Rust repair or time to sell

[ufatbastehd]

Hi all

I have a low milage 02 KJ with a rust issue. See pictures below. I had this repaired about 5 yers ago when I noticed rust on the same panel but up higher about mid door. Now the rust is back but down by the lower door as shown.

The body shop gave me a price of 700 to cut out the rust and create a piece to replace and paint.

Question I have is if I have this repaired what can I do to prevent a repeat ?

The KJ has 54,000 miles and has been well maintained. I have a crack in the exhaust Y pipe that was welded and will eventually need replacement also running the original springs, shocks and cooling system. Which I assume will need replacing down the road due to mileage/age

Second question is it it time to avoid pouring money into her and buying something newer?

 

[LibertyTC]

Welcome to the forums.
Considering your Jeep only has 54K miles on it, I would want to keep it. They are safe & good little tanks overall.
We have seen way worse that that. How is the under body and Rockers, the doors themselves?
The salt belt can be ******* the Jeep's & if your only major rust is the door frame, you are doing fairly well for an 02 KJ.
Keeping the Jeep clean in these areas during winter helps to prevent corrosion.
Do you have any photos of the previous repair by chance?

 

[ufatbastehd]

Welcome to the forums.
Considering your Jeep only has 54K miles on it, I would want to keep it. They are safe & good little tanks overall.
We have seen way worse that that. How is the under body and Rockers, the doors themselves?
The salt belt can be ******* the Jeep's & if your only major rust is the door frame, you are doing fairly well for an 02 KJ.

That spot is really the only rust. Some surface rust underneath is really it. The Jeep had been garage kept until the past two years but does see salted roads. I hose off the undercarriage often during the winter as well as getting underbody car washes.
I was surprised by the first rust spot a fews years back as I take pretty good care of her.

I wonder if spraying fluid film in that area after repair would help keep it at bay?

 

[LibertyTC]

Fluid film is pretty good stuff. I use it on my KJ in winter after a wash to prevent rust.
Sure sounds like you have really looked after your KJ! Keeping it clean after salty outings is what really makes the difference.
I undercoated my KJ after I first bought it. Platinum shield is a good undercoat protection & has stood up very well over the years.

 

[LibertyTC]

Fluid film has made a big difference keeping rust at bay on my Jeep.
Let me see if I can find an image of my door panels I'll edit in a photo..
The 3rd brake light up top I clean /wax every year. They are also prone to rust. I replace bulb while I' m there.

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[ufatbastehd]

Looks real good! I've been using FF on my TJ for years. Never thought KJ's would have rust issue's. I checked my 3rd brake light yesterday and it was fine. Once repaired I'll start using FF on the KJ too.


Thanks for the advice!

 

[JeepJeepster]

Im convenience they screwed something up with the WJ and KJ rockers. I think they got an air pocket in them when they were dipped. Other than just not driving it, Ive taken very good care of my KJ and the rockers are still rusting. Everything else is perfect.

If I had known they would rust and knew what FF was 15 years ago, I probably wouldnt have this issue.

 

[towpro]

no way I would sell because of what is in that picture. I would use a soft scouring pad on that and see how it cleans up.
maybe tape it and spray it, but it might not even need paint, just wax.
that's not rust

 

[ufatbastehd]

no way I would sell because of what is in that picture. I would use a soft scouring pad on that and see how it cleans up.
maybe tape it and spray it, but it might not even need paint, just wax.
that's not rust

Well I hope you are correct. I'l take your advice and clean it up and see what I get.
But I'm pretty sure that rust is coming from the inside out. Last time I had rust close to that area it rusted from the inside out.

FWIW I plan on keeping her for a bit. It's cheaper for me to repair what I have than to buy a new SUV. I have two other vehicles a Jeep TJ and new Honda Civic neither gives me what the Liberty does plenty of cargo room plus either full time AWD or part time 4WD.

 

[Johnny O]

Mine had that cancer in the same spots when I got it. I had to track down donor steel and weld as this 07 has been in the Salt Belt its entire life and I am fairly certain the holes were portals to another dimension inhabited by gremlins...

Yours are not bad at all to my eyes. Bust the rust with a needle gun, flap/scotchbrite grinder, etc. Immediately treat it with a rattle can on a good rust bonder. I swear by Eastwood Rust Converter for jobs like yours. If you find it is a bit nastier than it appears, I use Loctite Extend Rust Converter. This is an important and often overlooked step as even though you think you have bare metal, you have microscopic rust "seeds" in the grind scratches that will result in a relapse down the road. Let the rust converter cure for at least 30 hours, then a good auto primer follows. If you have pits you want to fill, do it before you prime, but after the converter. Then follow it up with paint. Dont forget to pulll the fender liner and get the inside too!

