Rust On Back Of Cab

Hey guys,

So I've got some rust where my camper gasket sat against the cab. This is a 2009 and it's a work truck. It looks pretty good but it has a few dings.

I figure a body shop will cost me at least $700? Do you all think I can do this with precision sanding and a touch up pen? Would a product like Iron-X be useful too? I'm mostly concerned about that rust getting worse. Thank you.

 

To have any chance at all of stopping the rust and having the repair look like anything, you really have to take it to a Body Shop. "Precision sanding and a touch up pen" just isn't going to hack it and Iron-X isn't designed for that purpose.

If you're hell bent on trying it yourself, you're better off sanding everything down, applying a rust neutralizer such as Loctite Extend, lightly sanding again, applying primer, lightly sanding again, then base and clear coats. That said, rattle can paints just don't have the long term performance of real paint applied correctly by a shop. (See why a Body Shop is more expensive now?)

 

Thanks for the reply and the info. Auto body repairs are not something I know much about.

I'm not really sure what to do. The truck is 10 years old but mechanically it's still in good shape with lower mileage. It's a work truck and so it has dings and scratches on it. Looks good for a 10 year old work truck but there will be more dings and scratches in the future. Would love to know your personal opinion.

Also, out of curiosity, do you think touch up pens have their place? Do the paint/clear coat pens from Toyota provide any real protection to areas it is applied to or is it really just an inferior product?

Appreciate it.

 

In response to your first question, I guess it depends on how good (or bad) you want your work truck to look. If you don't care, leave it alone. Then again, a lot depends on how much road salt they use your area. If they use a lot, rusting will occur at a faster rate.

As to your second question, the paint pens do have a place - for small spot (rock chip) touch ups. As for protection, they don't offer much.

 

I live in Southern California, no snow here. 8 miles or so inland from the beach, not sure if that matters. I'm gonna find a headache rack anyways so I'm not really concerned about it cosmetically. Do you think the rust will get worse if I let it be? I don't keep the camper on much now but I've seen spots like this turn into big holes on older trucks.

Thanks for your help.

 

It never gets better. The only difference is how fast it gets worse. Where I live, you'd have holes in a year.

 

Appreciate your help Tom. Hope the rest of your weekend is good!