RUST, part one: An in-depth discussion:

[C-10 simplex]

So, winter is coming. In light of this i'd like to discuss rust.


1) Is there anything or much you can do about preventing rust in a 73-91 truck?

a) small things?

b) more major things such as undercoating with rhino liner and such. i would actually seriously consider this.

2) Do you feel, based either on direct experience, or hunch, that a 91 blazer would be better at dealing with rust than a 73 blazer? And 87 pickup vs. a 73 pickup? vs. a 77 pickup?


3) If i'm not planning on doing any undercoating or anything else to the truck in regards to rust-proofing, would you recommend driving a virtually rust-free 83 truck this winter?

a) Will hosing off the underside after each drive (assuming it's above freezing) as soon as possible really prevent rust?

The reason i'm asking is because i feel this truck would make a good winter driver despite being "only" 2WD---because it has room for very large snow tires such as the Maxxis buckshot mudder or the Gateway buckshot(if you can still find them). i mean you'd be almost "unstuckable" with those.

If using this truck would not be advised, then i also have a compact FWD car, but i'm hesitant on that because i would like to rehab it(has 300K)---not enough time now. Also, it has rust issues which i don't want to further exacerbate.

[sumran]

I thought they rusted less in the winter because it doesn't rain as much. Then again, I only get salt on my truck if I drop a french fry.

Good thread topic. I'll look forward to learning from what is shared.

[C-10 simplex]

Well, you're lucky----there's no such thing as rust in florida. Then again, there's no such thing as Christmas in florida either. Just my opinion.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by C-10 simplex

Well, you're lucky----there's no such thing as rust in florida. Then again, there's no such thing as Christmas in florida either. Just my opinion.

Along the coasts there's salt in the air...

[Palf70Step]

They say the metal in the newer models resist corrision better, but being a native of western PA (rust capital of the world I think) the things I found that help deter rust.

If you can't park it in bad climate, then before you drive it in the crap, clean and coat everything underneath real good with something. I never liked undercoating stuff much because it was a pain later to do any work on your metal. I always cleaned. prepped and painted it with a rust preventative type paint. In the old days, rustolium. Now I use POR or Eastwaood.

Clean it...alot. Mine was getting pressure washed at least twice a week to flush out the salt. My firends always kidded me that I spent more time cleaning under my vehicles then I did on the part that shows.

When it does start to rust, and it will, clean, replace if necessary, and repaint the stuff.

BTW, mud and snow are way different. Skinny tires tend to give you more grip than a big mud tire. Have some weight in the bed for a 2wd, you will need it.

[tucsonjwt]

Having lived in both the rust belt and the sun belt with squares, I believe that there is no sure cure for rust in the rust belt. Selling a rust free truck after every winter and buying another rust free truck is the best way to stay away from rust in the rust belt. It is cheaper to buy a rust free truck from the southwest and have it shipped to you and use your rusty truck for parts than trying to stop or fix rust.

[nekkidhillbilly]

rhino liner is the best rust proofing ive seen. powdercoat is good on frames so is galvanizing. if you restored a truck from ground up epoxy primed everything did the frame with one of the methods i mentioned and undercoated the underside wheel wells and rocker bottoms i would think you wouldnt have anything that could rust. also theres places on my 04 thats getting a little rust like the bed braces. my wifes uncle has 01 the bedside is starting to rot on it. so new isnt much better.

[Stepper86]

Were Im from (Finland) they start to salt the roads as soon as the first frost night comes along (usualy early or mid Oktober) and then they keep on pooring it out until( I think) the salt storage is empty some were around March.
I have an old Volvo that was given to me by my grandpa (it´s a -71) It´s been in the family since it was new,most of it´s life as a daily driver and it´s still rust free.
I spray it underneath and inside frame channels once a year with a mixture of heavy duty gearbox oil and bitumen based (bodymass?) I´m not sure if that´s the proper name for it in english. Black sticky stuff that you normaly apply with a brush.
I heat up the oil and add some of the body stuff, stir it all together and put it in a paint gun with a large nossle (1,5 or bigger) or you can use a degreaser gun.
In spring or summer I wash it off with a preassure washer(a heated model is best), it works really well. It´s a dirty job but worth it if you want to save your car/truck from rust.
One thing if you try this, try not to spray too much on rubber parts like engine mounts and joint covers. The rubber don´t take the oil very well and might desolve or crack.
Do´nt spill hot oil on your hands, and wear eye protection. Oil in your eyes is not funny

