Rust!

[adamwcordell]

Alright it's not a sportsmobile but I trust you guys lol. For the record I recently sold my SM.

I have some rust on my new rig and would like to get your opinion... How bad is this? Also what should I do about it lol

[Steve C]

If it was mine and all I wanted to due is prevent the rust from getting worse - I'd just pressure wash it well and coat everything showing rust with FluidFilm. It certainly won't be a permanent fix, but with annual re-coats things won't get worse... As a side benefit, if you use the black tinted FluidFilm it will make everything look good.

A much more labor intensive but more permanent fix would be to wire wheel/brush off all the rust and go with a rust approved coating like POR-15.

Overall, the rust doesn't look terrible for an East Coast rig ;-)

[marret]

Level of rust acceptance or what is bad is really geographical.

I would at least brush/wire wheel the rust, use a rust converter, paint, and then fluid film annually. Media blasting, prep, and appropriate paint process is the best.

[simplesez]

Previous owner did a similar project on my Land Cruiser. Ended up about $25k to take the axles, steering, suspension and such off for grinding, treatment and painting. Additional stuff like getting the gas tank and fuel lines happened. Brake lines also. Took several weeks.

Or you just fluid film it and forget it.

[86Scotty]

^^^ I agree. When the brake lines rust through it's generally time to do something about it.

Unless you need a new hobby.

[BCam]

By "Bend" I assume you mean Bend, OR. If so, I'm guessing this is from exposure to salt water, the ocean air and road salt. After wire brushing you should be able to tell if this is just surface rust or something more serious. Minor pitting and flaking is OK. Hopefully, if it's more serious, only a few, easily replaceable parts are affected. Otherwise, I'm with Steve and Chris. I'd use POR-15 on the more seriously corroded parts.

You can search the Sportsmobile members list for owners in your area who may be able to give you an opinion via private message. You can search it here:
https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/members/list/

My E350 came to me from the midwest. Here's what I discovered under my cab's floor mat:

https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...diy-27589.html

I also had some rocker panel rust and some underbody rust that wasn't as significant as your's (I left both untreated). I suspect my floor pan rust was so bad due to the wet fiber on the underside of the floor mat never drying out. I'm in the Sacramento CA area so I'm not worried about future rusting.

[ScrapIron]

Someone on another forum recommended this stuff for removing rust claiming it eats it away. But once i read the warning labels and realized i dont own any type of full body hazmat suit with an oxygen supply i ruled it out.

[simplesez]

Lol

It's always been comical and sad to me how products used in the past have been proven to be really bad for human health. The general population doesn't usually find out until the lawsuit is finalized.

These days a lot of folks are going to find out about PFAS substances and be pissed how prevalent it was.

Asbestos, lead, and so much more. What are we using now that in 30 years we find out is toxic?

[adamwcordell]

Gosh dang, this has to be the best forum on the Internet. Thanks all for the info. I reached out to a mobile media blaster who said he could hit the worst areas for less than $1000 then apply a chemical coating.

I also reached out to an undercoating company who said they can apply the coating for $2k but the oil and what not has to be removed. So now I'm trying to figure out how to do that. I've heard of guys using hot water pressure washers. Just need to find one near Bend, OR.


Little bit of background the truck was imported from Germany and then was professionally converted in salt lake city by a company called ACME Overland.

Link to original truck listing (paid fraction of this price)
https://www.acmeoverland.com/exp1824

[BCam]

Wow, that's worth investing some money in to treat and deter the rust (not like my 2005 E350).

I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more posts on your new rig, especially fun ones.

Bob