How should I deal with this rust?

[JP24]

Good afternoon forum members,

I have a 99 wrangler and I'm dealing with a rust issue. The hole opened underneath the driver-side door and I was looking to get it fixed. Would it be safer to have a shop do it or would it be manageable on my own? My concern was that the rust spread, any tips would be appreciated.

 

[Chris]

Pictures don’t work.

 

[JP24]

Pictures don’t work.

Just uploaded new ones, thanks for letting me know

 

[SSTJ]

Yikes. Is that the only area with rust? I have a hard time believing that, and I wonder if you could also provide some pics of the frame rail, and the "seam" between the frame rail and the transmission skid plate. I'm actually more worried about those areas than the tub itself.

But if you're just looking for advice on that one particular spot, I won't be much help. Others on here know more about body repair than I do.

What sliders are you running, BTW?

 

[someguysjeep]

hard to tell all up in your face like that but looks like it's the void behind the seat the sport bar connects to.
that bolt is probably 1 of the sidewall fasteners for the B bar base. and it started in there behind and under that B bar pad.

how far do you wanna take it? it could go pretty deep and require floor pans to be welded in or you could do patches.

sealing that hole is cheap, fixing the mess you don't see is not.

this is what was inside under my driver side pad same exterior rot.

 

[JP24]

Yikes. Is that the only area with rust? I have a hard time believing that, and I wonder if you could also provide some pics of the frame rail, and the "seam" between the frame rail and the transmission skid plate. I'm actually more worried about those areas than the tub itself.

But if you're just looking for advice on that one particular spot, I won't be much help. Others on here know more about body repair than I do.

What sliders are you running, BTW?

Barricade rock sliders

 

[JP24]

Barricade rock sliders

hard to tell all up in your face like that but looks like it's the void behind the seat the sport bar connects to.
that bolt is probably 1 of the sidewall fasteners for the B bar base. and it started in there behind and under that B bar pad.

how far do you wanna take it? it could go pretty deep and require floor pans to be welded in or you could do patches.

sealing that hole is cheap, fixing the mess you don't see is not.

Thanks for the info, I really don’t wanna take it to much further I already put a good 17-18K into it and didn’t want to add much more just looking to have it last 3 more years till I graduate. And the rust started from the inside And pushed through into the bottom of the tub

 

[PirataCoqui]

My opinion... given your comments.

Flap wheel it to knock the rust away. If it looks line it’s huge chucks are breaking away you have a choice. Stop and use liberal amounts of rust converter or keep going and be prepared to have to weld a patch.

Whatever you do, make sure whatever moisture caused it it to rust is addressed and you should be able to get to the 3 year mark.

Here is some rust I decided to cut out and patch.

 

[JP24]

Good afternoon forum members,

I have a 99 wrangler and I'm dealing with a rust issue. The hole opened underneath the driver-side door and I was looking to get it fixed. Would it be safer to have a shop do it or would it be manageable on my own? My concern was that the rust spread, any tips would be appreciated.






View attachment 290621View attachment 290622View attachment 290623View attachment 290624

Good afternoon forum members,

I have a 99 wrangler and I'm dealing with a rust issue. The hole opened underneath the driver-side door and I was looking to get it fixed. Would it be safer to have a shop do it or would it be manageable on my own? My concern was that the rust spread, any tips would be appreciated.






View attachment 290621View attachment 290622View attachment 290623View attachment 290624

View attachment 290654My opinion... given your comments.

Flap wheel it to knock the rust away. If it looks line it’s huge chucks are breaking away you have a choice. Stop and use liberal amounts of rust converter or keep going and be prepared to have to weld a patch.

Whatever you do, make sure whatever moisture caused it it to rust is addressed and you should be able to get to the 3 year mark.

Here is some rust I decided to cut out and patch.

Thanks a lot I appreciate the info, if I were to use the rust converter would that stop the rust? Also would I have to patch the hole if I used the converter because wouldn’t the hole still be opened. Also, a friend of mine has a welder but I wasn’t sure if which metal to use and the proper way to do it.

 

[PirataCoqui]

My opinion... given your comments.

Flap wheel it to knock the rust away. If it looks line it’s huge chucks are breaking away you have a choice. Stop and use liberal amounts of rust converter or keep going and be prepared to have to weld a patch.

Whatever you do, make sure whatever moisture caused it it to rust is addressed and you should be able to get to the 3 year mark.

Thanks a lot I appreciate the info, if I were to use the rust converter would that stop the rust? Also would I have to patch the hole if I used the converter because wouldn’t the hole still be opened. Also, a friend of mine has a welder but I wasn’t sure if which metal to use and the proper way to do it.

I consider rust converter as stop gap to a problem you need to address eventually. It does stop the rust but won’t make metal that is brittle any better. You should only use it on rust that is still firmly attached.. it shouldn’t be flaking off.

As far as patching. Yep. You would want to cover the hole. How you covered it up is up to you and dependent on what you could tolerate in terms of looks.

As beginner, and given the welder your friend had, you could simply buy a piece of sheet metal from Lowe’s and tack weld it in place. Seal the seams, prime and paint. I bought this and though overkill it worked out fine. I say tack weld due to how thin the tub metal is. You might end up melting more holes into your tub depending on how hot your welder runs if you try to straight up weld.

