Rust

so i noticed some rust under my rear driver door. now i know this is stupid BUT. is there anyway to stop or slow the rust without cutting it and welding? i cant weld worth a crap and i dont know anyone who knows how to. its starting to spread up the door jam and im worried its gonna get really bad. if theres no way to do it without welding i might have to sell it or find someone who can fix it cheap for me.

 

[TheGTkid]

There are options
but first the best way is to stop the rust, and take care of it
you can weld sheet metal and sand it up to look nice and paint it
or you can fill with bondo and sand and paint it
metal will be faster and better looking IMO, bondo will be more maticulous and potentially more expensive
Monmix probably knows a couple techniques and ideas, hes good at body work from my judgement of his work

 

[FordExplorer2002]

thanks ill take some pics of the spot and how bad it is and ill contact him or post them here to

 

[IAmTodd]

I don't have the time or tools right now to take care of mine so I just smear some grease on it. Keeps the salt/water off it until spring.

This method kept my rear wheel arches rust free on my 2000.

 

[MONMIX]

you cant stop rust.

You can slow it down by using any one of a number of treatments.

Your explorer is eleven years old, these things happen. You likely have far more than you are able to see.

Cut out and removing all the rust is the best but also by far the most expensive, and it will just pop up elsewhere.
Treating it will buy you some time.
Just living with it is also a viable option.

 

[AtlasRucker]

you cant stop rust.

You can slow it down by using any one of a number of treatments.

Your explorer is eleven years old, these things happen. You likely have far more than you are able to see.

Cut out and removing all the rust is the best but also by far the most expensive, and it will just pop up elsewhere.
Treating it will buy you some time.
Just living with it is also a viable option.

Agreed, once there is rust it’s too late. That’s why we refer to it as "cancer" it’s progressive and very hard to stop. I would not suggest sanding it or for that matter much of anything. Doing it the right way is to cut it all out, but very expensive and for a good reason. You can try hitting it from outside and inside the panel with phosphoric acid (but you have to be sure to rinse off all residue), which will convert the rust and slow it down for a time being, I would also treat the inside of the panel with a vegetable oil type of undercoating (stuff works great under a car, should work better inside a protected panel)

 

[FordExplorer2002]

ive been thinking of selling her for a while now just to upgrade to something new but dont have the money the job i have now pays well but its unreliable. one week ill work and the next i might not due to w/e reason and sadly being such a small town i cant find anything else.it runs great but it has the dang torgue converter rattle and the rear dif whine along with this rust so its gonna be hard to sell i think.

 

[FordExplorer2002]

and i know rust sucks thats what took my old ranger damn stuff spread so fast on it eventually i there wasnt much left i dont have any pics of that anymore. and also mon ur right i took my driver side running board off and its bad under there but i had to remove it due to a bracket rotted off and it would catch in the snow. thanks again all ill see what i can do with it soon and just live with w.e happens hopefuly sell it tho.

 

[Blue91Ex]

what abotu using a electric grinder to gind the outer rust off (for thin surface rust, nothing deep) and when its free of visible rust do the works with primer, paint, clearcoat, etc? Wouldnt that keep it away until it started to rust again just liek it would on a new car?

 

[MONMIX]

what abotu using a electric grinder to gind the outer rust off (for thin surface rust, nothing deep) and when its free of visible rust do the works with primer, paint, clearcoat, etc? Wouldnt that keep it away until it started to rust again just liek it would on a new car?

Yes for surface rust that will do the trick. The problem is its never surface rust on the Explorers.

99.7% the rust comes from the inside out which is FAR more difficult to repair.

 

[Blue91Ex]

Yes for surface rust that will do the trick. The problem is its never surface rust on the Explorers.

99.7% the rust comes from the inside out which is FAR more difficult to repair.

Well, i figured if you catch it right when you otice a little of the paint chipping, it might be doable, on mine its just a little bit in the lower corner on each side since the last owner hardly ever drove it other than to and from Portland (the trip is 70% highway) and so i was going to get to work on it as soon as i could, dont want a repeat of my mothers dodge, aweful. Is rusting from teh inside really that big of a problem with these? oh and what about gringing most of the rust and then throw bedliner on the underside? that was another plan of mine but for the frame. just to borrow time i suppose.

 

[TOOMANYEXPLORERS]

I have a quick cover up if it still has some rigidity. Installs in minutes, and looks great. I would seal it the best you can with POR15 or similar to stop it from getting worse. Heres a youtube video I made detailing what Im talking about.

 

[Blue91Ex]

that doesnt actually fix the rust you know.. it just buys you time before the rust gets even worse and harder/more expencive to replace

 

[Blue91Ex]

i have seen several people doing that, sure its cheap in teh short term but you are just going to have to replace twice as much down the road. then again sometimes there isnt too mcuh choice, my dad fitted tin plates to fit the contours of the corners of the Ram to seal the giant holes left by rust so it coudl pass inspection... looks terrible, wont last more than a year, but oh well.