I know this can be a topic of big discussion in any area where the state drops salt in the winter, and everyone has there own idea on it. I'm looking in to buying something like POR-15 to handle a rust problem I have on a ranger I recently bought.

My question is how effectively will this work on 10+ years of rust?

 

How bad is the rust problem? It'll help by keeping it from getting worse.

 

Where is the rust too? You like that NYS salt too ha

 

There is minor body rust which isn't my big problem, and can be easily fixed. What I am looking for is an affordable way to handle the rust underneath the truck.

@Ford04Ranger4.0: Living in upstate you know that NYS drops some stupid amount of salt on the road which just kills your vehicles if not properly maintained. This is a 99 Ranger, so we are looking at 11 years of NYS salt damage.

 

Got any pics of it? I'd needle scale it or use 36grit flap dics and put por15 over it and undercoat over that. Thats my .02

 

POR-15 is made to go dirrctly over the rust so im not sure the amount of rust would matter.

 

I'll take some photos tomorrow, as I said it has 11 years of upstate New York underneath it. It looks at some spots where there is still a little bit of paint left. But I'd say about 98% of the underneath has your average amount of rust for a vehicle of this age.

I was doing some reading and was planning of going with a cheaper solution, because POR-15 is a little bit out of my price range unless you think one container would last the whole project. I was thinking of using the flap disc sander and then spraying it with some type of bed liner.

 

It works really good over a lot of rust as long as the metal is not paper thin and you can poke through it with a screw driver. I've used POR-15 on fire trucks at work and my own ranger. I love it and it looks great on my frame and protects it agents the new england road salt/sand/ liquid chloride

 

I've used por15, but to tell you the truth, needle scaling or sanding and coating it in spray on bed liner is the way I've gone. unless you get a big rock that flips up under it and chips it off, it keeps it pretty rust free.

 

I find w/o using por15 the rust bleeds through again. Idk if you plan on keep this truck another 10+ years but just needle scaling and 36 flap disc would work. Just may bleed through again.

This is another paint over rust you could use. Its called Chassis Saver. I've used it on my jeep inner wheel tubs, flood boards etc. Its cheaper then por15 an does the same thing. I havent had the rust bleed through or any problems.

Paint Over Rust to Stop Rust Permanently With Chassis Saver Truck & Auto Underbody Coating

 

that sounds like a winner to me for our lovely western ny weather. also giving it a wash that does the underbody every so often will not hurt either.

 

I finally was able to crawl underneath the truck with a camera and a flashlight. I took a great photo of one of my big problem areas, and general photos of under the truck. From the photos it is not that bad. The frame is about 100% covered in surface rust but the rest of the underside seems to be good, I believe it is all very savable for the long run.

My problem photo is showing a connection between the frame, and the truck bed. It is literally rusted through. Any ideas on how to solve this problem? I was thinking, after I remove the rust here, and see what good metal I have left I'm going to get a piece of metal to bolt through, or weld to fill the gap. Thoughts? Opinions on that?

 

I would start by taking the bed off so you can see what your working with. i didnt notice how bad mine was till the bed was off.

 

POR will not fix that i will tell you that now, that part of the bed is too far gone. POR-15 is great on surface rust but what i see on your truck thats far from just surface rust, dont even waste the time and money to POR that. that will need alot of grinding and patching with good steel.

 

Try to get a new bed. I didnt think it was that bad.

 

I live at the beach and there are several guys that will spray the underside of our trucks with used motor oil and linseed oil mixed. Works great as a prevention but not gonna fix your problems. With the linseed oil it hardens and lasts for years.