12-in x 18-in Cold Rolled Steel Solid Sheet Metal
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-12-in-x-18-in-Cold-Rolled-Steel-Solid/3057645

 

[Vtx531]

Search for floor pans and torque boxes. That's your near future

 

[JP24]

I consider rust converter as stop gap to a problem you need to address eventually. It does stop the rust but won’t make metal that is brittle any better. You should only use it on rust that is still firmly attached.. it shouldn’t be flaking off.

As far as patching. Yep. You would want to cover the hole. How you covered it up is up to you and dependent on what you could tolerate in terms of looks.

As beginner, and given the welder your friend had, you could simply buy a piece of sheet metal from Lowe’s and tack weld it in place. Seal the seams, prime and paint. I bought this and though overkill it worked out fine. I say tack weld due to how thin the tub metal is. You might end up melting more holes into your tub depending on how hot your welder runs if you try to straight up weld.

12-in x 18-in Cold Rolled Steel Solid Sheet Metal
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-12-in-x-18-in-Cold-Rolled-Steel-Solid/3057645

Sounds good thanks, our plan is to cut that section out and weld a new piece in like you said. Then maybe use jb weld steel stick to seal the gaps. Hopefully this repair will last 3 years

 

[PirataCoqui]

I consider rust converter as stop gap to a problem you need to address eventually. It does stop the rust but won’t make metal that is brittle any better. You should only use it on rust that is still firmly attached.. it shouldn’t be flaking off.

As far as patching. Yep. You would want to cover the hole. How you covered it up is up to you and dependent on what you could tolerate in terms of looks.

As beginner, and given the welder your friend had, you could simply buy a piece of sheet metal from Lowe’s and tack weld it in place. Seal the seams, prime and paint. I bought this and though overkill it worked out fine. I say tack weld due to how thin the tub metal is. You might end up melting more holes into your tub depending on how hot your welder runs if you try to straight up weld.

12-in x 18-in Cold Rolled Steel Solid Sheet Metal
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-12-in-x-18-in-Cold-Rolled-Steel-Solid/3057645

I forgot to add. I cut the pieces to the size I needed.

 

[Moglocker]

I consider rust converter as stop gap to a problem you need to address eventually. It does stop the rust but won’t make metal that is brittle any better. You should only use it on rust that is still firmly attached.. it shouldn’t be flaking off.

As far as patching. Yep. You would want to cover the hole. How you covered it up is up to you and dependent on what you could tolerate in terms of looks.

As beginner, and given the welder your friend had, you could simply buy a piece of sheet metal from Lowe’s and tack weld it in place. Seal the seams, prime and paint. I bought this and though overkill it worked out fine. I say tack weld due to how thin the tub metal is. You might end up melting more holes into your tub depending on how hot your welder runs if you try to straight up weld.

12-in x 18-in Cold Rolled Steel Solid Sheet Metal
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-12-in-x-18-in-Cold-Rolled-Steel-Solid/3057645

Yes tack in different spots to not get the metal hot until full bead is achieved,grind down and go over the top with allmetal and undercoat the bottom and dunzzo!

 

[someguysjeep]

Sounds good thanks, our plan is to cut that section out and weld a new piece in like you said. Then maybe use jb weld steel stick to seal the gaps. Hopefully this repair will last 3 years

not jb weld

 

[JP24]

not jb weld

View attachment 290674

Ok, thanks It's a small area so do you think the caulk form would work ok too?

 

[someguysjeep]

Ok, thanks It's a small area so do you think the caulk form would work ok too?

sure

 

[PirataCoqui]

not jb weld

View attachment 290674

Agreed.

not jb weld

View attachment 290674

Agreed. If you are going through the trouble to weld. Don’t use jb weld use seam sealer for whatever small seams left behind.

 

[JP24]

I consider rust converter as stop gap to a problem you need to address eventually. It does stop the rust but won’t make metal that is brittle any better. You should only use it on rust that is still firmly attached.. it shouldn’t be flaking off.

As far as patching. Yep. You would want to cover the hole. How you covered it up is up to you and dependent on what you could tolerate in terms of looks.

As beginner, and given the welder your friend had, you could simply buy a piece of sheet metal from Lowe’s and tack weld it in place. Seal the seams, prime and paint. I bought this and though overkill it worked out fine. I say tack weld due to how thin the tub metal is. You might end up melting more holes into your tub depending on how hot your welder runs if you try to straight up weld.

12-in x 18-in Cold Rolled Steel Solid Sheet Metal
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-12-in-x-18-in-Cold-Rolled-Steel-Solid/3057645

Hi, I just bought some 1/8”X3”-3ft steel is this too thick to patch the whole with?

 

[AlanLGuy]

Hi, I just bought some 1/8”X3”-3ft steel is this too thick to patch the whole with?

that’s pretty thick. 16 gauge is usually what’s recommended for patching the tub. What you got is about twice as thick. Going to really hard to bend and it will be hard to get penetration on it without burning through the existing body metal