Anybody looked under the fiberglass ground effects?

[MikeK5117]

This occurred to me yesterday when I met a guy with a similar year Express 3500 van as my RT is built on. He had a lot of rust down at ground level, and he was complaining that "these vans rust like #*@!"

Has anyone looked under the skirting on your van, Chevy or otherwise. I personally hate out of sight out of mind sort of stuff, and this is exactly the kind of thing that keeps me up at night.

I expect the skirting helps stop a lot of the stone chips and other sort of stuff that can be the start of that sort of body rust, but still, just wondering.

Thanks, Mike.

[booster]

Our 07 190P Chevy Roadtrek is fine under the ground effects, which can be seen pretty well from underneath, even without removing them. We avoid salt and slop, though, and store inside whenever it is not in use, so most vehicles would stay clean and rustfree.

That said, they is a lot of cutting that goes on when they remove parts of the OEM body, and all those points can start rusting. There are also lots of things under a class b that can trap snow, salt, etc and are not designed to fight corrosion as well as factory vehicles are.

I haven't seen a lot of complaints about the Chevies rusting horribly. Quite a few more of the Dodges, but of course they are usually older, though.

We live in Minnesota, so know the ravages of rust very well since we keep our vehicles until they are dead. Whenever I am under a vehicle for whatever reason, like changing oil, etc, I take a spray bottle of rust protecting oil (LPS2 or LPS3 mostly) and spray things that are rusting, or I don't want them too because I know I will need to eventually get them apart. I have already sprayed the cut areas of our van several times when in the vicinity.

I you live in an area that has Crown or Rust Check available, that is likely the best choice, as it does really seem to work well. I intend to get ours sprayed with Crown when we pass through and area where they are located. I particularly want to get the insides of the frame areas and pockets protected, as they can fill will dirt and hold water in some areas.

I will be interested to hear if other Chevy owners have seen significant rust issues.

[MikeK5117]

Booster, when you spray things "down under" with LPS, do you wire brush first or just spray and let the product to the work? Thanks, Mike.

[booster]

Originally Posted by MikeK5117

Booster, when you spray things "down under" with LPS, do you wire brush first or just spray and let the product to the work? Thanks, Mike.

Normally, I just spray the products on. The oil will soak into the rust, and the LPS products, and others designed for the same use, have a waxy coating in them also. On something that has already started to rust a moderate amount, it might take two or three times of spraying before the rust stays dark colored and is saturated with the oil. Markopolo has had good luck with some of the Rust Check products that you can buy from them in cans. They are specifically made for this kind of use.

The exception might be on very heavily rusted areas where there are the thick flakes of rust on them. These would be pretty bad rust on heavy sections of steel. If I run across them, I will tap them with a chipping hammer to knock off whatever will fall of that way, and then spray it.

[markopolo]

I use the thinner red can Rust Check for inside doors and stuff. It will either be aerosol or bulk can for compressor use. It spreads well & continues to creep for a long time. It drips.
I use the thicker green can Rust Check for exterior underneath parts if it's a small job or touch up.
I use Corrosion Free if spraying large areas underneath using my compressor.

The thin Rust Check (red can) stuff doesn't seem to last long under the vehicle. It gets washed off I guess. Corrosion Free does seem to stay on well. It's my first choice now for spraying large areas underneath. It doesn't drip.

It would be hard to find any rust on my van. It was coated with Crown prior to me getting it. I continued with Rust Check and more recently Corrosion Free.

More info here: http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f5...tion-5368.html

I'll be spraying the vehicles again this month or next.

[booster]

These threads always remind me that I have been going to order some of the Rust Check stuff to try, but then quickly forget to do it

I just went to the Rust Check site, and it appears they may have changed some of the names of the products, as there is no Corrosion Free now. Most likely is the Coat and Protect?

[markopolo]

I can help out with some direct links to help sort through the products.

Corrosion Free is a different company than Rust Check:
https://corrosionfree.com/

Red can Rust Check:
1. Rust Inhibitor - Rust Check | Cars | Vans | Trucks
2. Inner Panel Protectant - Rust Check | Cars | Vans | Trucks
3. Rust Inhibitor - Rust Check | Cars | Vans | Trucks

Green can Rust Check:
1. Coat & Protect - Rust Check | Cars | Vans | Trucks
2. Coat & Protect - Rust Check | Cars | Vans | Trucks
3. Coat & Protect - Rust Check | Cars | Vans | Trucks

[MikeK5117]

Thanks guys, I want to keep my '04 healthy as long as I can and rust can sneak up and surprise you.

Anybody used CRC? I used to use that on my boat trailer and it seemed to work well on those places where the paint would get worn away exposing bare metal. Have not had any or even thought about it in a few years now.

[MikeK5117]

Going through the paperwork that I got when I bought the RT, I see that it was treated with Krown (Crown) rust proofing at the time of original sale. I have no idea if any follow up treatments were done.

Markopolo, sounds like you have had good luck with yours, following up with the Rust Check products? I know we used to swear by the RC products when I worked at agriculture retail outlets and we used to treat all of our fertilizer and other machines that tend to rust very quickly. Don't know if their stuff is available here in the USA, that was when I still lived in Ontario. Maybe have to stop at good old Crappy Tire next time I go for a visit.

Thanks, Mike.