Frame Rust: When to be concerned?

[Brooksy64]

Hi. I am new to this forum. I have a 98 K1500 with a little rust area forming on the frame, left side, about the area of the driver door hinges. This is a low-dollar ride (large rust holes above wheel wells patched by me with bondo already) but I do want it to hang in there for a long while. I know nothing about welding - if even needed here - but my nephew can. Is there something I should be doing to stop the progress? Photos are the same area, not two different areas.

 

[johnckhall]

My advice would be to grind away all surface rust / scale until there’s bare metal and see what it looks like. There’s rust converter you could use afterward followed by priming/painting. Or you could use POR-15 or some other sealer like that over it to seal it up.

 

[JPVortex]

Hi. I am new to this forum. I have a 98 K1500 with a little rust area forming on the frame, left side, about the area of the driver door hinges. This is a low-dollar ride (large rust holes above wheel wells patched by me with bondo already) but I do want it to hang in there for a long while. I know nothing about welding - if even needed here - but my nephew can. Is there something I should be doing to stop the progress? Photos are the same area, not two different areas.

Would recommend what John said aswell. Seems like you caught it pretty early. I wouldn't be overly concerned about it yet, just clean it up before it gets worse.

 

[Just Nobody]

I have welded patches in that area before, it one of the first places to look when buying, especially on the drivers side. Clean it up and see how it looks. I use coreseal for a rust neutralizer.

 

[Supercharged111]

It doesn't look that early to me, there's always more than meets the eye. Only way to know for sure is to start cleaning and see what you've got.

 

[Hipster]

sometimes stuff can be rotted through and still look like it's solid. I usually bang on stuff with a sharp pick hammer, ice pick, etc. It's better it blows a hole it and handle the repairs accordingly vs. trying to band-aid it thinking it's ok.

 

[Caman96]

It doesn't look that early to me, there's always more than meets the eye.

X2

 

[Brooksy64]

Ok, thanks all. I am working on it with my electric drill with a sand-flapper and wire brush attachments. The other side looks totally normal, so it's just this spot.