red2010rubi

So I am wanting to paint my front and rear axel to prevent rust. Does anyone have any advice on what to do or not to do? Also what paint is the best? Thanks

Atlacatl

Just did this last week... I took a wire wheel, wire brushes and sanding blocks to chip/scrape/sand off the loose paint, then I cleaned the surface with TSP (trisodium phosphate powder) available at hardware stores to degrease anything i was gonna paint since I had my undercarriage sprayed before winter. After that dried i went back through with a sponge and water, waited for that to dry (heat gun/blow dryer helps), then went over the entire area with a tack cloth (i got a little carried away)... Then I hand painted with a soft brush with rustoleum flat black rust paint... Two coats after letting the first sit overnight... Looks like brand new again, its a tedious process and be careful of your neck if you're doing it in your driveway (mine is still bothering me), not having the muffler installed gives you some much needed room to get into all the hidden nooks... So far so good... I got into some mud the other day and pressure washed the bottom, no flakes and cleaned up really well... Also wear respiration/eye protection when you're removing rust/paint...

red2010rubi

Thanks for the advice. Very helpful

jnabird333

Living where we do...rust is going to happen. I just plan on addressing the new spots every spring. and try to be preventative in the fall before winter.

Spring task -> Wire brush/wheel all loos stuff. and clean thoroughly, It there are bad spots I treat them with a rust converter. If the spots are not that bad or once treated I spray a coat of the Rust-Oleum heavy rust primer. (This has some converters and preventers in it to aid in the fight). Once dry I spray with two coats of Rust-Oleum Semi-Gloss Black. (I prefer the look of semi-gloss and I think the smoother surface cleans easier.)

Fall task -> I spray all metal on the undercarriage with used ATF. Transmission Fluid has climbing agents so it will actually "climb" into holes that you can't spray directly. I do this with a dedicated bug/stain/weed pump sprayer that has an adjustable nozzle for a mist spray. Park the vehicle in a rarely used portion of the gravel driveway over night and It's good-2-go. VERY few drips in the shop... None after a drive and 48 hrs. (It may smoke a touch if you get some on the exhaust) If I stay on this like planned there is usually very little that needs addressed in the spring.

We got our Jeep late last fall and it was too late to treat. It has less than 4k miles and I need to touch-up several spots from all the salt and calcium crap they put on the roads.