Pretty easy afternoon!

From what I saw at the scrap yards looking for donor steel, this is a pretty common problem area since the body panel is outside the wheel well liner. Once I got the donor steel in and everything sealed up, I filled the gap between the liner and panel with a bit of black RTV to keep the wet out.

 

[Johnny O]

Here’s what I had to deal with…you got it easy!

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[ufatbastehd]

Here’s what I had to deal with…you got it easy!

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Yep That looks pretty bad!

 

[runfor5]

@ufatbastehd Rust doesn’t look too bad really. And for $700, assuming you’re able to do some of the work yourself, you can more than buy the parts you say the car needs: front strut assemblies, rear springs, radiator + coolant hoses + coolant... and should have plenty of beer $$ leftover. Low miles that’s nice!

 

[ufatbastehd]

@ufatbastehd Rust doesn’t look too bad really. And for $700, assuming you’re able to do some of the work yourself, you can more than buy the parts you say the car needs: front strut assemblies, rear springs, radiator + coolant hoses + coolant... and should have plenty of beer $$ leftover. Low miles that’s nice!

Yep. I decided to try and clean it up by myself and see how it goes. Worse comes to worse I can always have the shop repair. I was hesitant as I do know that there is usually much more rust than you can see.
I'm going to start using fluid film on the Jeep too once this is taken care of. Hopefully this will slow down the progression of rust. It worked wonders on my TJ.

 

[Ksat]

Hard to tell how deep that rust goes, but spot sandblasting that area would be a good 1st step. Follow with some 2 part glazing putty after that to fill in the pin holes/ depressions. There's probably rust on the interior cavity that you're not going to be able to get to. Not a heck of a lot you can do there except try to inject some thick gear oil (or something that will cling to vertical surfaces somewhat). Drilling a hole somewhere inconspicuous, inserting a wand, injecting the oil, catching the excess as it drains out the bottom, then cap off the hole could be an option. Just make sure to repeat the procedure every so often.

Much of the corrosion problems occur where salt water creeps in between the spot welds on those sandwiched panels (rockers, or wheel arches for example) and then just sit in there. Even if the water inside evaporates, the salt remains and waits until it sees humidity again. Although most door panels are not spot welded at the bottom, 1 sheet is typically folded over the other and that presents a similar problem with water/salt entrapment. Yea, there are drains on either side, but there's enough moisture that doesn't get out and just sits in the joint.

Washing/waxing or pressure washing underneath doesn't a good a job as people think of controlling rust. That's not to say it's a waste of time, but unless you totally submerge the the car in a hot bath and get out every last air bubble, you're not going to get salt out of all of the nooks. In addition, many car washes recycle a lot of their water and I somehow doubt many go through the expense of de-salinating the road salt coming off of other cars during winter months.

 

[Runion]

Thats rust down by the rear back door frame???
you need to look under the car at the body under the rear doors.
My guess is you will find rust if not holes there too.
This is body sections, it is a small part in the body strength, the body frame is further under the car.
I dont think it is cause to sell, yet, but you need to get it under control.
They sell all kinds of stuff that is supposed to stop rust, at this time I can't vouch
for any of them.
what I did to my truck frame which was really rusting badly, I coated it with
MINERAL OIL. The oil takes a day to spread through the rust. The rust actually wicks
the oil and spreads it nicely and the rust turns darkish grey/brown. as long as that is on the metal, it
repels water and moisture. To stop rust you have to deny the metal any air or moisture.
You need to find something and coat all the rust spots and stop it or even though its not real bad
now, it will progress and become a problem.

You might wonder if I use mineral oil why my rust is so bad. And I will be glad to explain that
I did not buy my jeep brand new, I bought it a couple years ago and the rust was already
taking a firm place on the car.

By the way, you might want to look inside your doors, they all rust out from the inside of the doors. ESPecially were the seams are pinched together along the edges were water can be held.
I already treated mine with the mineral oil to stop the continuation of rust. I have rust showing on the outside of the doors, and plan to do some kind of repair this summer to hide it. I have a habit to look at the doors on the KJ's when I see them and a lot of them have the rust problem.
Used to be the fix was to get some junk yard doors from the Mens Mall, but they are coming in rusted now.

If you are keeping your KJ, then do something about the rust to try to control it.