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Old 11-30-2011, 06:39 PM   #1
Cue-Ball
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Kirkland, WA
Posts: 241
Best way to clean up frame and suspension without much down time?

I'm planning to lower my truck 3" front, 4" rear in the next couple of months. As long as I'm going to have everything apart, I'm considering cleaning up the frame and suspension components as much as possible, then priming and painting everything that I can get to. My objective is to clean everything up, make it look nice, and protect it from the elements for the next 20 years or so. My main concern is that this truck is my daily driver during the winter and I don't want a simple lowering job and quickie spray paint to turn into a full on resto. The last time I tried doing this it was on my '70 Camaro. That was 2 years ago and it's still not back together! So, needless to say, I need to be able to clean and repaint everything as simply and quickly as possible while still getting a decent result.

I've thought about a few different ways of accomplishing this:

1) Remove the bed and media blast the frame.
The drawback to this method is mostly the mess. I'd have to cover the brakes, cover the whole cab and engine compartment, etc. to keep out the dust. And I wouldn't even be able to do the front end without getting dust all over everything.

2) Wire brush everything I can get to.
This would be extremely time consuming and I wouldn't be able to reach a lot of places (tight spots in A-arms, inside of the frame, etc). But it would be relatively easy to contain the mess and would probably be enough to get to bare metal.

3) Pressure wash and CLR everything.
This is probably going to be the fastest, easiest, cheapest, and cleanest method. I've used CLR on body panels before to neutralize surface rust, but I'm not sure if it would be strong enough for the scale that develops on frames, springs, etc. I know there are some stronger rust killers out there, but I'd be worried about getting them in places I don't want them (like all over the rest of the engine and body).

After cleaning I plan to spray everything with an acid etch primer and then coat it with Eastwood's Chassis Black. I know the paint and primer will hold up, if only I can get everything clean and smooth in the first place. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's done something like this. How have you guys accomplished clean up without doing a frame-off resto? Are there any methods I'm overlooking?
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