Auto designs and rust problems

[Exhaustgases]

There have been some famous rust out problems through the years with the different brands. At least to me it seems some of the later designs maybe starting in mid 2000's have been purposely designed to rust out. Unlike some of the older early 90's cars that had rubber stoppers to fill holes in the unibody frame, the newer ones do not and also they have sloppy gaps in spot welded members on the underside with no effort to use seam sealer or any such thing.
I'm comparing Asian cars and not the same brands. US cars and trucks to me have always been equipped from the factory with a good rust coating. Yes I know a fellow that has a 75 chev pickup that has a flintstone floor in it, and plywood for the bed, I don't know how many of the cab bolts still hold that cab on. Those years are some of the worse for rusting. So what are some of the worse rust buckets made old and new.
Its like keeping a mouse out of a car, they have been building them for what 100 plus years and they still can't do that or stop rust from biodegrading the car in some areas. I remember seeing ads about dipping in primer and other rust prevention measures on some brands, I suppose it was just advertising.

 

[Fish Fry]

Yeah, for some reason I have to replace the driver side rocker panel of my 2002 Explorer every 2-3 years - rusts from inside out .

 

[CharBaby]

Early '70s Ford LTD and other Ford models were notorious for early rust issues. I mean, in the first 2 years!
And I am sure there are other makes/models with ruse issues. However the most recent (mid 2000's) were Mazda vehicles. Especially Mazda3 & Mazda6 2004-2012/13. Actually Mazda 2010 & newer were not as bad and lately they quite good.

 

[eljefino]

Volvo has used nicopp (or similar) for brake lines for a long time now. Chevy uses uncoated steel for the "spider" of brake, fuel, return, and EVAP lines that run underneath on at least their cheap cars.

For a bit there was a fad of putting plastic cladding over rocker panels, to keep them cosmetically presentable in Michigan winters, I assume. This causes disappointment in places that require intact rockers to keep exhaust gases out as part of a state safety inspection since they now trap salt and moisture.

 

[Lubener]

One thing that I have noticed for whatever reason is that trucks seems to rust out quicker.

 

[Skippy722]

Salt use on roads has also grown massively, along with brine solutions becoming more prevalent which is even worse in terms of causing corrosion.

They could definitely do a better job designing stuff so it won’t just sit and collect water IMO. But I’m not an engineer.

 

[doublebase]

I have friends that to this day will still not buy a Nissan product because of rusted out floors in older Maximas and Altima’s. I have no idea if Nissan still suffers from corrosion issues, but I doubt it.

Dodge Rams of the early 2000’s were notorious for rear wheel well corrosion. I swear I don’t think I’ve seen one without the bubbling rust coming through.

Ford rear tailgates and hoods on Explorers and Expeditions of the early 2000’s. Bubbling corrosion from contamination at the factory.

Chevy Silverado cab corners.

Hyundai rear subframes.

Honda Accord front cradles 1998-2002

Ford ranger rear frame area near the shackles.

I live in the salt belt, it hasn’t been fun. I have so much fluid film on my car that it weighs probably 1,000 pounds over factory

 

[fantastic]

This is the upper ball joint nut I saw last month on my truck's driver side (Rust is worse on the driver side). When the wife & I first got this truck we had to scrape the whole frame of all the chunks of rust flaking/scaling then I spray painted over it. This ball joint nut was hiding behind the tire & I couldn't spray it. The passenger side is in good shape. Yes, I'm fixing the nut & replacing it today. Just what we have to live with here in MO.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

There have been some famous rust out problems through the years with the different brands. At least to me it seems some of the later designs maybe starting in mid 2000's have been purposely designed to rust out. Unlike some of the older early 90's cars that had rubber stoppers to fill holes in the unibody frame, the newer ones do not and also they have sloppy gaps in spot welded members on the underside with no effort to use seam sealer or any such thing.
I'm comparing Asian cars and not the same brands. US cars and trucks to me have always been equipped from the factory with a good rust coating. Yes I know a fellow that has a 75 chev pickup that has a flintstone floor in it, and plywood for the bed, I don't know how many of the cab bolts still hold that cab on. Those years are some of the worse for rusting. So what are some of the worse rust buckets made old and new.
Its like keeping a mouse out of a car, they have been building them for what 100 plus years and they still can't do that or stop rust from biodegrading the car in some areas. I remember seeing ads about dipping in primer and other rust prevention measures on some brands, I suppose it was just advertising.

IMO the problem is that the avg winter temp has risen over the last 50 years (Chicago). Due to the winter time warming cycles there's less accumulation of snow so there's a incentive for municipalities to just spread salt rather than plow it. The warmer winters also acts as a deterrent to buying winter tires because they won't last as long. Consumers have relied upon AWD/4WD to get them through those times when the snow is going to hand around for awhile. Consumers also expect municipalities to de-ice more roadways.

Lastly corrosion protection is an added manufacturing cost. You get what you pay for.

 

[Danno]

I call out anti icing spray solutions as the main culprit. They're designed to stick on surfaces, roads and cars.
Where I live, it gets cold and stays below freezing for most of the winter. Looking forward to a warming climate.
2016 Equinox, 120,000 miles I appraised this week. Scrap metal now.

