What do you think about this rust?

[chino1969]

What do you think of these? The surface rust was wire wheeled away and steel sprayed with rusty metal primer. Inside frame cleaned, blew out with compressed air and Eastwood inner cavity treated. Whole under carriage is going to have any surface rust removed and coated. Thoughts?

 

[Chris]

What do you think of these Chris? The surface rust was wire wheeled away and steel sprayed with rusty metal primer. Inside frame cleaned, blew out with compressed air and Eastwood inner cavity treated. Whole under carriage is going to have any surface rust removed and coated. Thoughts?

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I see really bad rust there lurking in places you wouldn't notice at first. Way more than surface rust too.

I also question some of what's been done to the frame, like red paint in certain areas (when it should be black). Something is up there, and I would stay away from it personally. Looks like some half-ass owned it.

 

[chino1969]

I see really bad rust there lurking in places you wouldn't notice at first. Way more than surface rust too.

I also question some of what's been done to the frame, like red paint in certain areas (when it should be black). Something is up there, and I would stay away from it personally. Looks like some half-ass owned it.

The red paint is rusty metal primer. There was some surface rust there that was knocked off with a Metabo to bare metal. The red primer was just to keep the rust from re-occurring. The rest appears to be surface that will be removed with a needle gun for the hard to reach places. Banged the frame with a ball peen and appears to be solid. All of the red areas to be coated with industrial strength coating. If only car companies offered an option of a hot dip galvanized frame would one be reasonably assured they would have no rust. That would be the only really effective way of preventing inevitable rust.

 

[tworley]

Actually doesnt look to bad from where I am sitting. They clearly took the primer to cover some rust, but it looks like smooth metal underneath still. Some questionable items regarding suspension though...

 

[-T.]

I don't know why they didn't go back over the frame with some chassis black, just to finish it up after doing the Eastwood work, but if they had, we'd be yelling that they are hiding something. If they had done nothing, we'd be yelling that the frame is too far gone and not worth saving. Depends on who looks at it, and what they are used to seeing. But I wouldn't have any problem with that frame. There are other areas that might concern me more.
Did the owner state that the pictures were taken at different times? And what mods are on the Jeep? One picture shows a trussed front axle with a RC steering stabilizer, and another is a non-trussed axle with a Teraflex VSS stabilizer. Then there is one picture of the rear with long arms, and another with short arms and OEM uppers. Just odd.

 

[tworley]

Did the owner state that the pictures were taken at different times? And what mods are on the Jeep? One picture shows a trussed front axle with a RC steering stabilizer, and another is a non-trussed axle with a Teraflex VSS stabilizer. Then there is one picture of the rear with long arms, and another with short arms and OEM uppers. Just odd.

I noticed that too. Also mismatched bumpstops and shock relocators.

 

[Chris]

The red paint is rusty metal primer. There was some surface rust there that was knocked off with a Metabo to bare metal. The red primer was just to keep the rust from re-occurring. The rest appears to be surface that will be removed with a needle gun for the hard to reach places. Banged the frame with a ball peen and appears to be solid. All of the red areas to be coated with industrial strength coating. If only car companies offered an option of a hot dip galvanized frame would one be reasonably assured they would have no rust. That would be the only really effective way of preventing inevitable rust.

Like I said, I see very, very nasty rust lurking in places you might not be paying attention to.

I'll bet under the transfer case skid is rotting out as well, just like these areas I circled.

It's your money ultimately, but I wouldn't touch this thing personally, not a chance.

I guarantee you the inside of the frame looks rotted just like the areas I circled. Get an endoscope and check it out, I'd bet money on it.

 

[chino1969]

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Like I said, I see very, very nasty rust lurking in places you might not be paying attention to.

I'll bet under the transfer case skid is rotting out as well, just like these areas I circled.

It's your money ultimately, but I wouldn't touch this thing personally, not a chance.

I guarantee you the inside of the frame looks rotted just like the areas I circled. Get an endoscope and check it out, I'd bet money on it.

Thanks for the input. I actually probed the areas you pointed out with a screw driver to see how deep the rust has penetrated. The rust does not appear to go deep and can be removed with a wire brush but I'll examine further. Yes, the transfer case skid is rusty and I will look closer in that area. I've looked at many here in PA and this is one of the better ones I found for a 2004 TJ.

 

[TJ2]

There will be a lot of work ahead of you. Buy the right tool and plan on removing anything that you can unbolt. I would suggest to go for a sand blast quote and see if it's an option you can afford, that will save you a lot of time.

 

[chino1969]

I don't know why they didn't go back over the frame with some chassis black, just to finish it up after doing the Eastwood work, but if they had, we'd be yelling that they are hiding something. If they had done nothing, we'd be yelling that the frame is too far gone and not worth saving. Depends on who looks at it, and what they are used to seeing. But I wouldn't have any problem with that frame. There are other areas that might concern me more.
Did the owner state that the pictures were taken at different times? And what mods are on the Jeep? One picture shows a trussed front axle with a RC steering stabilizer, and another is a non-trussed axle with a Teraflex VSS stabilizer. Then there is one picture of the rear with long arms, and another with short arms and OEM uppers. Just odd.