[mdb]

My 76 gets a yearly Rust Check spray (the type where they drill holes and spray inside the door panels and everything). Lots of people don't like the idea of putting holes in their trucks, but it's better then just spraying some oil on the bottom. The holes are capped and they aren't really noticeable. Unless it's a show truck I don't see the problem (and why would you be driving that in the winter anyway?).

As far as winter driving goes these trucks are pretty good. My 76 C2500 has gotten me through quite a few storms. I'd stick with the skinnier stock type tires (with good tread) and some weight in the back. I think you'd find most off-road/mud tires would slide all over the road when it's icy. That said, unless there's a large amount of snow on the roads a FWD car will give you the best winter handling.

No matter what you do, winter driving in salt is hard on any vehicle. After a couple seasons you'll notice some rust developing and the paint will take a beating.

[motornut]

i'm painting most parts with tremclad rust paint......
I'd say start with making sure all the drain holes in the doors/fenders/cowel are opened and clear
i even just cut my fenders open more in the bottom to ease the debris "flow" out
I use krown on our DD cars,but not the truck,but havn't ruled it out
When i did use krown on the burb it always seemed something needed to be fixed after it was done lol what a mess
I would start with a good wash,stripping wax etc and then a real good double polishing
a friends father used to keep a jar of vasaline in the car,for stone chips he'd spot and he would run some over the door/window seals then dab some over the lock holes before freezing rain,
maybe consider changeing the wheel nuts to solid ones,hate snapping wheel nuts/studs
but rotating them before winter is a good idea anyway ....or carry a BFH
the rims start to rust from the bite of ring holding to the rim.
may wana paint the rims or leave them rings off...or both

and tall and skinny over wide tires....LT235/75R15

[406 Q-ship]

The biggest issue when a vehicle rusts, is not the snow/cold but the mud that gets thrown up under the vehicle during the rest of the year. Now the mud holds the moisture to the metal and the salt from the roads in the winter gets into the mud and holds that wet moist corrosive to the sheet metal.......instant rust! Pressure wash the under side of the truck in all the knooks and cranies, at the changes of every season. Getting the dirt off is the best rust prevention, heck in Calif they rust when the mud stays wet (like at the beach). Check out vehicles in Hawaii, damn that is some rusty stuff and they have no snow (Southeast US is the same). The reason the Southwest have the best rust free vehicles is because the mud dries out and falls off.

[lanconcj]

I remember some of my dad's 80 era trucks had a logo with a knights head and the name "Zeibert" or something like that. I think it was a rust inhibitor of some kind. Does any one know anything about that? Is that product still around?

[donut]

To add my couple of pennies, and elaborate a little. Vaseline on door locks etc., that's one I forgot. My father did it years ago, I just use axle grease and didn't lock the truck. (when it was just a yard truck, the keys never left the ignition and that was 3 years.)

Mud as a cause. +1. ME used to use a salt/sand mix that would tear up fenders and rockers. When the sludge finally melted of, the sand was left behind, and stayed on the roads well into spring aka. "mud season". add mud and the problem was compounded.

Wash often if you can. Up there, if it's not above freezing, you won't find a carwash. There's also a couple of weeks in the winter that rock salt won't work due to the cold.

Frame was painted, I kept a can and a brush around for touchups. Best spot on my cab was the trans tunnel. 30 years of dripping oil protected even the factory finish in that area. Moving parts, cables, rust starting. I'd use "Fluid Film".

Fluid Film on lug studs and nuts (wheel on), then hubcaps. No problem removing them later.

If you have a relatively rust free truck, buy a cheap Honda for the winter, or drive what you've got. Nothing lasts forever.
I always liked a fairly aggressive studded snow tire, close to stock size. Emphasis on "snow". Mud tires are meant for mud.
2wd's can be good. I actually preferred them. An old timer once told me that 4wd is only to get you home. (in my case, if the hubs aren't locked, 4wd is useless)


@ lanconcj--I don't think I've seen a Ziebart, or Rusty Jones in 15 years. Not saying they aren't out there...

