I have a 2006 TJ, an X I think as it has the 4.0 engine, automatic trans. I understood that the Jeeps starting with the YJs and then the TJs have galvanized body panels, but the frames are not galvanized. It seems that almost all of the rust issues with the TJ have to do with the frame. Is it correct that the bodies are galvanized? Could never fond a straight answer to that.
Galvanized Body?
- Thread starter Peter Panagakos
- Start date
I bought a 92 Dodge Ram new. It was touted as having a galvanized primer under the finish coat. it was a farm truck that did get a few scratches. The layer under the finish did look like galvanized metal. As these are also Mopars it could be. But to be clear, I don't think it was actually galvanized, heated up and dipped in zinc, but used a primer coat they called a galvanized primer.
Wrong. Look at some of these TJs in the mid west, east coast, etc. The bodies are just as rotted as the frames.
I don't know whether the bodies are galvanized or not (@mrblaine might know), but I can tell you that the bodies don't fair better than the frames when you live in a place that salts the roads.
The TJ body panels were galvanized but galvanizing is not bulletproof, it can allow rust if damaged. My galvanized boat trailer rusted at spots that had surface damage to the galvanizing. Using a cold galvanizing spray over the damaged areas stopped the rust.
If they were galvanized, it was micron thin and marginal at best. TJ bodies rot out just as easily as any other vehicle. All the rot I've cut out of my tub is testimony to that. They might have had some zinc mix in the primer, but they were not 'hot dipped'.
The bodies began to be galvanized in 1995, '97 YJ tubs were the first which included all TJ bodies that followed.
Let's get something straight. Just because steel is galvanized that does not mean it cannot or will not rust. The more things attack the galvanized, like salt on roads, the faster it will start to rust.
Yes 1995 and newer bodies are galvanized. NO that does NOT mean they will be rust-free in all conditions.
My last boat trailer was hot-dip galvanized. It still started to rust since I occasionally launched my boat in salt water. It still resisted rust better than a brand-new painted trailer I replaced with it. I had ordered the new boat with a galvanized trailer but it showed up with a painted trailer which started rusting while awaiting the replacement correct galvanized trailer originally ordered.
Let's get something straight. Just because steel is galvanized that does not mean it cannot or will not rust. The more things attack the galvanized, like salt on roads, the faster it will start to rust.
Yes 1995 and newer bodies are galvanized. NO that does NOT mean they will be rust-free in all conditions.
My last boat trailer was hot-dip galvanized. It still started to rust since I occasionally launched my boat in salt water. It still resisted rust better than a brand-new painted trailer I replaced with it. I had ordered the new boat with a galvanized trailer but it showed up with a painted trailer which started rusting while awaiting the replacement correct galvanized trailer originally ordered.
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That's what I thought. I didn't think that just because the body was galvanized it would not rust. I am in New Mexico and rust is not a problem here. I have no rust on anything, not even a trace of any surface rust. I just remember hearing that Jeep went to galvanized bodies starting with the YJs. I have had a number of Jeeps over the years and remember they often had rusted hat channels under the body. Just seemed the opposite of the TJs. I see lots of issued on this site for frame rusting. The CJs it seemed more often to be floor pans and hat channels. I don't get why Jeep did make a way for the TJ frames to drain. I'm lucky, we have no salt on the roads here and it's a dry climate.