New m1009 with rust question

[galeo7171]

I just picked up another m1009. I had Carnac look up the info and it apparently spent a good portion of its life in Pennsylvania. I bought from a police department near Knoxville, TN that has had it since 2004. I noticed that it had been treated by Ziebarts when it was brand new. The floor pans and rockers are all solid. Underneath seems to also all be in great condition and a lot if it still has the original Ziebarts undercoating on it. My only concern is the rear tail pan is pretty rusty and needs to be replaced. There's also a lot of pitted rust on the axles and leaf springs and inner fender wells up front. I'm going to grind down the pitted rust and paint either por 15 or chassis saver wherever I can to help. I live in Georgia and was always told to never buy vehicles from the northeast. I picked it up real cheap ($585) and so far I've installed new tires, batteries, glow plugs, fuel lines and fuel tank. It runs great and fires up every morning no matter what the temp is. Should I be too worried about the rust issues and the fact that it came from Pennsylvania? Does the fact that it was treated by Ziebarts make a difference?

 

[blackhueys]

Ziebart actually was one of the original suppliers of rustproofing for military trucks what you get at the shops is basically the same stuff ziebart just gave it a different name for military use. I worked at a ziebart store and when I was there I used my m1009 for all kinds of training, I re rustproofed it so much that the rustproofing was dripping out the doors and hood and everywhere lol I did it on purpose and just told my boss that I was learning sorry. I also applied about 6 coats of undercoating to it. The thing is though with these products you do need to go back yearly for touch ups there is no such thing as permanent rustproofing undercoating. So yes it helps but you may want to go in and have them redo all the rustproofing and undercoating they are 2 different products.

 

[galeo7171]

I don't think there's any Ziebarts near me. I can see where the drilled the holes around the doors and applied their rust proofing. On the frame the original undercoating has peeled off on a lot of places. I'm going to try to remove what I can then reapply more stuff.

 

[blackhueys]

Yes it does peel from wear and tear I used to have to scrape the cars and then reapply it on almost every car that came in for touch ups. If a car was rusty underneath we would use an acid to dissolve the rust then apply some stuff to convert it back to a good surface like what you were talking about doing. For small areas on my truck I just use rubberized undercoating now.

 

[Awol]

I wouldnt worry about some pitting. Just replace what metal has rot, and move on.

 

[galeo7171]

Thanks guys. I'm going to replace the tail pan and put in new wheel wells. I'll also be doing all new stainless brake line. It should clean up nice.

 

[Awol]

Go for it! It seems like a truck worth putting some cash into.

Up here its not uncommon to see trucks with no rockers, or floors and they're still on the road. lol

 

[blackhueys]

one secret to helping the rear quarters live longer is this when you wash and rinse the truck off next time look up from the ground right where the rear tire is if you look at were the rear quarter panel is you will see some access holes rinse those out really good the first time I did I had all kinds of crap in there. what happens is you get dirt in there then that stays wet and will start to rust the quarter panel from the inside out. It always makes me mad when people say they wash their cars then I look underneath and see all kinds of crap and dirt When you say you wash your car to me that's the top sides and bottom not just the top lol.