Surface Rust On Chassis Components

[ajshepherd]

Hi Folks:

I have a question about surface rust.

I'm the second owner of my 2009 CC motorhome.  I live in the desert and not exposed to the winter salt issues like our East Coast members.  That said, I have found some surface rust in areas as described below in the DynoMax article.  We expect to keep this coach indefinitely and will not be looking to sell it until I cannot drive it any longer.  Yes, it's that good!

So, suggestions please on the following and thank you in advance for the good guidance and advice!

1. How do I remove the surface rust?

2. What should I coat it with once removed?

3. Some areas are easy to reach,  others are complex as they are hidden a/or have wiring/other complex systems in the way.  Maybe a no-harmful liquid I can spray for these areas?

4. Anything else you may suggest

Please see the information below from the CC:

DynoMax-The Proprietary Chassis of Country Coach

Once the entire frame with axle assemblies was welded together, the chassis was taken to a special paint booth where rust inhibitive paint was applied around every bit of steel that makes up the structure.  While the process is important to protecting the steel, Country Coach took this one step further.  Most chassis manufacturers utilize an assembly line approach, with the paint application being the final step.  At Country Coach, builders took the time to pull the frame out of its station, take it to the paint booth, and then move it into another short assembly line where the drive train was installed.  Open up the engine access doors of a competitor’s product and you may see paint overspray on the engine, transmission or hose lines.  By taking the time to paint the frame prior to installing drive train components, it’s unlikely you’d ever see this on a Country Coach.  Note: As a special note regarding the special black rust inhibitor applied to the chassis, sheet metal and angled iron used at that time was not available from the suppliers with the zinc oxide process. So these areas are more susceptible to rust (wheel wells, battery bay, propane bay, service center). NOTE: A preventative care step is to give a good thorough power washing of the coach undercarriage after each trip to help prevent rusting in those susceptible areas. This is also a good idea simply to remove road grime/road surface treatments the chassis undercarriage may have picked up enroute (like salting chemicals used in winter months).

[hermanmullins]

AJ,

I have seen and used Rust-O-Lem rust inhibitor spray paint. It says to remove the loose scale and spray over the Rust. It is supposed to protect from further rust and prevent the spread.

You might give that a try.

Herman

[ajshepherd]

Hi Herman:

 

Wow, that sound like a winner.  At least that will fix the hard to get spaces.  For the others I could scrape then apply.  Terrific!

 

Thanks Tony.

[hermanmullins]

Your Welcome Tony. I know that Lowe's carries the spray.

Several thing to keep in mind. When working under the coach at any time, be sure and support it with jack stands and chock the wheels in both directions and be sure to wear eye protection when chipping and scraping the rust. A wire brush on the end of you cordless drill may help when you can reach open spots. 

Herman

[ajshepherd]

Hi Herman:

Yes for sure, especially with the air bag suspension.  I'm hoping to see if I can use a PIT to do the work, better on the back!!  Haha.

Best Tony.

[rhinderber]

This product or similar may be what you are looking for. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014LR5PA2?psc=1

[rsbilledwards]

There are several of these converters out there. Go to a body shop supply house and buy a small bottle of SEM rust Mort or Rust seal. The small bottle will go a very long way to dealing with the issue. The gallon jug will be enough for two body shops for 5 years of frequent use. After dry the rust will turn black, you can apply a second coat if you like and then just spray paint t with Rustolium as Herman suggested or leave it as it is. If you are in the Southwest the rusting action will be come nil. Note: I am doing the same to my coach

 

B

[kaypsmith]

I use POR 15 it is a rust inhibiting paint, have used POR for many years with excellent results. https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=por+15&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=181841723234&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11526391057604882708&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012456&hvtargid=kwd-98803643&ref=pd_sl_6kux01ussg_e_p20

[rsbilledwards]

Yes that too is very good.  B

[tbutler]

On 8/24/2017 at 11:50 AM, ajshepherd said:

I'm the second owner of my 2009 CC motorhome.  I live in the desert and not exposed to the winter salt issues like our East Coast members. 

