Prevention of rust on steel bumper or skid plates

I have an AllPro front and rear bumper on my 2014 Tacoma that are coated with spray on bedliner, but I decided not to have the skid plate coated.

I noticed that some rust has started to develop on my skid plate in only a few weeks time of having it installed from the rains/ going through puddles here in AZ. My brother has had an AllPro bumper with powder coating and the same set up with the skid (uncoated) for the last 5 years, so I decided to look at his skid for comparison today. There was quite a bit of rust.

Does anyone know anything preventative to coat steel bumpers or skids with (besides having them powder coated or spray on bedliner) that will prevent or delay rusting?

I mentioned the story of my brother's truck because I know that's the way mine is headed down the road if I don't do something about it. The thing is his skid has done, and continues to take a weekly beating regardless of the rust. It has undoubtedly saved him from having major repairs to his truck. So this is more about a thread of rust prevention for appearance, not because I think the skid is going to fail or something.

 

Take them off hit them with a wire wheel and get the rust off the use your favorite can of spray paint and be done with them. Depending on how hard you wheel and how bad they get scraped you might have to do it once a year. If you use skids for what they're meant to be used for rust is inevitable.

 

I took a grinder to my skid plate and sprayed on a few undercoats and then a top coat. Easiest and effective.

 

Berk, thanks for the info. I looked into the POR15. That looks like exactly what I need. I used this naval jelly rust disolver in the meantime that did the trick at removing the forming rust and gave it a clean shine:
http://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/569...bquOa-iuSdOcDmJBgxo6ahuhnalyQiFJG84AyQPLw_wcB

Exactly my point. On one hand, I want my truck to look nice. But on the other, I am going to use the skid plate for what it's meant to be used for. Many companies offer powder coating to the skid plate, but that seems stupid to me since it's meant to be scratched up! I don't know why I didn't think about spray paint and just reapply every year or so when needed. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

I've had good success with using Eastwood Rust Converter then painting it. I've used this stuff multiple times with excellent results. Did a complete metal trailer and then painted it. Three years later, still no rust.

Just brush (or spray,) and let it dry. Only affects rust and will not hurt anything else. Don't clean the rust off first as it will not work. Goes on white and turns flat black when done.

 

That's interesting Tommiet. When I was reading reviews of POR15, many people also mentioned to never attempt to use the product if there is no rust present, for it will fail to work.

Since the rust was only beginning to form, I was actually able to remove all of it using the rust dissolver product I mentioned above. I think I'd probably be good to go ahead and just paint it at this point.

 

Out of curiosity, besides using spray paint, are there other options to prime the skid plate with anything that will prevent or delay rust without actually painting it after?

 

Rustoleum roll on paint/primer. A good and thick coat.

 

This guy nailed it. There is no solution to keeping skids from rusting unless you drive it on all street all the time. Armor is made to take hits, paint will always be scratchable and removable from its surfaces its coated onto, and no amount no matter how thick the coat will be able to be kept from coming off if you are scraping it against stuff.

 

Correct.. thats why I said NOT to remove the rust first. No rust, nothing to work on.

 

Black Asphalt undercoating. $3 a can. blackens the rustiest of metal. Its underbody. Why waste time wire wheeling it? Are you going to wire wheel your leaf springs too?
This is what i use for spot rust. That with a good undercoating annually keeps rust at bay.

 

Thanks!!! I'm going to do that for sure

 

I could see it either way depending on how severe the rust is. I agree with you completely on saying "It's underbody." I want to prevent severe rust in the long run since my skid is brand new and already starting to rust. But at the same time, I bought the skid to bash the hell out of it! That's why I think it's retarded these companies even offer powder coating of skid plates. You can spend almost an equal amount of money for powder coating as the actual price of a transmission skid!

 

I think the best way to handle it is to periodically go over it again.

I just redid mine after a year there were a few spots where it was starting to rust from dragging on rocks and stuff. Took me less than 30 minutes to prep and paint it. The longest part was waiting for the paint to dry

 

... not able to find any topic titles with this concern from a simple search
found this under my relatives 2o11 reg cab with almost 50k miles
has there been a recall or anything to remedy this garbage, it does NOT get offroaded or banging on any crap that i am aware of, it was bot new almost 10yrs ago

does this even get removed at the routine oil changes like my 1st gen does most of the time

and my 1st gen splash guard/skid was removed to be powdercoated recently and was NOWHERE near this shit of shape