Big Rust Problem

[86SilveradoEric]

Ok.  I've had my truck for 5-6 years now, and my dad about 6-7 years prior to that...so 11-13 years with us of its 18 years of existence.  I just really started noticing that rust has been building up in the door jams really bad.  Not in the base near the rocker panels, but on the flat vertical parts facing outward from the cab.  I'm baffled as to how this is building up right there...its worse on the passenger side.  I figure its coming in from around the back window gasket into the cab and collecting.  But still, how would that account for building up on places where it makes sense gravity would do its job?  

Rocker panel and cab corne are emmaculate on the passenger side, but the door jams are terrible.  There is even rust on the top of the cab door jam!  The driver side isn't as bad on the jam, but the cab corner is completely eaten with rust.  If I were to scrape it away, I'd have about a 3" diameter hole.

I'll be taking pictures of it tomorrow and posting them here then.  But until then, would some of you give me an explanation and what I can do to fix it?  

Thanks,
Eric

[problazer]

you are not going to want to hear this but........ If your rust is that bad you might wanna break down and consider a different cab. Truth be told if you have a 3" hole the chances of at least 3" beyond that are weak and even more metal beyond that is affected. That is why it is called cancer, because once it starts it just spreads like heck.

[86SilveradoEric]

Yeah, I was afraid of that.  Let me show you the pics so you can have a better idea of what it looks like.

Edited by: 86SilveradoEric at: 1/20/04 3:16 pm

[problazer]

Ya know changing the cab is a bit time consuming but it is bot that expensive. Most wrecking yards sell cabs pretty reasonably. (being the cab and the frame are usually the parts that are not commonly used) But I guess it kind of depends how much you like your truck and if you have something else to drive. But look at the bright side....... Bitchen excuse to trick out your truck!! Good luck.             James

[86SilveradoEric]

I love my truck, but I don't have another vehicle.  Right now I'm looking for a new job and plan to get a house down the street with a 150'x150' back yard that I'm going to build  small shop in.  Then I'll get a crap car for about 500 bucks somewhere that I can get from point to point in while I'm working on the truck.  Until then, I'm just going to scrape, wire brush and sand and primer it up.  Hopefully it won't spread anymore.

[problazer]

After all of your scraping and wire wheeling, Goto an automotive paint store and ask for some "rustmort". It comes in a 16 oz. bottle and you use it to chemically kill the rust after the surface rust and chunks are scraped away. Stuff is cheap (12-15 bucks), works excellent, and is easy to use. I have used it for about 12 years and is awesome. It will kill the rust but you need to realize that from the pictures you showed you have quite a bit of rust that you have not even seen yet. Rustmort will definitely help but is NOT a cure all. And you can prime right over the top of it.  Good luck, James

[SUX2BU99]

How about using POR15? Sounds like a great rust-proofing paint for something like that. But yeah, it would be to try and get in behind the metal to kill what's behind but how to do that in those spots I don't know.