 

[JoelB]

I call out anti icing spray solutions as the main culprit. They're designed to stick on surfaces, roads and cars.
Where I live, it gets cold and stays below freezing for most of the winter. Looking forward to a warming climate.
2016 Equinox, 120,000 miles I appraised this week. Scrap metal now.

View attachment 181723View attachment 181724

Holy crap that's bad for a 7-8 year old vehicle. A friend at work has a 2014 GMC Sierra he just had rust bust through the wheel wells on.

 

[Kira]

This might be going back a tad too long.
Neighbor's car.
In the mid-'80's the Saab 900's inner rear wheel well was relatively straight. This would've been the inside of the trunk as well.
Saab stamped a ridge into this vertical surface to create a horizontal surface for the rear shock's top stud.
This formed a perfect shelf for dirt/salt to accumulate.....completely asinine.
Both sides let go at the same time.
I had a local welder patch it up.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

My 2021 Ford Escape has -
Sealant tape along areas where the sheet metal folds around.
Plastic coating on the brake lines.
Covers under vehicle (front to back) that will stop the salt (or hold it in).

I use Fluid Film and Cosmoline for keeping any future rust in check.
Time will tell.

 

[SHOZ]

LOL at Ford and rusting oil pans. My Fords always rusted out under the drivers seat where there is a three layer junction of metal. That is what usually killed them. Had a Pontiac Lemans that the only thing left of the trunk floor was the gas tank. Taurus brake lines rusting out in the rear but they did cover the rock panels with plastic, OK until it starts to fall off. Trunk deck was aluminum but had some initial paint issues. My trusty rusty Hyundai Accent is failing at the body seams, sealer dries up and cracks. Had the high pressure steel tube across the top of the steering rack rust out. It also has a aftermarket fender that only lasted 5 years.

 

[eljefino]

IMO the problem is that the avg winter temp has risen over the last 50 years (Chicago). Due to the winter time warming cycles there's less accumulation of snow so there's a incentive for municipalities to just spread salt rather than plow it. The warmer winters also acts as a deterrent to buying winter tires because they won't last as long. Consumers have relied upon AWD/4WD to get them through those times when the snow is going to hand around for awhile. Consumers also expect municipalities to de-ice more roadways.

Lastly corrosion protection is an added manufacturing cost. You get what you pay for.

Cities use exclusively salt instead of salt and/or sand because it doesn't clog their storm drains.

Temps near freezing are worse for corrosion than those well below. Wet salt corrodes, warm humid air in a garage makes this so much worse. Leave the daily drivers outside when temps are plus or minus a couple degrees from freezing.

Southern Maine's 22-23 winter had an epic lack of snow, made up for with freeing rain. Gack.

Imagine a $20k car with a 20 year life, now it's just 15 years. At 15 years you could buy "your" car down south for $4k more than the scrap value of yours.

 

[SHOZ]

FWIW Illinois's state highways doesn't use rock salt like the use to. Mostly brine but still rock salt if heavy snow or drifting. They are a lot faster to just close the roads anymore.

 

[MrGraybeard]

LOL at Ford and rusting oil pans. My Fords always rusted out under the drivers seat where there is a three layer junction of metal. That is what usually killed them. Had a Pontiac Lemans that the only thing left of the trunk floor was the gas tank. Taurus brake lines rusting out in the rear but they did cover the rock panels with plastic, OK until it starts to fall off. Trunk deck was aluminum but had some initial paint issues. My trusty rusty Hyundai Accent is failing at the body seams, sealer dries up and cracks. Had the high pressure steel tube across the top of the steering rack rust out. It also has a aftermarket fender that only lasted 5 years.

My father bought a new Taurus in 1995. He and Mom were snowbirds, spending the winters in southeast Florida. The car was always carported and garaged during summers up north.
I inherited the car in about 2006. After a season or two the oil pan was leaking through a rust hole and the brake line had blown out. For 10 years this car had never been in salt and rarely saw rain. It was a nice car before it crumbled away.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Body assembly processes have a lot to do with rust inhibiting designs. There are several VW models (Tiguan, and ID Buzz) that have laserr welded, and glued body panels using a catalyzed adhesive. These metal panel joining methods provide for sealed or filled gap areas between the panels being joined vs spot welding where panel overlap areas may have open joints where water and dirt can get trapped.

The aluminum F150 was one of the first vehicles to use catalyzed adhesive assembly and I saw a demonstration where Ford tested the joint after curing and the aluminum tore before the joint seperated.

 

[Danno]

Holy crap that's bad for a 7-8 year old vehicle. A friend at work has a 2014 GMC Sierra he just had rust bust through the wheel wells on.

Common on GMs, seeing that in '16s.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Yes during the manufacture process way more could be done to stop the premature rusting. For one painting all inner areas of body panels and using quality non water base paints to do it, like epoxy primers etc.
Salt on roads? I feel for the wild life drinking out of fresh water streams that become saturated with salt run off.