Contemplating a sale after a rookie frame repair mistake

Nate S

New Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2020
Messages
16
Location
Alexandria, VA
Hello — First time post — long time consumer of the great content this forum provides...

Last October I purchased a 2004 Wrangler X (4.0L four-speed automatic, 154k miles) from a dealer. The purchase fulfilled a lifelong dream to own a Wrangler (I fell in love with them as a kid watching MacGyver — who drove YJ).

It was my first used vehicle purchase — and I'm certain I made some rookie mistakes.

The first mistake was to have the Jeep inspected after I purchased it. The inspection found a fairly obvious hole in the frame (passenger side, towards the front). The technician basically called me an idiot (in a nice way) for buying a Jeep with a hole in the frame. He advised me to take it back.

The dealer wouldn't take the Jeep back (at least not without a huge fight), but the sales manager offered to have his buddy patch the frame for me. I took a chance and said fine. A week later I picked up the Jeep. The frame was repaired.

Paranoid now about rust and frame integrity, I took the Jeep to a mechanic for a rust assessment (and to see if the repair job was adequate). To my great relief, he said that the frame was in good shape (for its age and northern location). He advised me to perform routine maintenance to keep rust in check, which lead me to a second rookie mistake.

Last week I took the Jeep to an auto body shop. I asked them to perform preventative rust maintenance, i.e. clean out rust flakes on the interior of the frame and coat the frame. I thought this was a smart, long term investment. I figured (and assumed) they would clean the undercarriage and coat the frame with POR-15 or something similar.

The Jeep looked great when I picked it up. I asked what they used to coat the frame. He said 3M Rubberized Undercoat.

Unfortunately, I did not specify no rubberized solution when I asked for an undercoating (I assumed they would use something like POR-15.)

After researching the rubberized undercoating I've learned that it's not a good option...especially for a Wrangler in an area like Northern Virginia and one that already had some rust. When water gets behind the undercoat it will stay there...and trigger rust and by the time you notice the rust it will be too late. The undercoating not only facilitates rust by trapping water, it hides the damage that's taking place.

I bought this Jeep with the goal of longterm ownership. Now I'm worried that I just expedited the onset of rust and there's not much I will be able to do about it.

I really want to keep this Jeep for the long haul. I've got some planned investments in it (lift, tires, etc), but I'm worried that I basically cut it's potential frame-life in half.

I'm thinking of selling the Jeep (I'd be 100% transparent with potential buyers), but I'd definitely lose a bunch of money since I bought it a a dealer inflated price in the first place (the third rookie mistake).

Can I get 10-15 years out of this Jeep or will it rust out on me in 5-7 now that the undercarriage is blanked with rubberized coating? I'd love to hear your thoughts and advice. Thanks very much!
 
Hello — First time post — long time consumer of the great content this forum provides...

Last October I purchased a 2004 Wrangler X (4.0L four-speed automatic, 154k miles) from a dealer. The purchase fulfilled a lifelong dream to own a Wrangler (I fell in love with them as a kid watching MacGyver — who drove YJ).

It was my first used vehicle purchase — and I'm certain I made some rookie mistakes.

The first mistake was to have the Jeep inspected after I purchased it. The inspection found a fairly obvious hole in the frame (passenger side, towards the front). The technician basically called me an idiot (in a nice way) for buying a Jeep with a hole in the frame. He advised me to take it back.

The dealer wouldn't take the Jeep back (at least not without a huge fight), but the sales manager offered to have his buddy patch the frame for me. I took a chance and said fine. A week later I picked up the Jeep. The frame was repaired.

Paranoid now about rust and frame integrity, I took the Jeep to a mechanic for a rust assessment (and to see if the repair job was adequate). To my great relief, he said that the frame was in good shape (for its age and northern location). He advised me to perform routine maintenance to keep rust in check, which lead me to a second rookie mistake.

Last week I took the Jeep to an auto body shop. I asked them to perform preventative rust maintenance, i.e. clean out rust flakes on the interior of the frame and coat the frame. I thought this was a smart, long term investment. I figured (and assumed) they would clean the undercarriage and coat the frame with POR-15 or something similar.

The Jeep looked great when I picked it up. I asked what they used to coat the frame. He said 3M Rubberized Undercoat.

Unfortunately, I did not specify no rubberized solution when I asked for an undercoating (I assumed they would use something like POR-15.)

After researching the rubberized undercoating I've learned that it's not a good option...especially for a Wrangler in an area like Northern Virginia and one that already had some rust. When water gets behind the undercoat it will stay there...and trigger rust and by the time you notice the rust it will be too late. The undercoating not only facilitates rust by trapping water, it hides the damage that's taking place.

I bought this Jeep with the goal of longterm ownership. Now I'm worried that I just expedited the onset of rust and there's not much I will be able to do about it.

I really want to keep this Jeep for the long haul. I've got some planned investments in it (lift, tires, etc), but I'm worried that I basically cut it's potential frame-life in half.

I'm thinking of selling the Jeep (I'd be 100% transparent with potential buyers), but I'd definitely lose a bunch of money since I bought it a a dealer inflated price in the first place (the third rookie mistake).

Can I get 10-15 years out of this Jeep or will it rust out on me in 5-7 now that the undercarriage is blanked with rubberized coating? I'd love to hear your thoughts and advice. Thanks very much!
break out your scraper, grinder, sand paper, whatever and take it off.
 
I don't remember if I used rubberized undercoating or some other undercoating where the inside of the front wheel wells are visible behind the tires. The reason I did it was because my TJ is silver, which looks weird under there and I also figured the slight thickness of undercoating would help prevent stone chips.

