LX 450, how bad is this rust?

[tacollie]

A coworker has one that looked like that he bought from Chicago. He wire brushed and POR15 the whole thing. That was 12 years ago and it's still looking good.

 

[Nesquik]

Are you located in New England or the Mid West? There's a different scale for what bad rust is out here... Most of the rust looks repairable. My only concern is what looks like some oil leakage at the diff. Hopefully, that's not a hole.

As in a hole rusted through the diff?

Zero percent chance of that being the case.

As said before, if your gonna live up here in the Midwest, this isn't even a rusty truck

 

[lumpskie]

lol that's not remotely enough rust to cause a hole in the diff case. Not even close.

From growing up in NH, that's in beautiful shape. After living in AZ, that's way too much rust for me.

As in a hole rusted through the diff?

Zero percent chance of that being the case.

As said before, if your gonna live up here in the Midwest, this isn't even a rusty truck

Normall, I would agree without hesitation but I've been surprised recently. I told a guy on Mud just a few months back that rust didn't look bad. Then, a week later he posted... diff weeping from the bottom front of the axle, just below the 3rd. It was hard to tell from the original pictures because I couldn't see the flaking. When he took pictures later on, the change in lighting made the flaking way more evident.

 

[Rsurface]

I'll post some pictures of the scrubbing I've been doing on the rust soon.

Does anybody have any strategies for rust removal?

I'm trying to NOT take everything apart, I'm currently using a wire brush attachment on a drill, and will probably also invest in a smaller dremel/grinder for the harder to reach areas.

Eventually I will try and coat it all in POR-15

 

[lumpskie]

I'll post some pictures of the scrubbing I've been doing on the rust soon.

Does anybody have any strategies for rust removal?

I'm trying to NOT take everything apart, I'm currently using a wire brush attachment on a drill, and will probably also invest in a smaller dremel/grinder for the harder to reach areas.

Eventually I will try and coat it all in POR-15

If you aren't taking everything apart, I don't know if POR-15 will be the best product. From what I understand, it's a great barrier to rust but, once there is rust, it can't keep it from spreading. You may want to look into a rust reformer/encapsulator product. I've heard some good things about Eastwood products. If you can stop the rust that will be in the nooks and crannies of your rig, you will only be fighting "new" rust. After that, I would fluid film it before winter.

 

[Rsurface]

Reviving my dead thread for a quick update:

I did POR15 3-4 years ago without taking anything apart, it worked pretty well, but some of the surface rust is coming back on the rear axle area

I absolutely do not regret buying this rig, I've put almost 50k miles on it, and taken it on 15+ hour road trips several times, it rips down the highway at 85MPH if you want, and it's only needed basic maintenance.

80 series is the ONLY car in the world