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Rust never sleeps: 93 F-150 Frame Rust

While working underneath my 93 F-150 replacing the gas tank and brake lines, I noticed a lot of heavy rust on the frame. What was more disturbing was that it looks like it will soon compromise the structural integrity of the frame, particularly around the rear spring mounts, crossmembers, etc if left unchecked. I am afraid my truck's days are numbered. My neighbor who was helping me do the work commented that his late '70s to early 80's Chevy pickups had better looking frames.

I have owned the truck since it was new, and it is currently a second vehicle for me. It still runs and looks pretty good and has about 170K on the clock, and gets about 5,000 miles a year of use. I would like to get at least another 2 or 3 years of use out of it if I can, but don't want to put a huge amount of money into it. Short of sandblasting the frame and painting it in cold galvanizing compound, which would involve many hours of hard and dirty labor, the only thing that I can think of that could at least slow down the tinworms is to soak the frame repeatedly in some type of penetrating oil (Liquid Wrench, Zepreserve, etc.) or perhaps mount a sacrificial zinc anode on the rear frame.

I would like to know if this approach would really help very much or if I should just accept my lot and put a for sale sign on it and start over with something else (other than a 93 Ford).

Reply to
Bruce Nolte N3LSY
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I have a '93 Bronco which should be very similar to your F-150. I bought it two years ago, have 163K miles on it and I drive ~16K miles a year. One thing that I do see (maybe you're seeing this too) is that either the factory paint or undercoating is flaking off in rather large chunks, taking with it what appears to be a lot of metal/rust. To me, this appears to be surface rust and the paint/undercoating makes it look like a lot of metal is going away. If that's what you are seeing, then IMHO it's nothing to worry about. -PapaRick

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Bruce Nolte N3LSY wrote:

Reply to
Rick Colombo

I'll second that. His description sounds like surface rust and peeling paint. If it bothers him a quick scraping followed by coating in POR15 should do the job. Even regular rust-stoping paint like kyron, etc would hold up for a year or two.

Reply to
Brent P

Hello Bruce, I had a lot of success with cheap engine oil sprayed on the chassis of my vans here in the UK before later models were galvanised. Getting a garage to spray it a couple of times a year (Cover the rubber brake pipes first) dust sticks to the oil, its a good way to extend frame life if you dont keep it on a neat tarmac drive. We have a product called "waxoil" here. Mixing some engine oil and a little white spirit in with that is even better. penetrating oil is too thin in my opinion........... I heard a story here of a guy with a new flatbed truck in the 70s. He was carrying a 25 gallon container of engine oil in the load area when it overturned and soaked the bed and frame. He was cursing it but 10 years later said it was the best thing to happen. It got into all the crevices of the steel bed and there was no rust. Regards, Mike England

Reply to
Mike

I went ahead and soaked as much of the frame as I could reach with a rag and pesticide sprayer filled with used engine oil. It was messy but I tried to be thorough. Hopefully this will keep the tinworms at bay for a while, I can't really afford another truck while still making payments on my primary ride (a Honda Accord) and building a new house. I will probably wear out the Honda before rust becomes a major concern, since I put about 30,000 miles a year on it.

Reply to
Bruce Nolte N3LSY

I've been using a product called Corrosion Pro by LubriMatic. That's the company that makes various greasing equipment and supplies. You can spray into a frame or inaccessible area and this stuff hangs on forever. For example, a rusty timing cover behind the water pump can be protected easily.

Reply to
MaxAluminum

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