Rustproofing

[CJK440]

My '14 is in good shape for its age but I want to perform some rust preventative work to ensure it lasts much longer. I just recently had the underside NH oil undercoated which I am sure is effective on the places it contacts, but they don't treat body panels.

The primary areas I am concerned with is the bedsides and doors. I was thinking I can pull the door panels and hose the bottom pinch weld with something like fluid film. But not sure about the bedsides. I'd have to remove the wheel liners apply something then put the liners back in. If its something that stays wet/soft the liners will remove it. Any ideas?

Also, any other spots that I should treat?

 

[Burla]

See hemi395 and others dyi fluid film thread, all the info in there. The best part of fluid film, it really really works if applied as needed.

 

[Jeepwalker]

What part of the country do you live in? Is it a Northern area where trucks rust ..NH?

You have the right idea. Otherwise these Rams definitely rust up. I wrote a response a few weeks ago where I showed what I recently did to remove the accumulated rocks and stones from around my truck's wheel wells. You'll see it here.

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If your truck has plastic inner fender liners (rear), just like you said, cleaning the stones and sand ..muck out of each wheel well is a great idea, but takes some 'work'. LOL. Worthwhile if you plan to keep your tk a while. You need to remove each rear tire to get the plastic fender liner out to gain access to the rear of the wheel well. Then a good idea to dislodge all the rocks, sand and debris.

I believe using oil around the rear inner wheel wells is the best product. I did a test where i sprayed a Fluid Film product to some metal and let it sit vertically for a week. Actually it's been at least 2 weeks now. It seeped down a little ...but not very well. Not like oil does. Ram uses a rubberized seam sealer (like a caulk) on the rear wheel well area between the inner wheel housing and box side just ABOVE the pinch weld. You 'hope' whatever product you use will find a pin-hole or two/three and seep through and get in the pinch weld area. I'm confident an undercoating product won't, nor fluid film, but oil might/should.

I also went back and applied oil to the rear wheel lip (the inside) where the two pieces of metal are spot welded together at the pinch weld. The idea was to apply a bead of oil on top of the pinch weld where the two pieces of metal come together ...so the oil would pull "into" the seam by capillary action (like solderering pipe). It seemed to work. I did it a few times and the oil mostly pulled in. The other ongoing concern is, more rocks, sand and debris will continue to get thrown up there over the next few years. A sticky product will just hold that stuff, where oil I believe a guy can hose out the wheel well in a year or two ...and apply more oil.


Good luck.

 

[Jeepwalker]

....Even if you can't get up there now to clean the rear wheel housing area out, at least squirt some oil up there from the front side of the rear wheel (you can squirt oil up into the rear box wheel wells). Then come back next summer and clean the rocks out. You can't just hose them out... they lodge in that gap really tight ..they need to be dislodged by a tool of some sort. Some rocks/stones require quite a bit of leverage to get dislodged. Then I hosed my trucks wheel well area out 3 separate times from all different angles. It's kind of a bear to do ..with water running down on ya. But better than rusted out wheel wells.

There are other nooks around the tk to rust-proof too like below the taillights, front of the box, front fender area, doors. I haven't done my truck's rockers and cab corners yet. I better get on them.. LOL.

Fluid Film or Rust Stopper (similar product by Stabil) works great on other areas of your truck you want to protect. Good product ..I just think around the rear wheel wells oil might be the better product for the reasons I stated. But whatever you prefer....

 

[Jeepwalker]

If you get a bottle like this (below), it has a long pull-out spout ...longer than most, which you can insert up door drains, tailgate openings, and all other locations. etc. You can buy these at an HVAC supply place for a few bucks ...or like ebay, etc. Fluid Film and Rust Stopper ..you can buy locally at Farm n Barn places or NAPA ...and they usually have a straw that'll shoot in a ways.

ZOOM SPOUT Sewing Machine Oil Oiler 4FL. OZ, 1 bottle | eBay

One bottle each order, 4oz per bottle, lily white oil, extended sprout oiler. picture shows one bottle's oiler can be extended/pull. Made in USA. - low viscosity, water white lubricating oil for sewing machines, textile machinery and parts.

www.ebay.com

 

[62Blazer]

I use Woolswax on mine. For the bed sides, pulled the taillights out and sprayed over the inner wheelwells using a long wand. Seems like the worst places on these trucks is the bedside right along the top of the rear wheelwell, rockers, and rear cab corners. Those are the places I always concentrate on regards to getting "inside" the body panels.

 

[Jeepwalker]

At the end of the day, the best rust-proofing, I belive, is the one that actually gets done. Not kicking the can down the road if ya live in the rust-belt areas ...which is easy to do. All of the above products should work fine ..in my view.