These pics were all taken at same time. The whole under carriage is going to have any rust removed with needle gun and then coated with a chassis black coating. The red primer isn't hiding anything, simply covering bare metal to keep from rusting. Those areas were hit with a Metabo to remove surface rust just to see if anything was deeper; it wasn't. Frame appears to be pretty solid. From my understanding it has a 3.5" RE lift.

 

[chino1969]

There will be a lot of work ahead of you. Buy the right tool and plan on removing anything that you can unbolt. I would suggest to go for a sand blast quote and see if it's an option you can afford, that will save you a lot of time.

I'm having a local body shop do the work. If I had a lift I would do everything myself but I don't and I'm sure not going to attempt it lying on my back. Shop quoted approx. $500.00 for removal of all rust and then coating entire frame and undercarriage. They are using a commercial product they have had good luck with after trying several others. The shop did the shop pick up truck with this process and it looks good. I'll post pictures when complete.

 

[jeepndogs]

I don’t see anything on there that would scare me. Hit it all with a wire wheel and get a good converter on there. I think you will be ok. I know a lot of people love fluid film but look into 3-M cavity wax. The fluid film washes off the cavity wax stays put. It’s as close to OEM corrosion protection as you will get. This physics after about 1000 hours in a salt chamber. On the right is cavity wax. Note how it creeps into the welded flanges and protects the bare steel.

 

[chino1969]

I don’t see anything on there that would scare me. Hit it all with a wire wheel and get a good converter on there. I think you will be ok. I know a lot of people love fluid film but look into 3-M cavity wax. The fluid film washes off the cavity wax stays put. It’s as close to OEM corrosion protection as you will get. This physics after about 1000 hours in a salt chamber. On the right is cavity wax. Note how it creeps into the welded flanges and protects the bare steel.

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Are the samples on the right bare steel subjected to 1000 hrs. in a salt chamber and the ones on the right treated to cavity wax and subjected to the same?

 

[jeepndogs]

Are the samples on the right bare steel subjected to 1000 hrs. in a salt chamber and the ones on the right treated to cavity wax and subjected to the same?

Exactly, both were welded box sections of rails. The one on the left was left with just the galvanized coating, on the right were one coat of cavity wax using a 360 wand. They were both in the same tank for the same amount of time then remove and cut open, 1000 hours is equivalent to 5-7 years.

 

[jeepndogs]

I would coat the whole inside of the frame with the cavity wax. It will take about 2-3 cans per side. You want three good coats. It won’t wash out, it won’t mix with water, it won’t hold moisture. Every OEM recommends it to be used on any new replacement panel and on any backside of a panel that has been repaired. It’s the closest thing you can get to restoring the factory corrosion protection. I just did a complete repaint on my Lj and this was sprayed in every seam on the Jeep, inside the doors, tailgate, windshield frame, all the body supports.

 

[mots]

I would coat the whole inside of the frame with the cavity wax. It will take about 2-3 cans per side. You want three good coats. It won’t wash out, it won’t mix with water, it won’t hold moisture. Every OEM recommends it to be used on any new replacement panel and on any backside of a panel that has been repaired. It’s the closest thing you can get to restoring the factory corrosion protection. I just did a complete repaint on my Lj and this was sprayed in every seam on the Jeep, inside the doors, tailgate, windshield frame, all the body supports.

I read about this stuff somewhere recently. It may have been another post of yours here somewhere, LOL. This stuff looks really good. I think I'm going to give this a try on my JK's frame after cleaning it up really good this Summer. It is in great condition now, so it will be a great time to preserve what I can. For my TJ, it has already been cleaned, prepped, converted, painted, and Fluid-filmed really well. I will no longer drive it in the Winter or on salty roads unless I absolutely need to. But, if this stuff lasts longer and works better inside the frame, this may be in the TJ's future as well when I have to clean up the FF and do it again!

 

[steelhd]

Cavity wax is great if you start with rust free metal. If you are counting on wax to somehow encapsulate and stop rust that plan will eventually end up in failure. Get inside the frame with a chain beater or wherever it takes to remove all loose rust and all the surface rust you can get at, coat with a product made to convert surface rust like POR15 the best you can (still won't ever be 100%), then use the cavity wax. Rust is like cancer and has to be removed or converted completely. There aren't any long-term shortcuts.

 

[chino1969]

Exactly, both were welded box sections of rails. The one on the left was left with just the galvanized coating, on the right were one coat of cavity wax using a 360 wand. They were both in the same tank for the same amount of time then remove and cut open, 1000 hours is equivalent to 5-7 years.

That is very impressive.

 

[chino1969]

I would coat the whole inside of the frame with the cavity wax. It will take about 2-3 cans per side. You want three good coats. It won’t wash out, it won’t mix with water, it won’t hold moisture. Every OEM recommends it to be used on any new replacement panel and on any backside of a panel that has been repaired. It’s the closest thing you can get to restoring the factory corrosion protection. I just did a complete repaint on my Lj and this was sprayed in every seam on the Jeep, inside the doors, tailgate, windshield frame, all the body supports.

What brand of cavity wax did you use and where did you get it?

 

[chino1969]

OK, so flexible bore scope is inbound for examining inside of frame. Will go from there once it arrives.