[sumran]

Originally Posted by C-10 simplex

Then again, there's no such thing as Christmas in florida either. Just my opinion.

We have a good time with Christmas but we don't hear those sleigh bell ringing unless we are watching TV. I miss the snow in December.

[Shaun1162]

I know it's not the most popular, but oil undercoating is a cheap way to help prevent rust. The trucks around here that were oiled every year held up alot better over time...

[motornut]

Originally Posted by lanconcj

I remember some of my dad's 80 era trucks had a logo with a knights head and the name "Zeibert" or something like that. I think it was a rust inhibitor of some kind. Does any one know anything about that? Is that product still around?

Still goin up here. Zeibart.Com
Ads on radio all the time
Posted via Mobile Device

[92GMCDriver]

up here in alberta i usually give my truck a good wax job and completely paint the underside with some rust inhibiting paint. they dont salt the roads around here except for in the city, so i usually try and avoid going there unless i really have to. Its also wise to go to the car wash at least once a week if you are seeing a lot of salted roads, hell id even go 2 or 3 times a week if it is really bad in your area.

[BigBlocksRule]

Later model stuff is more corrosion resistant...until you get through the protective coating. Older stuff rusts easier, but the metal is thicker.
A rust bucket with badly rusted out areas garners as much attention here as a straight, rust free does there...

[Axle]

Originally Posted by C-10 simplex

1) Is there anything or much you can do about preventing rust in a 73-91 truck?

a) small things?

b) more major things such as undercoating with rhino liner and such. i would actually seriously consider this.

2) Do you feel, based either on direct experience, or hunch, that a 91 blazer would be better at dealing with rust than a 73 blazer? And 87 pickup vs. a 73 pickup? vs. a 77 pickup?


3) If i'm not planning on doing any undercoating or anything else to the truck in regards to rust-proofing, would you recommend driving a virtually rust-free 83 truck this winter?

a) Will hosing off the underside after each drive (assuming it's above freezing) as soon as possible really prevent rust?

The reason i'm asking is because i feel this truck would make a good winter driver despite being "only" 2WD---because it has room for very large snow tires such as the Maxxis buckshot mudder or the Gateway buckshot(if you can still find them). i mean you'd be almost "unstuckable" with those.

1. Nothing you can do will prevent rust, but anything you do will help slow it down.

b. Back to anything helps. I go the oil spray route. It works, but again it won't prevent, just slow down the process considerably. I've had a winter beater that never had anything done to it, and it disintigrated. vs the oiled vehicles that got blemishes. The nice thing about oil is it creeps through the seems. If oil is occupying the space, salt water won't (it will, but you'll have an extra barrier before it gets to the metal).

2. Drive the vehicle you don't mind getting rusty faster. =-)

3. Not if you want to keep it that way. It WILL RUST quickly. My year round DD is an '83 (it gets oiled), but salt is not the only enemy they throw on the roads anymore. Calcium chloride is the devil. Since they added that to the mix they spread on the roads the truck has shown an increase in the pace of rust (vs the pace of rust I seen on various vehicles before the wonder anti-ice chemicals hit the roads). Any bare metal on your truck will be brown come spring time. Regardless of what truck you select, unless its heading to the scrap yard, you should do something

a. see 1.

Oil it, undercoat it, whatever and drive it. And what of it being 2wd? Rear wheel drive, two wheel drive vehicles have been used for ages successfully through the winters, long before salting and plowing became the obsession it has become.

Alex.

[greguw]

If they stop salting the crap out of the roads that would make a huge difference ... I had a brand new f350 and after one year in the northeast you could see signs of rust starting to form after one year .
I have coated the bottoms on many a truck spraying por-15 ... I'm doing a build right now everything on the chassis is being coated but I still will only drive the truck in deep snow before the plow and salt trucks get out .
I can't wait for plastic trucks ... Plastics is great but the auto makers are less inclined to go that direction because they will last too long and not sell replacement parts ... look at the old Saturn door skins , you could hit them with a sled hammer and they would bounce back ... they were tough as nails .