Does Anyone Else have Extremely Rusty Under-Carriages?

[OVERKILL700HP]

My 94 XLT is so damn rusty underneath.
I have only owned it for about 9 months. It's been this way since I bought it.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what i could do to help with the rust problem, damage, etc?
All information is helpful.

 

[97BlackX5.0]

well i dont know how much snow or salt they use where you live but around where i live its torture to vehicles.... every year my dad used to make a concotion of diesel fuel and used motor oil...thats thin enough to be like black spray paint load it into a air paint gun and spray the frame and all underneath the trucks..... then by the time winter is over you take it to the quarter car wash and give it a good spray underneath.... kinda makes a grease barrier.... helps keep the frame a little longer and will probably keep bolts from getting siezed really bad if you have to take something apart... but you cant keep them forever......oh yeah make sure you use diesel or kerosene.... DONT USE GASOLINE and try not to sray the muffler unless you want some smoke for a while while you cook up your motor oil

 

[Redrig]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78732

 

[Rhett]

How is your acrylic paint holding up redrig?

 

[IAmTodd]

I used Rubberized undercoating on mine. Seems more forgiving than paint and will cover more up. I only put it on a little more than a month ago so I can't tell you how it holds up. The stuff I used was made by duplicolor.

 

[Redrig]

How is your acrylic paint holding up redrig?

It held up really well. I recoated it after 1 year just to bring back the shine. The only spots that didnt hold up good was inbetween the leafs, but all in all it was worth it.

 

[F14CRAZY]

I've used Marhide (bondo company) rubber undercoating. Not sure how good it works cuz I haven't had my truck that long. I'm going to touch it up when I can run through the auto car wash to get the dust off the bottom, drive it home without dirty roads, and let it sit for a few days to completely dry. It takes a ton of cans of the stuff. I know it prevents rust, but not sure how it does when you cover up rust like along seams. It seems like it would stop as long as it's dry and not exposed to oxygen, water, or salt.

 

[Toy_to_Force]

I also am plagued with rusty underside. Or at least was, I used truck bed coating from a spray can. Seems to be holding up better because is sets up harder and is shiny! I like shiny things!

 

[VBVA]

I've given up on my frame cause it is so rusty. When you got wheelin on the beach and have to cross through standing Atlantic Ocean water it spells disaster for your undercarriage. Not to mention road salt in the winter. But, hey, what can you do?

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

Yeah, its not even worth fighting anymore. My truck has spent its life in upstate NY (previous owner) and Wisconsin. This winter in Kansas was the easiest one its faced yet. The undercarraige is pretty rusty, though not horrible. But there are tons of spots (like the shock mounting bracket, for example) where the black coating on them is just falling off, leaving bare metal. I've also got slight rust on the inside of all 4 doors and the rear hatch. I can only imagine what's happening underneath the tupperware side skirts. Oh well, its only gonna be my DD for another year or two, then it becomes my winter beater after I get my '06 Stang

 

[F14CRAZY]

Yeah, its not even worth fighting anymore. My truck has spent its life in upstate NY (previous owner) and Wisconsin. This winter in Kansas was the easiest one its faced yet. The undercarraige is pretty rusty, though not horrible. But there are tons of spots (like the shock mounting bracket, for example) where the black coating on them is just falling off, leaving bare metal. I've also got slight rust on the inside of all 4 doors and the rear hatch. I can only imagine what's happening underneath the tupperware side skirts. Oh well, its only gonna be my DD for another year or two, then it becomes my winter beater after I get my '06 Stang

There ya go. My Limited is my regular, but my XL is the summer beater that'll never see a salty Michigan winter road. Limited is starting to get some crust, so I'm gonna have my body man replace the dog legs and rockers and coat the inside with some outlawed rust stopper and coat the inside of the doors, hood, and tailgate. Wheel wells will also be "chipguarded".

Since my XL had like no rust to start with, I primed, galvinized (spray-on), undercoated, painted, and clearcoated (in order) the inside edges of the doors, tailgate, and hood just in case

The best solution would be to get a beater Explorer to let run into the ground with rust, and have another for da summer. Don't you wish you could actually collect Explorers? Too bad they're not going up in value.