rusty residue showing around flippac torsion bar

[colotaco]

Hello,
I've had my flippac for less than a year and I seem to keep getting rusty ish residue around the mounts for the torsion bar where it connects with the shell and lid. The caulk or silicone seems to still be in place. My question is should I be concerned or not? What can I do to ensure I don't ever get any rust that creeps its way into those areas?

Thanks.

 

[mtnbike28]

I am not an expert, but a Flippac owner and I say YES BE CONCERNED - what I did - cut, pull, peel out the current sealant, used hair dryers, the sun and a fan to dry out the opening. APllied a rust convertor paint and let dry - then sealed up with new caulk. I have read somewhere, this is supposed to be done yearly (at least the caulking)

 

[Martyn]

The hinge brackets that go into the lid are plated so there should be no rust coming from those. There is a steel bar that runs along the upper edge of the lid on the inside that may rust if it get wet. As already stated the caulking around the hinge brackets on both the lid and body should be checked and re caulked. We recommend this be checked every three months with the lid open and closed, caulking coming away from the brackets can show up in different places depending on if the lid is open or closed.

The most probable source of rust residue is the torsion bar itself. The bar is heat treated but not plated. Depending on how tight a fit the sleeve over the bar is it may be holding water in there and it is slowly dripping out of the end of the sleeve and down onto the bracket.

If the sleeve fit is tight drill a small hole toward the end of the tube on both ends to let the water drain. It won't stop the rusting but it will allow the water to excape from the tube.

 

[colotaco]

Thanks for the info. I've checked and the caulk still seems to be holding for now. Must be the torsion bar, will drill some holes for drainage. When re- caulking will any outdoor caulk work or is there one that is preferred?

 

[Martyn]

Use 100% silicon caulk.

 

[colotaco]

I had an after thought to attach pictures of my dilemma. Just got back from 3 days in the rain in southern CO, with an SLO rain fly.