Question To The Rust Belters

[BPB]

Are you guys able to prevent rust on your rigs or do you guys have to continuously have to replace floorboards? I am curious what you guys do to prevent rust? My MJ motorhome has some surface rust underneath. However I know that this is going to get used at the coast a lot and I want to keep this thing in tact for years to come.

 

http://comancheclub.com/topic/36044-the-campmanche/

[Alexia]

Power wash underneath the vehicle occassionally. Do a yearly inspection by crawling underneath there. If you find a spot of rust, wire wheel it, and spray rust converter paint. My LJ is dotted with that underneath the tub to keep little spots that appear from spreading.

[terrawombat]

I haven't been very successful with the occasional Rustoleum treatment on my '92MJ. I've got a spot on the rocker right behind the door where it continues to rust. I sand it have to sand it down and respray it about once a year. The only permanent solution that I have found has been POR-15.

[gogmorgo]

I usually only wash vehicles a few times a winter to get the salt off, but I'm not as paranoid about rust and obsessive about preventing it as maybe I should be.

There's a guy I follow on YouTube who swears by Fluid Film. He sprays the regular stuff onto the undercarriage, and then uses the heavy-duty marine grade brush-on stuff for high wash areas like wheel wells. From the sounds of it, it's just like a regular oil coating, except it's lanolin based, not a petroleum oil. I think he uses it once a year or so.

The way I see it, the only way to prevent rust is to get something else onto the metal to keep it away from oxygen. If you use a solid coating like a paint or a rubbery undercoating, you've got to make sure you're starting with a completely clean and rust-free base, or else you cause more problems than you solve. Rust-converter paints are likely a good way to go, but I didn't even know they existed until I started using this forum. I don't think if you use an oil-based undercoating you need to make sure it's perfectly clean and rust-free, but the disadvantage to them is that you turn the entire underside of your vehicle into a gooey greasy mess, and it needs redone at least once a year.

At any rate, no method is going to be 100% successful. Some may be really close, but if you've got rust, the only way to get rid of it is to get rid of it. Sand, wire brush, or even just cut it out, whatever it takes.

Another thing I've noticed is that vehicles which get used occasionally seem to rust less than vehicles that are just sitting around.

[dasbulliwagen]

I personally have found the best way to keep my vehicles from rusting, was to move from Michigan, to North Carolina. Has work wonders for me! Its amazing to be able to take things off of my 26 year old truck and actually have the bolts come out without breaking!

 

Sorry, had to brag.

[HOrnbrod]

:yeah that: Best answer yet. Move.