of the paint to seal out oxygen from the paint. Supposedly the man that started the company worked for POR15 and went out on his own. I had a customer (local water authority) that had been using Rustoleum on metal ladders that were in constant contact with water. He tried Chassis Saver and returned later to buy more. He was sold on it. I don't work for the company buy my company does sell it but not on line or mail order with no complaints other than one guy that wound up going out to dinner with his wife with a large black thumbprint on the side of his nose. :lol:
Link: http://magnetpaints.com/underbody.asp

 

[Scout943]

I use this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeaKjU0nac8&ab_channel=ITWPROBRANDS spryed my SCOUT II with it in79 and periodicaly over the years no rust and still going strong ,its used by the airlines also as a corrosion inhibitor .

 

[Rick Courtright]

Get on line and look at Eastwood' s web site or catalog. They specialize in products for auto restoration and have a solid reputation as well as knowledgeable staff. They list quite a few products for frame reconditioning, coating, etching, etc... they also have several different paint products designed specifically for chassis finishing and protecting.

Hi,

Eastwood's got a special primer for rusty metal that I haven't used myself, but folks who have say it works really well! Pricey, yes, but apparently worth it. I had a can of Rustoleum's "rusty metal primer" once. Dunno if it's even still made, but I'm guessing it was probably similar to Eastwood's product. Supposedly there's a chemical in there which reacts with rust in some way to "neutralize" it so it doesn't continue to grow.

Every part of my Toyota's frame and suspension came from the factory fully painted. The leaf springs have worn their paint off (over a quarter century plus, yet they still look better than some domestic stuff does after only five to ten years. And that's here in the "no rust belt" part of dry SoCal!), but the rest of the stuff under there is still nice and black. I can't for the life of me understand truck mfrs who don't do the same: for the price of trucks today, that should be criminal negligence in my book.

Rick C

 

[Mobuck]

I bought a nice looking Jeep Cherokee last year only to find that the previous owner had painted over the extremely rusted under belly. After this episode, I don't recommend "overcoating" a rusty frame. The metal will continue to rust under the coating and sooner or later the metal will weaken to the point of failure w/o giving any further notice.
FWIW, my 98 K3500 has had surface rust on the frame for 10 years w/o any noticeable scaling. I was beginning to worry about the strength of the frame where the rear bumper/tow hitch is bolted on but after dragging a very tongue heavy 8 row planter 225 miles last fall, I see no need for concern.

 

[exavid]

Try locating a Ziebart service near you, they do a good job on that kind of thing.
http://www.ziebart.com/auto-care-services/vehicle-protection/rust-protection

 

[eveled]

It's really not the rust ON the truck frame you have to worry about its the rust IN the truck frame that will get you everytime.

Box frames collect sand and it stays wet in there rotting out from the inside.

 

[BucolicBuffalo]

Brake lines and gas lines also rust. Neither is any fun replacing.