2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Why the Cummins doesn't belong in a Dodge...

[AKaiser]

If you have rust issues, or are somewhere that you think you're going to, paint your underbody and frame with this stuff. It's the stuff we use on fertilizer trucks to kill and prevent rust from salt corrosion. When this stuff dries, it's very, very hard and difficult to crack, so moisture and salt can't get to the metal.



Overrust - Sierra Industries

 

[BTowler]

Sounds just like Extend, but they should change the name to Overprice!

 

[Grizzly]

Yeah thats the problem... . I wash my truck once a week, and I've owned it for about 6 months now. The guy who owned it before me used to take good care of it. The truck has been coming to my dad's garage for the past 3 years or so, and the prev. owner was good friends with my dad.

A 12 year old truck that was taken care of even half as well as this one shouldn't do this stuff. The truck was bought from the local dealership (Brewer Brothers in Canaan, CT) where a couple people who work there told me its the best maintained truck to leave that place.

This isn't from neglect at all.

... and this wouldn't happen to a furd or a chevy?

 

[WDixon27]

it still would but the driveline would fail before the truck had a chance to disolve :-laf

... and this wouldn't happen to a furd or a chevy?

 

[JFaughn]

I looked at most of the posts , and almost all that have talked about lack of maintenance do live in the heavy salt states , making comments with out knowable .
I've lived in multiple states , CA. , MN. , to name a couple of extreams ,
While maintenance , will help , it is a minor factor , for those who differ , come to MN. , plow [ almost always in the early am , ] then get home at sunrise to get a cat nap before your regular job , & tell me your going to take the time to ???
When I start to look for a truck , I do not even bother to look in the 5 state area [ MN WS ND SD IW ] I've owned trucks as old as 48 [ the truck not me ] folks from CA. would be blown away by rust here [ I lived there for 15 yrs ] , had a few utility truck that work the cost , less than 1/4 of what happens in MN. - I am moving back out of here for my truck survival [ from MS with some rust ]

 

[Joe G.]

I agree with John. A wash down would help if you could do it, but it's the road salt. I was shocked at the number of rusty cars I saw in NJ when I was stationed there during my tour in the army. You just don't see that in CA. There is an old Model A Ford that I see on the road once in a while here in Eureka. It's not a restore. There is some rust. The fenders are not original or have been worked on. The interior is shot, but it is still going. There is a local glass shop that use a '56 Ford and an early '60s Chevy for their glass trucks. Both really look good. They keep the body in good shape and get a paint job when a truck needs it because they want the trucks to look good. No need for a new truck because the old ones are still doing their duty. They are parked outside at the shop three blocks from Humboldt Bay.



Nevada also has a lot of old vehicles on the road.

 

[Pavemen]

I looked at most of the posts , and almost all that have talked about lack of maintenance do live in the heavy salt states , making comments with out knowable .
I've lived in multiple states , CA. , MN. , to name a couple of extreams ,
While maintenance , will help , it is a minor factor , for those who differ , come to MN. , plow [ almost always in the early am , ] then get home at sunrise to get a cat nap before your regular job , & tell me your going to take the time to ???
When I start to look for a truck , I do not even bother to look in the 5 state area [ MN WS ND SD IW ] I've owned trucks as old as 48 [ the truck not me ] folks from CA. would be blown away by rust here [ I lived there for 15 yrs ] , had a few utility truck that work the cost , less than 1/4 of what happens in MN. - I am moving back out of here for my truck survival [ from MS with some rust ]

first off, just because I live in CA does not mean I do not know salt. My family lives in WI/MN/MI.

As for when do you have time for rinsing your truck after plowing? You should know you need to do it. If you can't do it, either expect things to rust apart and don't complain about it, or make the time to rinse of daily or pressure wash once a week. No one is sticking a gun to your head and making you go plow before your 'real job'.

 

[JFaughn]

That was expected .

 

[AKaiser]

That's why there are so many TX trucks bought on auctions and sold in the Midwest. It's also why I have a carport at my apartment. I'm looking fwd to the day when the deployments are over (for a while anyway) so I can buy a house with a decent garage.

