Question on DIY Rust Frame Prevention

Looking for advice on frame rust prevention and your feelings on painting the frame. My 95 Tacoma is still after all these years very clean, but I am now living on the east coast and would like to keep it that way. I have talked to multiple local body shops and no one wants to touch it. Most of the recommendations I get, talk about painting the frame. My concern is, I do not want to seal in any rust that is there. If it is properly prepped, and any existing rust removed, what are your thoughts on painting the frame or other products that may be better at rust prevention.

 

I think a very generous coat of fluid film about this time of year and then a good thorough pressure washing come spring time is your best bet, it's also fairly affordable and very DIY friendly.

You're correct that paint is not the way to go.

 

Thank you, that is what I suspected. I will start researching fluid film and the best way to remove the bed to fully coat it before reattaching it.

 

If your concern is with sealing in the rust then the only other alternative to using a paint/coating would be to completely remove the rust. That can be a much bigger undertaking. I see no problem.with sealing some rust, as long as moisture does not penitratrate that layer then it should effectively slow the progress of the rust. IMO with some prep, use of a rust converter, and a durable paint, you should be able to keep rust at bay. Being on the east coast you would also probably want to use something like fluid film periodically.

 

should not need to do any disassembly for fluid film with some long hoses to get in to the openings of tight spaces

 

I had the bed pulled recently for repair of some small rust spots on the bed. I was able to inspect the back frame and noticed some rust flaking just around the primary brackets. I was thinking I would try to wire brush those areas to fully remove the rust prior to coating all of it. I also thought it might be easier than spending the day laying under the truck. LOL. However if that is not necessary, then maybe I will reconsider.

 

Is the '95 a box frame or the old style U frame? (I don't know.) If it's a box frame, there would be no way to paint inside the frame, even if you could, you'd just be painting over the rust. The problem is you can do all you want to the outside of a box frame but the inside will just keep rusting until it rusts through. That's why an undercoating like WoolWax or Fluid Film would help. You can spray inside the frame through the drain/vent holes and it will seriously slow down the advancement of rust where you can't see it.

 

It's a box frame with vent holes. I had it sprayed with Krown rust spray at a local company twice since I moved back east. I figured it couldn't hurt. I would just spray as much into the drain holes as possible.

 

I did notice when the bed was removed, I'm pretty sure the "spare tire" was the original from when I purchased it. I should probably replace that as well LOL.

 

First gen Tacoma frame is boxed up until the front leaf spring hanger, then it transitions to C channel. In contrast my 84 pickup is boxed front and rear.

 

Bought mine in 2018, apparently it was still on the original tires. Went to cap off the air and the rubber in the valve broke off. Tire shop wouldn't replace it, they said by law they couldn't repair tires that old, even though there was lots of tread on them. As a spare it may hold air but it's probably not safe if you have to actually use it.

 

Steph,
You already received a lot of very good information above. Walmart had the best price on Fluid Film cans last time I bought some. A very good long 360 degree wand was available on Amazon. I used this wand to spray paint the inside of my freshly 360 degree pressure-washed frame with Rust Reformer by Rustoleum:

Woolwax® 24" Aerosol can Spray Wand with 360° Nozzle

Amazon.com: Woolwax® 24" Aerosol can Spray Wand with 360° Nozzle : Automotive.
It sprayed paint 360 degrees just fine as long as it was kept clean. That particular long nozzle is now unavailable on Amazon so just get something similar. The inside of my frame was in very nice condition to start with, but I repainted it just as a precaution. Fluid Film is Lanolin based which is the standard for rust prevention on the Taco undercarriage and is very good because it creeps into all the small openings between metal parts. I might try a thicker product called Surface Shield by Blaster on the inside of my freshly painted frame rails. Surface Shield is also Lanolin based but also contains petroleum jelly (Vaseline) which makes it more Cosmoline-like, so it should be much longer lasting than just Lanolin by itself. Many of our honored military vets can attest to the effort it takes to remove Cosmoline from stored equipment they put back into service. The problem with Surface Shield appears to be getting it all to spray out of the can because of the increased viscosity from the petroleum jelly. Probably the best way to apply Surface Shield inside the boxed areas of the frame is with a spray gun with a long flexible 360 wand. HTH

 

Thank you!!