That said, you do realize that coastal dealers will move their stock to areas where salt corrosion is not common or expected.  Unless you are acquainted with the first owner, I would assume that this coach has seen some salt, maybe at the coast or in the northern states where winter snow magically turns to salt.  Even a summer trip to Alaska will result in a strong exposure to calcium chloride which they use for dust control on their road construction projects.

[wayne77590]

I have the same problem on my coach. My bays are a strong polypropylene or some kind of thick hard plastic so I do not have problems with the floor or walls of the bays.  However my coach is "dipped" but I'm sure that the fine craftsman had a holiday weekend and I got the first Tuesday back to work.

The paint on the edges of the bays are peeling.  If this coach was dipped it was in a water based paint.  The paint peels of in strips so thin it would be hard to measure the thickness.

I use a drill with a wire wheel to get into any spots I can and remove the surface rust and loose paint, scrape those areas that the wire wheel cannot get into.  As said above I use the Rust-o-ileum primer and paint.  Sometimes, just primer and then paint.  After several years those places I have sprayed are still holding up.  A good primer base is what I prefer to do and I use the spray on primer - grey - so I can see that I got all the area.   Tape off any areas you do not want over spray on.

[ajshepherd]

Hi Guys:

 

Excellent help in many ways!  I guess I have a task ahead of me.  Lots of scrubbing and painting.  The help is greatly appreciated.

Regarding the first owner, we do not know for sure what the MH was exposed to.  I'm certain it was salt exposure while housed in Ontario, Canada or UNK, Florida where the MH split the year for 9 years of its life.  It was taken in trade (Miami, FL) for a $1M coach, but no service records provided.

CC did a great job resetting the service set point for us, but the prior history is a mystery.  Over the last year we have had a trouble free experience and hope this will contune with ongoing good maintenance and preventative everything!

I will do some before and after shots of the rust and repair.  Thanks again everyone!

[veraken]

 used a product called Chassis Saver. You still have to wire brush and remove all loose rust. I found that Chassis Saver was easy to apply and did not need the prep coat. Since it was under the MH, I was not concerned with UV protection.

__________________
Vera & Ken
1998 Holiday Rambler Imperial

[manholt]

Since UV reflects off all other surfaces, why not the pavement?

[dickandlois]

On 9/1/2017 at 4:37 PM, veraken said:

 used a product called Chassis Saver. You still have to wire brush and remove all loose rust. I found that Chassis Saver was easy to apply and did not need the prep coat. Since it was under the MH, I was not concerned with UV protection.

__________________
Vera & Ken
1998 Holiday Rambler Imperial

Chassis Saver is a real good product and if most of the loose rust is cleaned off it will last of an extended time! It will change from silver to gray or black will turn gray when exposed to sun light. The weak point if any is that once it is exposed to air the paints chemical mixture reacts to the moisture and it is almost impossible to stop it unless it can be stored in a vacuum to boil off the water.  Short shelf life one opened!!!!

Carl, The chassis is under the coach so it has little to no exposure to UV - UV energy is absorbed by the black surface and asphalt has a very low reflectivity.

Rich. 

[jleamont]

I am testing this product on existing rust now, works great and you can buy it in spray cans, do it yourself project.

https://www.krown.com/

 

[manholt]

Thank you Rich.  You kicked my overloaded, feeble brain, into gear again!

Joe, your in the climate of snow = salt...I have wondered how the RV reacts to it over the years!? Meaning how long before your inundated with rust.

[jleamont]

Carl, I will not move ours once the road's have been treated for the 1st storm and in the spring I wait until after a few good rain storms to wash that junk off of the roads. One year I rescheduled a trip because it had not rained yet. Its just not worth all of the damage that stuff causes.