 

[Alphacowboy]

its the damn salt combined with plowing. I put a plow on my truck this last winter... It blew me away at the accelerated rate rust grew on my truck! Hell, i only plowed my driveway and my dads, and a few friends. Never did I lay down salt, but the little amount I ran into when I got to the street has made a mess. Front axle about doubled in rate on surface rust, but the worst part, seems like many things under the hood that had nearly 0% corrosion now do! Maybe by having a plow it affects the air flow at such a point that it lifts that wonderful salt layden road spray into areas it normally does not make it. Hell, all the aluminum under my hood is now pitted, makes me very ****** to say the least. The damn injector lines even look like crap now, they didnt last year.



Sorry, but to blame this failure on the vehicle is kinda lame if you ask me. If you put a plow on anything, dont expect it to last even half as long as without one. I have seen MANY D60 axles pulled from junk trucks with WAY MORE MILES than your truck and they look NOTHING like that. The 1/2 ton guys love the Dodge D60, its a direct bolt in, so many do it on a offroad site I belong to, never in the 6 years I have been on there have I ever seen that happen. To me, looks like something else is at work here, you sure that truck wasnt under water for a time? My van I swear was "dunked" at some point, not enough to get inside the vehicle, but the amount of rust on it in weird places and accelerated rust in others has me thinking this.

 

[DBrickel]

I have a 95 with arund 210000k on the clock, use it in construction and it doesn't get washed like it should but it has no sign of rust. Salt is very bad. I have a boat and trailer that launches in salt water and I wash that down after each time I use it. It shows some rust but nowhere near that. You can't blame that rust on Dodge. Sorry for your problems buddy

 

[JacobsD]

Yeah I think the plowing was the major problem, but I don't think I've ever seen a Ford or a Chevy rust like a Dodge does with similar vintage.



I just painted up my frame with some of that SEM Rust Shield. I've had extremly good luck with that stuff, painting the frame on my Chevy and on some of the stuff from work. It seems the front axle was the centralized location of rust under my truck. The frame is mint, minus a couple flakes towards the front.

 

[Alphacowboy]

The weird thing is, that metal really isnt that thin. Its 3/16" or thicker IIRC. Took me dropping the truck onto rocks to bend the lower "ears" below the arm. To eat that amount of metal, something seriously had a go with it. Almost wonder if snow mixed with road salt and sand got compacted in there while plowing and just ate it away. I really do wonder if that front end was submerged at one point or another.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Wash the road salt off the chassis every spring and you won't have any trouble.

 

[Matt42]

I am going to go outside and hug the "Welcome to Arizona" sign.

 

[AKaiser]

I am going to go outside and hug the "Welcome to Arizona" sign.

LOL, good one.

 

[DCreed]

I look at Furds on the local dealer lots around here that are ALREADY rusting underneath! they havent even been bought yet! N. E. stinks for rust, heck we're known for it. I watched shows on SPEED and DISCOVERY channel where they said" Wow this is SOOOO rusty!" and I'm thinking it looks better than the ones on used lots up here! I replaced the quarters in my last Furd right before the motor blew! Body work and maintainence is a given for a vehicle up here but at least with this Cummins truck it's worth it!!!

 

[MFalkinham]

I purchased my '98 earlier this year and it has never seen snow since the previous owner wintered in Nevada. My plan to protect it from Wisconsin road salt is an annual coating of the under-carriage with Fluid Film.

Fluid Film: Corrosion Preventive, Lubricant and Rust Inhibitor

Lawn Mower Parts-Lawn Mower Part-Gator blades-Eureka Fluid Film-Lawn mower blades

I just completed the first coating this past weekend. One gallon sized can ($25) was plenty to cover the insides the doors and the rocker panels (which were my main areas of concern), plus do the entire bottom side of the truck. I used a $10 paint sprayer from Harbor Freight and set my air compressor to 80psi. It worked great. Heck, I even coated the exhaust system!

 

[tgordon]

That is a good idea with the fluid film. My truck is showing the signs of neglect and one of my goals for next year is to do some fixing up for it.



One question, how do I clean up the front frame where it is "boxed" on th einside and them apply something inside to prevent further deteriation



Troy