DIY rust repair an undercoating?
04-07-2013, 04:13 PM
#1
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DIY rust repair an undercoating?
Hi guys im new to the site an just bought a 2004 SC 4X4. For the most part the truck is in great shape an I love it but I have noticed 2 small rust holes on the cab corners an I would like to get these fixed as I jus bought the truck but I really don't wanna spend 1500 to 2000 for new metal, so I was thinking of fiberglass then possibly some kind of rustproofing underneath to pretty it up for a few years.....any suggestions on how an what to use would be appreciated
I have seen posts regarding success with POR 15 an other DIY rustproofing techniques but I have never actually tried it myself. Also I found someone to repair the cabcorners for around 500$ with fiber would it be worth it to do that then do a undercoating after?
I have seen posts regarding success with POR 15 an other DIY rustproofing techniques but I have never actually tried it myself. Also I found someone to repair the cabcorners for around 500$ with fiber would it be worth it to do that then do a undercoating after?
04-12-2013, 04:32 AM
#2
Moved to correct section. 
04-12-2013, 08:30 AM
#4
Hey man,
I recently went through a similar process a few months ago on my 2004 FX4 that I’ve had for about a year now. The previous owner must have used it to take boats in and out of the water, because the body has an fairly extensive amount of rust towards the rear. I live in New England, so we’re used to the rust problem with all the winter salting, but it was still pretty bad.
I brought to a very respectable body shop in town. While they’re by no means cheap, they have a reputation for doing quality work with no BS. Anyway, they said that it would cost about $750 to scrape off the rust, and spray on a rust inhibitor that dries gloss black. That covered the undercarriage and suspension components. He (the shop owner) said that there was no good way to prevent the rust from continuing.
He said that once it reaches a certain point, it’s impossible to stop, despite the claims of some. He said that no matter what he did, it would most likely just continue to corrode underneath. The only difference in adding the inhibitor, he says, is that it covers up the rust to make it look nicer, helps protect areas that don’t already much corrosion, and slows the overall process down a little (but not by much) for those areas that do. In the end, he said that there is a lot of steel underneath our trucks (he has an F250, btw) and that it would take a while (several years) before it became a structural/functional issue.
I ended up taking him on the offer to do the undercarriage for $750 (it’s probably is something you can do yourself, but I’m in the city and don’t have an off-street parking spot let alone a garage). It ended up taking him much longer than expected (he said the rust removal was what took so much time). He did still stuck to his quote, though, so I guess I got a good deal in that regard.
Hope this information is helpful.
Scotty
I recently went through a similar process a few months ago on my 2004 FX4 that I’ve had for about a year now. The previous owner must have used it to take boats in and out of the water, because the body has an fairly extensive amount of rust towards the rear. I live in New England, so we’re used to the rust problem with all the winter salting, but it was still pretty bad.
I brought to a very respectable body shop in town. While they’re by no means cheap, they have a reputation for doing quality work with no BS. Anyway, they said that it would cost about $750 to scrape off the rust, and spray on a rust inhibitor that dries gloss black. That covered the undercarriage and suspension components. He (the shop owner) said that there was no good way to prevent the rust from continuing.
He said that once it reaches a certain point, it’s impossible to stop, despite the claims of some. He said that no matter what he did, it would most likely just continue to corrode underneath. The only difference in adding the inhibitor, he says, is that it covers up the rust to make it look nicer, helps protect areas that don’t already much corrosion, and slows the overall process down a little (but not by much) for those areas that do. In the end, he said that there is a lot of steel underneath our trucks (he has an F250, btw) and that it would take a while (several years) before it became a structural/functional issue.
I ended up taking him on the offer to do the undercarriage for $750 (it’s probably is something you can do yourself, but I’m in the city and don’t have an off-street parking spot let alone a garage). It ended up taking him much longer than expected (he said the rust removal was what took so much time). He did still stuck to his quote, though, so I guess I got a good deal in that regard.
Hope this information is helpful.
Scotty
04-12-2013, 09:15 AM
#5
