Thread: Can I rust proof the trail arm brackets/knuckles?

New trailing arm brackets are 10 ish bucks a piece from RockAuto, before putting them on rattle can some rubberized undercoating or truck bed liner kind of stuff...

Other than new, it'll be a pain to get all of the rust off the old brackets, and they'll be rusting again in a few years...

ZZP sells full chromemoly tubular trailing arms for $120. I would buy a set of those and put a few extra coats of paint on them and never worry about it again.

It's not the trailing arms themselves, it's the brackets that hold them to the body that we're talking about.

My coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

Either way, grab some new ones and slap 3-5 coats of paint on 'em. They should last a long time that way.

I've used Eastwoods rust converter/encapsulator products with a rubberized undercoating applied as a top coat with very good results and I live in MN.

I would still buy the new mounts since they are powder coated (or the ones I got from the dealer years ago were) and treat the body underneath them.

Originally Posted by tom5170

Would rustoleum work? I have a can of it laying around.

Im assuming you are talking about just the paint. It's a good top coat but in my experience it will not slow or stop untreated rust. It will be peeling within a year or two.

I don't know about the Eastwoods, but the rubberized coating/underbody paint you can easily find at autozone.

also, check the prices on POR-15 products. I have used this on my battery tray and other parts on my '02 GP (which I have owned since '04) and there is no rust whatsoever. I now wish that I would have dipped the entire car into this stuff back in 2004. What ever you put it on, it will never rust again

When treating rust I usually overkill. Wire wheel as best you can first. Then rust converter, then encapsulator over that, then rubberized undercoating and a top coat (rustoleum) if desired. I probably wouldn't spend the money on Eastwoods rubberized undercoating, any brand should suffice. I saw that rustoleum makes some. It's probably pretty good although I haven't tried it yet.

POR 15 is more expensive but is supposed to be amazing. Although I have heard that it will not bond well to non rusty metal. I have personally never used it.

The bolts are decent size and if you got them turning you are likely good to go. The trailing arm bolts themselves are another story however. I ended up grinding them off as the bolt was seized in the bushing. That's how I ended up with gmpp trailing arms as they were cheaper than stockers.

I ended up pulling the entire sleeve out of the bushing in my stock trailing arm... Big socket and a hammer solved that problem. Lol

I use a 4 1/2" angle grinder with a wire wheel for bolts like that, they usually end up looking almost brand new, and the threads are more often than not just clogged with rust, the actual threads themselves are still in good shape, just need cleaned up.

sandblast +epoxy primer + moisture cured urethane paint = supreme

Sandblaster tank = ~$200

New brackets =$20

No need for blasting.

Gravity feed/siphon $20
sand 50lb under $5

Not gonna do it right, then who gives a **** what you do? Half assed is half assed is half assed

Why sand blast new parts?

especially when they're cheap? Plus I'm pretty sure epoxy primer will stick just fine to factory powdercoat, or whatever is on the new ones.

MCU would be best though, I'll give you that. Never worry about rust again after that.

Good entertainment here. I've never heard it called MCU. Eastwood stuff works great, the encapsulator is crazy good IMO and the converter ain't bad. For underneath a FWD GP I can't imagine using anything fancier than engine spray paint. The key is prep of course, but also using an actual topcoat paint and plenty of it. You gotta put enough coats! Skip anything rubberized unless you need it for chip protection or sound deadening. It is porous. Paint is not.