I have an 03 trailblazer I need for towing our boat different places through the year. I was doing an inspection today and noticed much of the original factory coating is bubbling off the frame due to salt exposure I presume. Should I do extend and primer and paint or any other suggestions or let it go? Vehicle is probably going to be in our life another 8 to 10 years. Thanks in advance.
I’d sand it off, prime it, and paint it. Be sure to get past the bubbles so that you get any rust off that might be at the transition from bubble to adhering paint. This assumes that there is no zinc coating under the paint. If there is zinc (I doubt it), don’t worry about it.
It’s Kind Of Funny How When A Boat Is Involved One Starts To Really Worry.
I am the same way.
Spring is in the air! Enjoy that boat.
I would pressure wash it, then scrape and sand it as best I could to remove all old paint and rust, and then spray it with aerosol undercoating. That stuff is probably a bit more salt-resistant than regular paint.
I presume you live where they do not salt the the roads in the winter.
This is very normal on vehicles after a period in New England and they last with regards to the frame especially domestics.
I would suggest using POR 15 paint–you can apply this directly to the metal and it has rust preventative properties. A friend doing a frame off restoration on a Willys Jeep used this on the frame and had great results.
I have an '04 that I use for towing/launching boats (3-4x/wk) and I wouldn’t worry about it. Mine’s already flaked off most of the front part of the frame. Those frame rails are pretty thick and it will take a l-o-n-g time for them to be compromised. When I drilled the holes for my plow mount, I had to use my air drill to get through them. BTW- the inside of those boxed rails are also rusting. How will you sleep at night ;-D
You can paint it, but I suspect it will keep happening.
I really wouldn’t worry about it. If you do then you’ll spend every weekend touching up the paint. The frames are pretty thick so it’s going to take YEARS before the rust can damage the frame. If it truly bothers you the real solution is to remove the body from the frame and have the paint completely removed and then powder coated.
BTW- the inside of those boxed rails are also rusting. How will you sleep at night
funny!
I know the insides would be impossible to do anything about and figured It cut the rust rate by 50% if I did the outside.
Thanks for all the responses, I suppose if I do it it will be just to avoid a worse project, like taxes.
DO NOTHING! It’s going to happen no matter what you do. There are millions of truck frames out there with rust on them and no harm.