The war against rust.

Well I just bought this beautiful 2010 Tundra Limited. I live in Wisconsin and give or take 8 years of our weather has taken it's toll already. The previous owner kept the truck in great condition besides not spending the money on rust prevention it seems. Starting at the back the inside of the rear bumper looked mighty rusty so that was the first thing to come off. While the plastics came off easy the first 12mm bolt I went to unfasten snapped immediately. I went to Menards and bought all stainless steel replacements and wd-40. Should have got some pb blaster or aeroKroil because 3/10 snapped. I wire brushed and steel wooled all the visible rust on the hitch and bumper. Painted them with some Rust-Oleum, I am going to get it undercoated before the first snow. Anyone have any suggestions of bolts to replace or anything that commonly corrodes? Sorry for the book.

 

The bolts you can order online and have them shipped direct from any dealership. Or, Autozone. I’d recommend using Fluid Film on your rust rather than painting. Just wire brush the heavy stuff off and spray it on. You can spray right over the light stuff. I wiped my job with a cloth to work out the waxy heavy spray pools and redistribute the product. Time saver compared to painting! It stops the rust and turns it black (like painting) and protects. 2 cans should do your entire truck under carriage. $24.

 

Would there be any worth undercoating over the paint?

 

Depends. In my case, I used flat black on the axles a few years ago. Discovered Fluid Film from others on this site. Sprayed the axles (an under carriage) with FF and the flat black soaked it up. If you have an enamel, FF may sit on top. Your spray job will eventually break down. Just spray over it when it does.

 

Rust sucks!!

 

Final product. Turned out pretty nice. So there seems to be rust in the dreaded four corners of the bed. How can I tell if the rust started from the surface (ex. Plastic liner rubbed and retained water) or from below (ex. bad sealing in the undercarriage) I'll have to do some more investigating and take some pics tomorrow , but I'm fearing the latter on that. Although I didn't notice any rot from under the bed.

 

I just purchased a 2012 and in WI also, will replace rear bumper, remove hitch, sandblast and have powder coated. It looks as bad as yours.
While you have the bumper and tailgate off, I recommend you paint or coat that area from your bed down as that gets beat up and scratched over the years. I always have mine sprayed with the bed.

 

Thanks I'll have that coated also when I get the bed spray lined. Now it's just a matter of fixing the bubbles of rust I have in the bed before I get it lined. Rustbelt headaches.

 

That's a good amount of work. Looks clean now.
Some of that rust on the hitch looks like more than surface rust, you be the judge since you're the one that worked on it. Maybe it all cleaned up really nice before paint. I would pay extra attention to those welds.

If you're going through the trouble of replacing fasteners, make sure the new hardware is grade 316 Stainless. If it doesn't specifically state that it's 316, then it's not. 304 stainless will rust, sometimes within a year in the right climate. We use a lot of hardware on docks, boats, and buildings where I work. It's very apparent very quickly when a contractor cheaps out and uses 304 stainless. You do need to be careful with stainless anywhere that a Grade 5 or Grade 8 bolt is required, stainless are not graded hardware.

For corrosion control, I've been using CRC SP-400 recently. I like it better than Fluid Film. I'll still use FF in certain areas, but the SP-400 is superior in every way.

 

Welds looked strong. Yeah I should've thoughtve that. It'll be fine for now but I'll end up going back through and replace thewm with quality bolts.

 

I'm glad I live in the mountains of a desert when I see stuff like this.

Nice work and welcome aboard.

 

What I always do now when I'm assembling anything is to put a dab of silicone on the the threads, it keeps the threads sealed from moisture and dust and will come apart like new 10 years from now. My old man would break 6 out of 8 lug nuts on his F250 taking a tire off till I told him about doing this.
It is nice to have it in aerosol can.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...LXx5uyv6OwmVg4Adi2DEYrpTIjiR0Rh4aAicYEALw_wcB

When I did my lift I put little on the threads tightened the nuts then put a little extra on exposed threads after.

 

Okay thanks yeah I will definitely go back through and do that!!

 

This will help protect your box/frame.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/diy-wheel-well-liners.21418/

 

And I sealed the wackers with silicone because if you don't the shit will accumulate and start the rusting process. What I did was put a layer grease on the wacker so it doesn't stick to it hopefully.

 

Smart. Thanks guys for all the suggestions making a list as I type.

 

Wow....the horrors of rust make me glad I live in an area where brine is not commonly used. That is some nasty stuff.

 

I coat my underside including the inside of the bumpers with fluid film prior to each winter. I bought the sprayer and it takes about a gallon. After each snow event I run through a touchless wash with underbody flush. That's about the best you can do. I wirebrush and spray the hitch and plug metal every few years now. It's the salt and not much you can do other than that.

 

I use the aluminum anti-seize like it's water. The stuff doesn't wash off and when it dries it becomes a paste. Everything from lug nuts to the centering hub for the wheels. In fact on my 1st gen Tundra I rebuilt the levers on the rear brake drums that the handbrake cable attaches to. It's a steel arm inside an aluminum housing and they always get water in it and corrode. I switched from Fluid film to LP-3 after reading a test the Canadian Government did. Fluid Film is real easy to get as almost every one seams to carry it now.

 

You have pics of your rebuilt levers job? Could be useful in the future for others.

 

Could also explain why many of our 1st Gen Tundra parking brakes don’t work even after cable tightening/tuning. Step brake acts and sounds like it works. Cable is tight. All things look good, but the truck is not impeded one bit with brake engaged.

 

Welcome from Northeast Connecticut. I don't recommend undercoat on anything. Salt seeps through undercoat and rots the metal. 15 years experience working on snowplows for a Hiway department. Undercoat stops water from penetrating the the metal but not salt

 

This is a war you won't win

 

@Walton you should check out Fluid Film. It won't solve all of your rust issues but it could help prevent them from getting worse.

 

Get a 1/2 dozen cans of Amsoil HD Metal Protectant...works great.

 

It was probably 8 years ago that I did it. Here's a picture of what the assembly looks like apart. The L shaped pieces are the steel arms that fits inside the aluminum housing (second item from the top). The 2 items in the center bottom of the picture are the steel pins that the arm rotates on which holds it into the housing. At the top is the rubber boot that's suppose to keep water out but never does. There's a gap between the steel arm and the aluminum housing that eventually fills up with corrosion. What I did was took it apart, filled that gap with anti-seize, and then put the rubber boot back on.

 

I need to drive up and let you do mine! I’m down in Fond du lac. I moved up from Alabama and the rust is one of the worst things about living up here. Luckily I’m only seeing it on my tow package right now. Might have to re paint mine this spring

 

I coat the quarter panel lips and bottom of the doors with fluid film but the rest of the truck gets diesel fuel.

Grab a cheap spray bottle and park the truck over some dirt or gravel. Spray on the frame lightly. Any exposed metal gets soaked and saturated to slow/stop the rust. The rest of the frame basically gets lubed so if you wash it during the winter all the salt comes off easily.

Cheap and easy to apply. Can do the whole frame in about 15 minutes, and usually once a month in winter.