StealthAWD

I noticed that my muffler has some surface rust on it - and funny enought my wife noticed the same when she was driving behind me. Is this common? Does anyone else have this surface rust? Any suggestions on how to clean it?

Thanks,
Eric

Efaray

I do have rust on my muffler also. I was going to spray paint it black, like one of the other posts was talking about. When I actually got down close to do it, I noticed it was covered in rust. I haven't put much thought into how to remove it before painting, I kind of put it on the back burner for now.

ronjenx

The muffler is stainless steel. 409 stainless, not the real good 304 stainless that will look new for the life of the vehicle.
409 stainless is cheaper and is widely used by the auto makers. It won't rust out fast like regular steel. It is, however, prone to surface rust. I have read that the surface rust is a "protective" layer. Some people have painted theirs with paint that does not require surface rust removal.
This is from a metals properties site:

Corrosion Resistance
Grade 409 resists atmospheric and exhaust gas corrosion. A light surface rust will form in most atmospheres; this rust retards further corrosion but makes the surface undesirable for decorative applications. The corrosion resistance is about the same as that of 3CR12 and the 12% chromium martensitic grades such as 410, and inferior to the 17% chromium grade 430.

pearl-drum-man

I painted mine, looks 10X better and the paint is holding up well (after a couple months). The only prep I did was knocking off the lose dirt/surface rust. It is an easy and cheap job. If it starts to look bad again, nothing that another application of paint can't fix.

StealthAWD

what color did you paint it? Just use rustoleum?

pearl-drum-man

I used flat black hi-temp paint. Try a search, there is a thread on here somewhere with a bunch of pics so you can see it before you do it. Huge improvement IMO.

pearl-drum-man

Here you go:

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...ainted+muffler

StealthAWD

Thanks, looks like a visit to Home Depot for some high heat flat black paint is in order

cmpmacchia

I used a high heat Tremclad flat black barbecue rust paint with excellent results.

texasKA

surface rust? gimme a break. its rough, touf, its a jeep.

ITS STAINLESS STEEL. get it covered under waarranty