Advice on rust prevention and treatment

[Alex Roux]

Hi all

I have searched the forum to a degree (perhaps not well enough) and cannot find much commentary on rust. Perhaps the coastal guys can contribute more on this point...

From what I can see, I do no have any rust on my chassis. I do not live next to the coast (although I visit the coast on average once a year), and I do not pull and launch boats.
So all this should mean that my "rust risk rating" is reasonably low? - please comment
Would some kind of chassis treatment in any event be advisable?

Secondly I have noticed brown spots on my recently fitted exhaust. It is steel, but not stainless. This is subsequent to having visited the coast during December and January and the rate at which it started to appear is alarming.
The small dent and polish people can also do a paint on the chassis for rust treatment. However they expressed their doubts about the effectiveness of such a treatment on the exhaust due to the heat it generates. So how should one treat the exhaust for rust?

Thanks

[davejones]

Hi Alex

You can read a bit on this topic here http://www.patrol4x4.co.za/viewtopic.ph ... hilit=rust

Dont stress at all about rust - on your exhaust, this is completely normal, and it's not going to deteriorate much in Witbank. Non stainless exhausts rust and fall apart, this is just what they do.

Unless you are launching boats regularly (and then id be more worried about my wheel bearings), by living in Mphumalanga your rust risk rating (do you work in a bank by any chance ) is low. Seriously, you dont have to worry at all.

I have a '98 patrol from the northwest that was completely rust free, until i came back from a trip through the makgadikgadi salts pans in April. Given her age, the chassis over time had become "sandblasted" through off road use, therefore the factory protection over time has been eroded and when i got back to JHB the rust had spread like a virus. However this is still only surface rust. I embarked on this long research into the best way to address rust, and my findings are as follows:

The best solution is a bit of hard work and elbow grease.

I dedicated 3 weekend under my patrol sanding, and then treating with a combination of duram products, NS2 cleaner and etching compound, NS1 rust buster, NS4 anti corrosive metal primer, and then NS8 metal top coat. Overboard perhaps, but it lets me sleep well at night.

You can take it to other guys who'll spray all sorts of products on (like Tectyl), but after extensive reading, in my opinion those kinds of treatments are best for a 4x4 that has just rolled of the show room floor. The risk is that it on an older 4x4 with some rust all it does is hide the problem. Much better to just graft on your own chassis, keep things visible and keep things simple.

Good luck!

[Russ Kellermann]

I agree on the last sentence too dave.