preventing rust this winter. question!

hey guys,

(sorry for length scroll to bottom for question without background)

i am about to drive about 13k miles this winter in my mountaineer. from november to april.... ALL highway so Salt will eat me alive on my truck...

question is this! so i am about to put a snorkel on my truck this week therefore i will be removing my right fender. is it worth my while to take the fender off clean it up, bedliner it, and clear coat it?
and do the same for the otherside?

Where else should i bedliner/ clear coat? im thinking the inside of the doors would be a good option. the hatch. rear fenders (i do not know if these can be removed to do this? or if i have to just do the best i can with it attached), remove rear bumper and spray underside of it. anywhere else?

my rockers are pretty shot right now, and the bottom half of the outside of the truck is already sprayed with bedliner, i plan to hit it hard again this fall and fix any and all rust that i have (surface wise/ minor holes). then in the future once i get out of the academy i will buy a "parts" truck from florida with all good non rust body parts. cut out all the rust (ive seen this done before) and then weld in those body parts. possibly replace doors, tailgate, hood, etc. if needed. then paint it all in bedliner.


i do not know why but i really like this truck. and the only reasons i really havent liked it previously was the fact of not being able to lift anymore but hello to SAS. so basically i want to keep this and keep it in as good as shape as i can.
after i get out of the academy i will have a take home/ personal cop car so it will see very few miles weekly. mostly trail miles, and fun miles!


so question i guess if i wasnt clear. what body panels should i bedliner? what ones can be removed to bedliner? is the bedliner/ clear coat actually going to help?

 

[dersch6221992]

bump anyone? going after work here to get some bedliner to spray on the front fender for sure. havent decided about the doors and what not yet.

 

[Blue91Ex]

yes, i would deffinitly suggest doing some rust preventative measures on your truck, if you are taking the fenders off anyway, the best time to throw some bedliner or something on them would be now. rear fenders dont come off as far as i can tell, you will want to get in around the doglegs, on the back/interior side of teh rockers (outer part closest to frame) and around any pinch/creased areas (bottoms of doors etc, mine never had this treatment so all the folds are rusted and pulling apart) and along the fenders and rockers, basically anywhere near the ground and behind the tires.

 

[dersch6221992]

yes, i would deffinitly suggest doing some rust preventative measures on your truck, if you are taking the fenders off anyway, the best time to throw some bedliner or something on them would be now. rear fenders dont come off as far as i can tell, you will want to get in around the doglegs, on the back/interior side of the rockers (outer part closest to frame) and around any pinch/creased areas (bottoms of doors etc, mine never had this treatment so all the folds are rusted and pulling apart) and along the fenders and rockers, basically anywhere near the ground and behind the tires.

sounds good thats baiscally what i figured. thanks! hopefully slowly work on it this week if i feel better.

 

[MONMIX]

On these things with this age they are going to rust.
Outside of a climate controlled / humidity controlled environment 24 / 7 your Explorer WILL rust. Its a 2000 so I am quite sure it has already started.

Slowing it down or dodging is effects on the other hand,,,, that you can and should do.
Its worth and value will vary however. I cant imagine much that would be completely worthless.

So yes with your fender off, coat the back side of the fender, coat the apron (inner fender ) all those holes, soak it down with this stuff,
http://www.amazon.com/3M-08892-Rust...id=1372805496&sr=1-1&keywords=3m+rust+fighter
(NOTE: this is NOT a rust converter, it will just protect the good metal that is already there. ) This stuff will ooze where you cant get the bed liner. Put the bed liner every where else.

One thing to remember, you CAN NOT over protect from rust. ( well other than the afore
mentioned chamber, but you know..... )

 

[Blue91Ex]

yea everything helps, i did soem minor time buying work on my rockers, (breaking off old crappy metal, drying out the inside of the rocker (they really do rust from teh inside, i had nasty black, wet rust chunks all through the inner rockers) and then used galvanized steel cut to fit over the hole, plastered it in silicone caulking, and riveted it on, then primed and painted it and all the bare metal where i sanded off surface rust, its by no means a fix, but i figure it will keep that area solid for next winter at the least, also i only use enamel paints, they suck when you use an old can (ACE rust stop is especially gummy after sitting in the barn for a year) but they are a bit harder and more rust resistant than regular spray paint.