Rust? Naah, thats not rust.

Shoulda seen my first car, a rust bucket of a '57 Plymouth where the spare tire popped out of the rotted trunk hole and the front seat let go dragging on the road.
Or my work beater a Datsun B210 where the rusted frame underbelly bent in half going over some rough RR tracks.
Those good old days...NOT!

 

Had to LOL at this one. I had a '72 Datsun 510 that rotted out on the floor pan so badly that the bottom of the driver's and passenger's pants would get wet when it rained. Eventually got so bad that I couldn't close the doors when I got in because the frame would sag from my weight...ended up having to leave the doors closed and climb thru the window--just like NASCAR, baby! Hate to think what would have happened if I hit something....

 

I think that Datsun of mine might of been around a '72 also. Worst car i ever owned.
A cheap hand held transistor radio sounded better than the one in that Datsun.

Forgot to mention the worst and year's later funniest part of that Plymouth seat falling to the road.
I got that old Plymouth back when i was in hi school and had my eye on a certain girl. Seen her walking home after school one day.
Stopped and asked her if she wanted a ride. "OK".

As luck would have it when i made a sharp turn it was her part of that bench seat that let go and hit the ground.

She screamed while holding on for dear life! "Get me out of here NOW"!

OH well that was that!
Wonder where she is now and if she still remembers that thrill ride!

 

My crossmembers on my 2006 are twice as bad as that. I also had a rust hole through the underside of the bed. To get the truck through, what I did was wire brush off all the loose stuff, and used POR15. I also put in a new drop in bedliner. This should keep it together for a few more years.

Once the rust really does damage, I plan to either get rid of the truck, or get a new bed or replace crossmembers.

 

not always.. my '04 had pretty bad rust underneath, the crossmembers and frame actually looked worse than the OP, the exhaust (aftermarket - added by a previous owner) literally rusted off, but the body was in perfect shape other than one or two little bubbles on the tailgate and one little surface rust area under the gas cap.

 

Traded in my perfectly good running 2002 F250 with the dealer for a 2018 F150 because of incentives and other things. F250 would not pass MA or ME inspection because of the rust ( I metal taped the **** out of last year). Did 80 mph on the Maine turnpike just before trading it in. The dealer gave me a $1000 for it. I had on Craigslist for a month before that....nobody wanted it. I promised myself I'd never buy another Ford product again, but I did because of the Aluminum. With the F150, I sprayed the bed, installed wheel liners, muds, rocker panel tape and I'm having it undercoated. All of which I think is a waste of money to fight corrosion. This will be my last truck..

 

Why your last truck??? Why a waste of money? O had my old ranger I undercoated and it looked pretty clean underneath after 11 years. A little corrosion and that was it. So the rust protection was worth it...

Cars do not fair any better when it comes to rust...

 

Yeah those cross member look pretty bad. The rest of the undercarriage looks fine. The bed is aliminium and it won't rust but can corrode over time. I see rust colored blotches near the cross members but it don't think it's actually ruined the aluminum.....anyhow I would pass on that..

 

If that's the '04, it's in pretty decent shape, but the bed supports should be replaced before long. They're cheap enough, but bed has to come off and R&Red. Sounds worse to do than it really is.

 

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