Best DIY Rust Treatment

I've been searching and searching through the site reading threads on how some members have been dealing with rust but I'm still not sure which spray/paint/method/etc is the best for spot treating.

I'm sure we've all been concerned with the rust issue especially 1st generation tacoma owners like myself. So I'd like to take a poll to settle this once and for all and determine the most successful way (besides buying a new truck ) to deal with rust and ensure our trucks last a long time!

 

Ospho is good; it neutralizes the rust.

 

Bump

 

Not for my Tacoma, as I think I'll send it to the professionals, but on an old Suzuki I'm trying to rebuild, I've been wondering what I could do to prevent rusties from coming back.

A co-worker and I cleaned some 1" angle iron on a wire wheel/bench grinder and cut it into 4 pieces. We then sprayed on some aerosol products we had laying around:

Rust Check (red can)
Rust Check (green can - more waxy like Fluid Film)
Fluid Film
LPS#3

We left them outside during some rainy weather. The Rust Check red piece was showing rust after 2 days. To my surprise, there was also rust forming on the Fluid Film piece within 2 weeks. After one month outside, the Rust Check green can and LPS#3 still looked the same as the day sprayed them. The LPS#3 felt "drier" than the Rust Check, but if you wiped it harder, it was oily underneath the "skin" that it has. However, I don't know how well it will "wick" into areas like some of the others.

I doubt WD-40 would do much. It's more of a solvent, as far as I'm concerned.

Used motor oil is terrible - maybe due to acids/comtaminants present? My Dad tried this on a new car (sprayed every fall) and it rusted out terribly. We figured it was the used oil.

I doubt I'll ever purchase any "rubberised" undercoatings ever again. They just hold moisture, as far as I'm concerned. A good coat of paint brushed on would probably be better.

I do have a spray can of Rustoleum Cold Galvanizing I'm going to try next. I don't know how well it will hold up, or whether you can put a topcoat on it.

OP - sorry if this isn't much help, Just wanted you to know that there are others out there wondering the same thing as you.

Ron

 

WD-40 is fish oil, and works pretty well on rust. A fishing boat captain discovered it by accidentally getting fish remnants on some rusty metal on his boat. The fish oil prevented rust for a long time. It is also the key ingredient in rustoleum's original formula.

I know...it sounds fishy.