Whatever the undercoating was, a couple weeks later it basically melted and became one with the Fluid Film that hit it while I sprayed everything else under my TJ.

That, along with how well Fluid Film does at preventing rust anyway, I'd either get some myself and coat the inside or find someone that will.
 
I don't remember if I used rubberized undercoating or some other undercoating where the inside of the front wheel wells are visible behind the tires. The reason I did it was because my TJ is silver, which looks weird under there and I also figured the slight thickness of undercoating would help prevent stone chips.

Whatever the undercoating was, a couple weeks later it basically melted and became one with the Fluid Film that hit it while I sprayed everything else under my TJ.

That, along with how well Fluid Film does at preventing rust anyway, I'd either get some myself and coat the inside or find someone that will.

Thanks for the feedback, JeepCJTJ. Much appreciated!
 
If I were in your shoes I’d search for a rust free frame for a future frame swap. Sounds like yours will last at least a few years now so it will give you time to find one.
If you want it to last long term a nice rust free frame would be an excellent platform
 
  • Like
Reactions: TJ Starting
Do you have any pics of the frame before the undercoating? Also post pics of it now, so we can get an idea of what's going on.

And what kind of patch was done? Was it a Safe T Cap? Or just some sheet metal welded over the hole?
 
You want a jeep, maybe not that one....think it through and maybe selling is a good idea. Only you can decide side that, as mentioned we are not sure how bad the rust is/was. Sorry to hear this, good luck..
 
Do you have any pics of the frame before the undercoating? Also post pics of it now, so we can get an idea of what's going on.

And what kind of patch was done? Was it a Safe T Cap? Or just some sheet metal welded over the hole?

Thanks for taking a look.

Regarding the patch: I don't think it was a Safe T Cap. More likely it was sheet metal welded over the hole. Two mechanics looked at the frame in the past year following the patch. My takeaway from them was that they've seen better work, but the patch job was at least adequate. It's also passed inspection since the patch was done.

Not many before photos, but the attached collages show some before and after work around the skid plate. You'll also see an after photo of the rear dana 35 and an after photo of the suspension components around the front tire. Before the coating was applied, you could see that the front shock was very old and needed replaced. It's harder to see that the shock is worn out following the coating.

My anxiety about the whole thing has dropped some after reading some replies to the post. I really appreciate everyone's feedback. Still kicking myself for not asking more questions when I dropped the Jeep off at the body shop (which was a well-reviewed outfit). Looks like I should relax a bit as there are some potential and reasonable solutions. Thanks again.

before_after.jpg


Untitled-1.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: TJ Starting
Thanks for taking a look.

Regarding the patch: I don't think it was a Safe T Cap. More likely it was sheet metal welded over the hole. Two mechanics looked at the frame in the past year following the patch. My takeaway from them was that they've seen better work, but the patch job was at least adequate. It's also passed inspection since the patch was done.

Not many before photos, but the attached collages show some before and after work around the skid plate. You'll also see an after photo of the rear dana 35 and an after photo of the suspension components around the front tire. Before the coating was applied, you could see that the front shock was very old and needed replaced. It's harder to see that the shock is worn out following the coating.

My anxiety about the whole thing has dropped some after reading some replies to the post. I really appreciate everyone's feedback. Still kicking myself for not asking more questions when I dropped the Jeep off at the body shop (which was a well-reviewed outfit). Looks like I should relax a bit as there are some potential and reasonable solutions. Thanks again.

View attachment 191590

View attachment 191591

IMG955586.jpg
 
You want a jeep, maybe not that one....think it through and maybe selling is a good idea. Only you can decide side that, as mentioned we are not sure how bad the rust is/was. Sorry to hear this, good luck..

Very true. I appreciate the sentiment! I feel a little better now after reading some suggestions, but I'll definitely think it all through.
 
Wouldn't a high pressure washer make short work of removing the rubberized coating?

I agree Jerry, I thought the same. Probably save a lot of time over a wire wheel, especially in the nooks and crannies because it looks like they coated EVERYTHING. Coils, shocks, gas tank, etc. Nate you may even want to consider using a solvent to help loosen it up if it puts up a fight. I don't know the implications of that though so take my advice with a grain of salt. Mothers makes a decent rubber remover. I use it on my GTO to remove burnout rubber and even took off some plastidip with it in the past.
 
Last edited:
Frame doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought it would. Look, end of the day, these frames rot from the inside out. I'd worry more about the rubberized stuff rotting out the floorboards than the frame. I think the most important thing you can do is to drill drain holes front and rear so water can escape. Then maybe a few liberal applications of fluid film inside them.

You've definitely got some rot going on under the skid plate, which may eventually need to be taken care of with a Safe T Cap. Really not the end of the world. Also, maybe I'm missing it in the pics, but where was the patch done?
 
This stuff will take that undercoating off without scraping. A car wash hose alone won't take it off. I bought a Jeep that the PO sprayed that crap on. I dumped the Goof Off Pro strength remover on it and the undercoating dripped off. You would need a brush to spread it. My Jeep had slight rust at the skid plate from water sitting there between the skid and frame. I dropped the skid enough to clean it up and painted my entire frame with Walmart cheapo stop rust paint ($1 a can) and drilled 4 drain holes in the frame, so any water just drips out.
p.s. That rust didn't look that bad.
Goof Off.jpg



Rubi frame paint 1.jpg
Rubi frame holes.jpg
 
Last edited: