I have a truck rack which is about 17 years old and has a nice coat of rust all around. Are there any suggestions on how i should remove the rust and what to paint with? Thanks.

 

You might want to get a wire brush to try to clean off some of that rust or maybe a soft steel wool brush. Then you would want to treat the exposed metal to prevent continued corrosion, then paint.

Where in MD are you?

 

A wire brush may not be strong enough to get all of the rust off. It may be sufficient for the surface/flaky stuff though.

I'd suggest you get a electric palm sander and go at it at all angles with that... (low cost solution)

If you have more money then I'd get it sandblasted/stripped until its bare metal. Then paint it with a nice coat of primer, a couple layers of paint (tremclad would be good for this), and a few coats of clear coat.

I'm sure if you too it to a body shop, they would spray it down for you charging only a small fee.

 

How long do you plan to keep the 17 yr old truck? If it's not a structural problem, is it worth the effort / cost?

 

17-year old truck rack

 

Anne Arundel
The truck rack was installed at the dealer when my dad purchased it, and we plan to keep it as long as we can keep it alive.
As for effort and time, i am on summer break and a little diy project to start it off.
So far i purchased a wire brush blade for use with a drill. I started getting the rust off but it doesn't strip to bare metal.
Mabe ill post up a diy writeup when im done.

 

Naval Jelly and a steel brush.
(no....not the gunk from your belly button)

http://www.shorechemical.com/Section...aval_jelly.htm

Used this stuff on some pretty bad rust.....works great.

 

POR-15 and spray paint for the easy way out, or DA sand with 40-80 grit, then apply PPG DP Series epoxy primer and paint the rack with enamel...

 

find a sandblaster

 

Ah. What's that?