What to do about rusty frame

I know theres a bunch of threads about this but I was hoping for some help on my specific situation. I live in Salt Lake City so they use salt during the winter. I recently purchased the truck with 47k miles. It's a 2008 and has never had any treatment to the frame. I live in an apartment so taking the bed off and grinding down the frame isn't all that doable at the moment. Lemme know what you all think.

 

That's not too bad. Where you need to look though is the inside of boxed sections by the cats. That's the real test

 

Woolwax twice a year, spring and fall.

Rust never sleeps. If you want to be particular, scrub off the surface rust (hopefully that’s all it is), then use paint over rust let it cure, then hit it with wool wax. Some folks prefer fluid film. It stinks and is hard on rubber materials causing them to swell. My 2015 frame still looks like new and I am in the rust belt.

The more patient you are, the better the results.

 

That looks like surface rust. Its not bad yet. Have you looked at undercoating? I am doing that to mine before winter. I have a small hand held sand blaster. They are $40. I was going to blast some of the rust spots away before getting it undercoated. Just a suggestion.

 

This is after 6 winters. I use Liquid Wrench rust inhibitor every fall. My boxed sections look better than new. And yes...I accidentally shot a couple of straws up in there a couple of years ago. Never dug them out.

 

^this

Get under it at night with a flashlight and look up in the boxes sections.

 

That looks great, Bill! Thank you for providing alternative products with actual proof. I use a spray gun now, but I definitely lost a few straws in there myself along the way.

 

Is the rust bad enough that I can't just do some light sanding and then undercoat with some bed liner?

 

Sure. But they rust from the inside too.
I’d personally spray it with your choice of rust suppressant as needed.

BTW, you really should take a look up by the cat on the drivers side. That’s were I see them start to go first.

 

A local shop gave me a quote of $499 to spray a lanolin based undercoat on. They aren't gonna wash the truck or anything just put it on a lift and spray everything from axels to the wheel wells. Is that over priced? I would normally just do it myself but living at an apartment complex with strict rules, I can't really be in the parking lot doing this.

 

Sounds like FluidFilm.

You can buy the whole kit with 5 gallon of FluidFilm for less than $200. They are are changing about $300 for labor. If it’s FluidFilm.

Is that too much
That’s up to you to decide.

It sounds like you are limited to your options by where you live?

 

Yea thats my only issue is my location. I guess I'm at the hands of the shop. However $500 is a whole lot cheaper than the damage that could be done from another harsh salty winter. I am also moving back to where I have a garage come August of next year, so a more extensive solution can be made at that tiime.

 

Ospho Rust Treatment - Since 1947 I would wire brush as best as can the use this . Then maybe fluid film or like products
Can by a quart at hardware store for $20 +

 

I don't know your financial situation, but if you can swing the $500 w/o sweating it then maybe it's worth it for the convenience factor given your circumstances. Otherwise, I'm getting creative/resourceful and finding a place/way to do it myself.

 

Thank you for reminding me .
I gotta get under my truck and hit the frame with my favorite rust repellant again . A messy job , but someone has to do it . If it doesnt get done ....Bye Bye frame and body

 

RP-342 is a pretty damn great cosmoline undercoating that lasts a lot longer than Fluid Film. Comes in regular aerosol cans (as does FF). If you can borrow a friends driveway or even just find somewhere you won't be bothered you could probably knock out the whole truck in a few hours if you wanted to be really thorough with it. IMO $500 is ludicrously overpriced, but YMMV depending on where you live.

Also I'd avoid hitting it with bedliner or any rubber type undercoating, and here's a great example of why https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXvl9nt57Kg

 

Everybody at Tacoma world raves about woolwax rather than fluid film
Gonna try Woolwax this year .... in fact I ordered a gallon 2 days ago . If it doesnt work , I will try cosmoline
Last year I used fluid film and still got considerable rust over the winter $ 300 bucks . In my opinion , it washes off too easy .

 

I've found the same thing with the regular FF, but I've had better luck with their new black dyed formula. It's a lot more similar to woolwax I think, much thicker and seems to stick significantly better than the regular peanut butter colored stuff. I did my 2007 Tundra with it and was quite happy. The Woolwax is great too though

 

Here are some more pics of the frame. I got some pics of the inner side. I'm prolly gonna order aerosol cans and find somewhere to do it myself.

 

Yeah, that's really not too bad at all, just a lot of surface rust. I would however, address it.
If it were me, I'd run to the car wash and hose out the underside really well. Put a junk towel on your driver's seat and be prepared to lay down in the bay and hose it down really well. Let it dry for a couple of days.
Then, I'd drive out to a nice quiet spot in the desert and crawl around under it with a can of rust converter. Brush it on all the rusty spots and welds. Let it dry a few days and repeat the process with a few cans of Fluid Film, Wool Wax or the rust preventative of your choice. I find that applying it when it's really hot out allows it to really creep into the sandwiched areas of the frame. Those are the problem areas. I'll touch mine up from time to time with a can or two. I wouldn't do it in your parking lot because it will drip for a little while.
Some people may frown on this, but if you can't find the big name sprays, I also like the Dollar General brand of penetrating oil. It's a little thicker than WD-40 and actually works pretty well.
I'd be hard pressed to pay someone several hundred dollars when you can do a pretty good job yourself for $50 or $60. Since you're not in the rust belt, this should be a decent alternative.