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2012 Silverado Frame Rust

We get surface rust at worst so long as the owners even took a little care to wash them off after the winters.

Still occasionally see a rot box but it’s usually a life of neglect showing up in rust form.
 
I'm not sure how you guys deal with stuff like this, I would go nuts.


I built my truck in 2015, I have never painted the tie rod. :haha:
 
just like your winters you spend more time inside, so do we just flipped. If we are outside in 115° it in the pool or the lake :saweet: I have 4 tons of a/c in my shop, no heat. This morning was a chilly 68° at 6:30am
 
It was 38 here at 6:30 am…the northeast salt bed sucks. Ohio and NY get it worse than we do in PA, I love the snow but I hate that I have to park anything I want to keep
 
2 steps forward and 3 steps back...

I finished the patching and moved on to finishing the chipping and wire wheeling the rest of the frame and found another set of pin holes in the same spot on the other side of the frame.

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So I cut out the bad spot and cleaned out the inside of the frame and proceeded to plate the frame in the same manner as the driverside. I spent a little more time preparing the frame and working on my welding technique and it definitely helped my welds. They still aren't Instagram worthy but they're passable.

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Take a look at the factory wax coating here. I scraped it off the last few places it was clinging on for dear life. You can see rust forming behind it. I think the wax coating is okay idea only if they painted the frame first. When the wax inevitably breaks down it flakes off and exposes the bare metal. Absolutely terrible.

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Metal prep completed, I moved on to rust converter.

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Then 2 coats of Mastercoat Primer.

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I took tomorrow off so I'll be masking everything off and spraying Eastwood 2k Chassis Black.
 
Hows the sheet metal?
my daughters 12 is rusting at the box wheelopenings, and it was a very well kept truck. A bad engineering design I guess.
 
76zimmer said:
Hows the sheet metal?
my daughters 12 is rusting at the box wheelopenings, and it was a very well kept truck. A bad engineering design I guess.
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The sheet metal is just starting to show some very small bubbles over the rear wheel wells. The rockers are about the same. I'm planning a very heavy coating of fluid film to delay the inevitable. Given that the body is only a few bubbles it surprised me how bad the frame was.
This project isn't for the faint at heart. Definitely more work than I thought.
 
These frames just suck how they can fill up with crap. I see why you rust belt guys love that fluid film stuff. I've only seen it on YouTube and never in person.
 
Truckman4life said:
These frames just suck how they can fill up with crap. I see why you rust belt guys love that fluid film stuff. I've only seen it on YouTube and never in person.
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It's just so impractical to wash your truck after Everytime you drive in the winter. Especially when temps stay below freezing for a few weeks at time. Even if it is above freezing and you wash your truck, it won't dry by the time it drops below freezing again and you go to leave in the morning and your doors are frozen shut. That's literally happened to me... Lol

So fluid film or something similar is the only way to preserve a vehicle up here so it's not gone in 10 years. I just wish I didn't hesitate to use it so long. Hard lesson learned.
 
The worst thing you can do up here is to park in a warm garage, as long as the shit stays frozen it doesnt rust as much, people that park in heated garages have worse rust because the shit melts, then the salt starts working and the whole garage stays moist because of the water now on the floor, its like a sauna for the truck. I have been oiling my vehicles for decades and after you scrape off a layer of oily goodness the frame looks like new underneath.

Each October mix a gallon of your favorite used motor oil with some ATF to thin it slightly and then get underneath and saturate the whole undercarriage, frame, floors, rockers inside and out, then drive down a dirt road so the dust coats your freshly applied oil, do this every year and you will be amazed.
 
Last night I welded a resonator into my exhaust to quiet it down a little and got it reinstalled. I put the gas tank back in and drove it out into the daylight. I must say it looks like a brand new truck!

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I do love having equipment around it makes these jobs so much easier. I flipped the bed up to fluid film the underside as this is way easier than doing it on my back and not being able to get everything.

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Most importantly, I got the bed put back on the truck. Big shout out to my wife for putting up with this project and for helping me line it up while I worked the controls.
 
max 02 said:
Sorry you had to go through all that.

Nice job saving it! :waytogo:
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Well there's still more rust to bust further up on the frame maybe another 18-24" between where I stopped and the front wheels. No holes but it needs to be treated too before it gets there. Oh and the trailer hitch is rotten too which I plan on replacing here very soon.
 
Chevy305 said:
Well there's still more rust to bust further up on the frame maybe another 18-24" between where I stopped and the front wheels. No holes but it needs to be treated too before it gets there. Oh and the trailer hitch is rotten too which I plan on replacing here very soon.
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Check the frame on the pass side behind the front tire, the air conditioning drips on it and with the dirt in the boxed frame is a great spot for even more fun.
 
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