So I finally bit the bullet and welded the rusting seam on the top of my AEV bumper. I am sure that anyone who has one of these, will eventually see this. Mine started rusting after just the first year.



Anyhow, I got the welder out and filled the seam with metal and ground it relatively smooth.



Now the question is, what to do to treat the rust on the inside? The inside of the bumper is very difficult to get to because there is a large plate welded onto the backside of the bumper. There is a good coating of rust as well as the peeling powder coat caused by the heat of the weld. Somehow I need to scrape/clean this off before applying a rust inhibitor.

Inside of bumper.


Backside of bumper.


Any recommendation how to clean it out then treat it?

 

Well first off, I think your welding repair is excellent.

If it was me, I would pull the bumper and get the loose stuff off, wipe with MEK, and have at it with Chassis Saver.

 

Scrape what you can with a screwdriver and then see about finding Ospho- you should be able to find it at hardware stores like Ace. I'm also looking at 'skunk rust'- same principal as the Ospho but it's spritzed on and then agitated with a brush to activate the inhibitor.

I use Ospho on my entire undercarriage, axles, and skids. Bumpers are regular paint and self-etching primer.

 

I would use por15 or chassis saver to fix the rust issue.

 

If you use Por15 be sure it is a hot and very humid day. Por15 requires humidity to set properly.

 

My AEV bumper has some of the seam rust. Apparently this was a problem on the earlier AEV front bumpers that has since been fixed. I called AEV and I am getting one of their seam repair kits.

See this discussion on AEV's forum:
Please contact us: Bumper corrosion issue - American Expedition Vehicles - Product Forums

And this repair guide video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UZMwQKNZ8Q

 

I got the seam repair kit from AEV, picked it up directly from AEV since they're located about 10 min away from my work. I saw about 100 JKU's in their parking lot loaded with AEV gear.

Here's the kit contents:

 

Before:



Seam sealed:



Seams Painted:



Complete: