For those of us who live in areas with winter road salt that can eat pretty much everything, what is the best way to protect the following?

I am going to build up an axle over the winter with a truss, gussets and skids. What is the best way to protect those hard to reach areas? Do I POR15 (or whatever I end up using) it all then grind away where I will weld later or just weld it on and hope I can get my rust proofing in all the undersides of everything after it is welded on?

 

Do all your welding,then coat it.What about powder coat?

 

Is this a project that you'll be doing with the axle off of the vehicle?

Welding it first would be the best way.
But if this isn't an option
You could tape off the areas that you need to do welding on and
then coat it. When your ready to weld then remove the taped areas.
It'll save some time on grinding the coatings off, but you could end up
having to grind off any rust that may have formed under the tape.

 

Yes the axle is off. I just don't know how I will get inside pieces of the truss or gussets.

 

Anyone else?

 

You cant treat all your metal with alodine and then zinc chromate primer for a base. F.Y.I. all that stuff is really toxic but will make your stuff last. I work on Helo's for the Marines and thats what we use for our birds that spend months out at sea. If you use that stuff make sure you have rubber gloves and a respairator that stuff is really nasty.