 

Use a bunch of fluid film or similar every year and always make sure to spray inside the frame. Not sure it makes sense to pressure wash in the summer.

 

I agree. If the inside of the frame has been treated with a Lanolin product, you might want to clean it out with a garden hose on a hot summer day. But that is about all IMO. My '97 Taco goes off-road in deep sandy mud/high water over 200 days a year while hunting/shooting. By the end of the hunting season, the inside of my boxed frame will be packed with mud and sand. All that mud and sand must be removed, or the moisture it contains will attack the frame from the inside. Luckily, we don't have to salt the roads much down here in the South. 1st Gen Taco frames down here are usually in pretty good condition if the owner does even the minimum of maintenance on them. The NE is just the opposite, so Steph is making a very wise decision by addressing corrosion before it sets in. But if I were her, I would at least pump a hose down the boxed frame from back-to-front to remove any salt or mud already inside the boxed frame. Let it dry completely, then treat it with whichever Lanolin product she chooses. Encapsulating any existing salt or mud on the inside of the boxed frame with Lanolin sounds like it would be less than ideal unless it just cannot be avoided.

 

I used

$40 Eastwood Internal Frame Coating Aerosol | Internal chassiss Frame Rust Remover | Rust Converter and Prevention Aerosol Spray Undercoating for Vehicles |14 Oz, Black

Eastwood Internal Frame coating. Maybe need 1 1/2 cans per coat? I live in SoCal but wanted to do preventative maintenance.

Eastwood How-To Video Here

 

I went nuts with rust prevention on my 2004 since it was pretty clean when I bought it. I didn’t remove the cab or bed but you can get a lot if you remove the skids and spare tire, hitch and bumpers.

1. Clean/degrease frame with degreaser, water wash and allow to dry
2. Wire brush/wire wheel all exposed frame surfaces. Don’t neglect the C-frame at the truck’s rear or the rear crossmembers - most corrosion I found here. Also check inside of rear bumper if it is stock. If you have an air compressor a needle scaler is fastest and most effective.
3. Acid prep wash all frame surfaces.
4. Apply several coats of POR-15. I used a 2-3 of quarts. My understanding of the chemistry of POR-15 is that it converts rust so you are truly eliminating it and not sealing it in.
5. Now would be a good time to blast and repaint your skids, especially gas tank skid.
6. Allow several days to a week for your new undercoat to dry.
7. Find a reputable WoolWax or Fluid Film guy in your area. Have him shoot the underside of the truck, in the bumpers, tailgate, behind sheet metal, and in your door and cab drain plugs. I’ve had prices range from $150 for a pretty basic FF job to $450 for a thorough WW job. IMO WoolWax is the better product.
8. Touch up annually. My guy charges heavy upfront and then it’s usually a touch up job the next year.
9. Don’t wash your undercarriage until winter is over and road salt is gone.
10. Be prepared for complaining from any mechanic who has to work on your truck.

I have several years in the rust belt now and my desert truck doesn’t have a spot of rust on it.

 

My process is very close!!

1.) I degrease/powerwash the frame.

2.)They claim you don't want to remove all of the rust, just the stuff that falls off with a light wire wheel, don't take it down to bare metal.

3.) Por-15 Cleaner/Degreaser

4.) Por-15 Metal Prep

5.) Por-15 rust converter/paint

6.) por-15 Top coat paint

7.) I don't personally like wool wax or fluid film, i've found it washes away to easily. Look up a product called Cosmoline 342, the US military uses it to protect their weapons and equipment from the elements.

Cosmoline is on the list for US military MIL-SPEC: MIL-SPEC (MIL-C-11796C, Class 3,, also on the list of approved rust -preventatives for Boeing and Lockheed

 

This is my 2003, about 4 years after my frame treatment

 

Looks great! Not a spec of rust!