Rear bumper rust post accident repair

[04fxdwgi]

Could put a clear protective film over it to protect from rocks and road salt / sand in winter.

 

[grizzstang]

Start getting your truck Krown coated every year. When they spray mine they do the backsides of the bumpers.

The Chrome bumpers on my 2017 still look great and I attribute that to the Krown on the backside and waxing the front chrome side.

My truck gets driven year round and has zero rust.

 

[Rado]

I agree about using KROWN !
I live in Maine and we also have nasty winter with a lot of road salt

 

[seems fishy]

I am happy to hear you are being looked after,properly, and getting a new bumper.I am happy to hear that

 

[Wild one]

An update on the situation.

The body repair shop has agreed to replace the bumper under a warranty claim, even though my vehicle warranty is up. The bumper has been ordered and should have it replaced next week.

I'm now wondering what steps I should take to ensure I get more life out of this next one.

Have it blasted and powder coated

 

[Ram Night]

It looks like they used a cheap aftermarket bumper when they replaced it because I have been driving Dodge/Ram trucks since 1976 and have never had this kind of rust from the paint failing. The only rust I have had was from the plastic top cover that wears the paint off from rubbing on it. This rust was on the top surface if the bumper not the lower edge.

 

[Jeepwalker]

In my experience with changing a few bumpers. The after market bumpers always rust fast.

That's it^^.

Aftermarket products in general usually don't have as good of coatings. Yep, they rust faster. Remove and have your guy sand blast the bumper. Or you didn't mind putting some time into it, you could tip it upside down (rust side up), run a sander over it with, say, 80# sandpaper to knock some of the rust off. Brush some Loctite rust-away gel (not sure if that's the exact name). It will hang on there and eventually 'eat' all of the rust away as good if not better than sandblasting. You might need to hit it with a small/fine wire brush ...and maybe a couple applications. Best would be to strip the bumper first and deal with all rust.

The easier/faster way to go would be to have the rust ends sand blasted. Sand or blast the rest. Apply a zinc primer as others have suggested then an epoxy primer/sealer ...prior to painting. Like a few of the other guys suggested.

It's actually a lot of work to do all that ...right. Not a simple or quick job at all. But worthwhile if you plan to keep your truck a while. If a bodyshop gave you a price to do all that ...blast and repaint it, and remove/install the bumper ...due to cost, you probably wouldn't do it. If your buddy will do it for reasonable money, definitely go for it!!

 

[Rado]

I agree 110% that after market bumpers are made cheap and rust fast !
Their chrome starts to show rust spots in 1 to 2 years !
At least on my son's F 150

 

[Jeepwalker]

In the winter, salty water and chucks of snow/ice hang on the rear bumper and corrode the bottom end/corners. If you are going to repair it a guy 'might' have to ....or want too blast and paint the inside at least above where the rust is. Good chance it's rusted there too.

Rather than goof around spending money fixing your bumper, You might keep an eye out on Marketplace for a guy selling a good 'used' take-off (little used) OEM bumper ...if it's in good shape.

Probably be a better place to spend your $$ in the long term. And in the meantime while you are keeping your eye out for a good ...lightly used one, you could just daub some black Rust Oleum out of a can ...onto your bumper ...and run it another yr or two, if that's how long it take. Then when you DO find one, swap it over.

That's probably a better place to spend your time $$