4 stage OCD Rust Prevention

[Travelin Ram]

Yeah, I admit it. Feel free to suggest step 5 if you have one!

The backstory on why I do this is our migratory living pattern. Often in the west where gravel roads and high speeds will sandblast the paint from your rocker panels. Not a problem if you stay out there in the dry desert. But then we will go back east where the humidity and wet causes things to rust while you watch. I always put some form of protection on my vehicles. But this time I'm going all out.

Step one: keep the rocks off the body. Mopar mud flaps. Part numbers here are for trucks with the OEM fender flares.

Front 82215928AB
Rear 82215929AB

 

[Travelin Ram]

Step two: Raptor bedliner under the cab, covering the area between the pinch welds inward to the frame rails.




As an aside, do you know the factory just covers all those big holes in your rockers with cheap fabric tape? Guaranteed to fail and let mud and water spray inside. I'll be covering those with Eternabond tape.

 

[Travelin Ram]

Step three: to protect the outside of the rockers, and the lower doors, 3M PPF. I applied this from the body line at the top of the black two-tone down to the pinch weld. Also inside the door sills to prevent scuffs from shoes.



An added benefit this will cut down on pinstriping the area when I get in the brush. That won't show much on the white paint, but it damn sure will on the black.

 

[Travelin Ram]

Step four: after all my mods that require getting under the truck and wrenching or wiring are done, I'll hose this inside the frame, in the body voids, and underneath in all the nooks and crannies. You don't want to do this until last, because until it tacks up, it's a slimy mess. And even when it does tack, it'll be greasy. But greasy > rusty.

 

[BWL]

Make sure you rinse out the back sides of your fender behind the wheel well liners. Most of the rust holes originate from the back of the panel and the usual rust spots are where debris builds up in the back. Like the cab corners and wheel wells.

 

[chopperman1]

While great in theory, our trucks rust from the inside - out. You should be adding a step.... removing fender liners and adding waxoyl or fluid film inside all the panels. You need to ensure the drain holes are clear after applying.

 

[Travelin Ram]

Thanks for mentioning that, I do FF all the fender and body cavities. I use a flex hose with a 360 nozzle that can be insert into all the hidden spaces. Definitely including above all the fender liners.

For the exposed areas, I also have some WoolWax in black and clear. Might use some of that too. It’s tackier than FF.