Rust Prevention/Treatment Consolidation Thread

Hello everyone: The one thing you almost never here about is preparation prior to treatment: The first and most critical step is to neutralize the salt https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-road-salt-neutralizer-gallon.html I do this a few times then in late spring early summer then apply your corrosion protection. I find that using an oil type product for areas like down inside door pinch weld areas and up inside the rear wheel arches is best performed prior to applying your wax top coat. The other thing to keep in mind is preventing petroleum products from coming in contact with rubber. And stay away from off the shelf rubberized undercoating all it does is lay on top of the metal like a tent and trap moisture. The reason for oil and wax application in the warmer months is to get the product to wick into the metal substraight.

 

Krown “creeps” over time so it should be fine to have it applied with those items left in place. The oil will slowly make its way into those crevices even without being directly sprayed.

 

Hey y’all, hopefully this is an appropriate place to post this as it seems to be the largest thread concerning rust. Just recently lost my second gen to body rust (which conveniently didn’t start to become an issue until the recall was expired) and have been shipping around. I found a 3rd gen that fits all my boxes, but asked to see some pics of the undercarriage. I’m no expert and my only reference really is my now dead 2nd gen, so I figured I’d post the pics here and hopefully get some opinions. Does this look reasonable as far as surface rust goes?

 

New Hampshire Oil Undercoating treatment from a dealer at Kalispell, MT March 29 evening and picked up the truck March 30 morning. Glacier Undercoating's owner, Guy, explained that they plastic bag the exhaust system before shooting the product, so there will be no odor of product burning from the exhaust and entering the cabin. He was pleased when I told him that I'd removed the spare before my five-hour drive to have the frame treated, and due to the low miles and having been garage kept, the hot water pressure wash cleaning ($100) that I was prepared for was not required. $275 (still no sales tax in good ol' Montana, has been a saying there for many years). I will be typing up the small print list of area Uber drivers that I found at my hotel shortly before I was to pick up the truck, which should be helpful. Nice folks and this is a sideline business as their primary work is in construction. Guy went through NHOU's extensive training program, and they've practiced on their own vehicles quite bit before going public. We talked about making their location easier to find without generating too much demand, so future signage will likely consist of larger address numbers on the road frontage. Great experience and a nice spring break trip, breaking up the driving so that the first leg of five hours was the longest. NH Oil Undercoating's website provides great background information on the products, training and instruction, foundations of the company and product, and an interactive dealer map so I was pleased to find that one of the dealers west of the Mississippi was close enough to visit during spring break. Great weather last week, and this first week back at my K-5 school is back to near freezing nights with chances of rain and/or snow.
Spring has sprung! (Long time reader of advice, first rustproofing treatment.)

 

Looks reasonable, but there is no substitute for crawling under there yourself. They still only pee-coat the frames with black paint. Be sure to check the frame right next to the Cat/converter. That's where mine needed to be welded for a fix.

 

I agree. Crawled underneath this afternoon to hoist the spare back up under the bed 8 days after NHOU protection treatment, still thick, adhering well but not solid since come smeared on the back of my fingers when I brushed against the hitch cover. Nice thing about the food grade base oil, is that a wipe with a paper took that little off my hand. It looks great under there! (better there than coloring my hair! So I stayed well clear...) Sorry, I could not resist the rhymes. Determining the thickness of the metal requires closer inspection, particularly in the tighter angles and crevices, which may also be stress risers. It would be nice to look at the other side of the steel from the outside rust areas.
The "For Stock Rigs Only" forum had a post that included a short video clip of a Taco that jackknifed leaving a gas station, broken between bed and cab, heading down the road held together by the driveline. Reminds me why I like burritos better than hard shell tacos...

 

I purchased on of those WIFI endoscopes. I used it to look inside the frame by the CAT before I had it repaired to make sure there weren't any surprises waiting when the frame was cut open by the welder. It was a bit fiddly to get it down there with the proper orientation, but it worked. I was able to confirm there wasn't any interior damage where the cab mount is, which is almost opposite the CAT. I will do the same on the other side when I get the chance.
Good luck.

 

I don't know if I posted these images her, but these are before and after the repair. The shop primed, painted and undercoated the area.

 

Hi guys, just looking for some opinions about the frame on my 2008. The frame for the most part is in excellent shape, except for the rail section beside the muffler and gas tank.
I noticed some delamination, so as you can see in the picture I got rid of the rust between the rails and coated it with por 15. Just wondering if it looks safe enough to continue driving, or should I be looking at repairing it?
I gave the sides of the frame a good hammer test and it seems solid. Thanks for any thoughts.

 

Hey @JC47
I just had my 2005 at my mechanic up on a lift. We went over the condition of the frame. I am starting to get that same splitting between the two frame sections. Mine is not as bad as yours. Your frame is fine to drive in my opinion, but I am not a state inspector. I plan on costing those areas in ospho. It is a chemical that converts the rust and stood the rust. Then I will paint it and coat it with fluid film. As soon as I get time in the next few weeks. Already ordering the ospho from Amazon. I will up date here and my page on progress and results.

 

@srspicer Thanks for the reply. I'm looking forward to seeing how yours turns out. Did you check the frame in behind your gas tank too? Mine was actually a bit worse on that side compared to the muffler side.

I think I caught it just in time though, if i left it for a couple more years I'm sure I would be dealing with major frame repair. I'm hoping the por15 and a soaking of fluid film every few months will save it.

After a bit of research, it sounds like this is a very common area for rust on these trucks, and also easy to miss since it's hidden.

If this fails down the road I'll be looking at getting one of those safe t caps installed, but hopefully it doesn't come down to that.

 

You are welcome.
Yes, checked both sides, both sides are the same.
As far as POR15 goes, I painted the front of the cross bar ( check my restoration page) and I noticed it flaking. Not impressed with that product. However, the frame extensions I primed and painted with Rust-oleum are holding up fine.
Ospho has stopped a friend’s frame from rusting, in its tracks. The ospho converter is the way to go, from what I have seen.

 

Good to know, if this por15 stuff ends up flaking off I'll definitely try the ospho.

 

https://usafluid.com/ Any word on using their Unlimited StrongArm Fluid Preservative Coating? This is advertised in Hemmings Muscle Machines and their other magazines at www.hemmings.com

I'm still happy with the first frame protection treatment of https://nhoilundercoating.com/ that was applied at the end of March.

 

The only thing to monitor is how durable the coating is. If it is in place after driving in the rain & snow, you should be good until the next year’s application. I have yet to coat my frame this season. Need to ospho some areas first.

 

^

 

Reviving an old thread here. I have used Ospho, suitably diluted, in a plastic hand spray bottle to deal with light, remnant rust prior to coating. It works. I do this wearing gloves, goggles, etc, of course.