What's the best paint to use on frame/leafsprings?

I am looking for suggestions for best paint to use on my rusty leafsprings? thoughts? TIA

 

Black.

 

You know the answer. There is nothing wrong with your first instinct. Shake before use.

 

I wouldn't even bother. Knock the heavy rust & scale off with wire brushes, old screwdrivers, etc and plenty of elbow grease. Then hose everything down with Fluid Film or similar.

Re-apply the coating at least once a year and enjoy.

Honestly that one picture looks amazing for a 2011 vehicle in Mass.

 

Do it once and do it right. This can be top coated with any color.
Can be sprayed, brushed or rolled on.

It encapsulates the rust. No oxygen, no rust. Seals small holes.

Many projects completed with this product over 20+ years. Excellent stuff.

https://nomorerust.com/store/rust-stop-paints/8-mastercoat-pemanent-rust-sealer.html

 

Black fluid film

 

Ehhh.... just re-read your post. Just leaf springs ?

Honestly, the springs will be fatigued and need replacement before they rot away. Just to make it pretty ?
Any black lacquer in a can will do.

 

Chassis black; touch up as needed. POR15 or one of the better rust converters if you want to put more time into it.

One of my neighbors used some of that black appliance epoxy on the frame of his Chevy and it seems to be holding up. No clue where he got the idea for that but it still looks decent after hunting season so maybe worthwhile.

 

I like Rustoleum applied with a foam brush. You might want to tackle your hitch first. I don't know what it is about them, but I have had to wire-brush and scrape and paint the ones on every vehicle I have had every year from new: after-market or factory installed. Pay special attention to the side plates and all of the bolts/bolted parts.

 

POR15 and then chassis black spray

 

On something like a leaf spring that constantly flexes, paint or expensive POR15 seems like a waste. As others said, a yearly application of fluid film or heck just glob on some SC Johnson Wood Wax every month and build up a nice layer of protection.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I just bought the truck a month ago. Toyota replaced the frame, struts shocks, etc. two years ago. I fixed a few minor things and brought all the maintenance up to date. Thought maybe I’d make the springs, etc. a little prettier. I’m new to this site. I just found a sticky where the guy restored his whole frame with Por 15 as was suggested by a few people on this thread. I plan on getting the fluid film done by a member on the site, either in this spring or the fall. Thanks again

 

If it were me …I’d wire brush em by hand & get a hand drill utilized wire brush wheel. Then use a rust converter on it ,then fluid film em prob have to do that every year……

 

I would use a rust converter like Mar-Hyde one-step to chemically convert the rust as a first step. Then paint with a good rust preventive paint.

 

Great info from this thread! So is Mar-Hyde, Mastercoat and Por-15 sealer basically the same thing?

 

I used to scrape and paint my second gen every year. Will never do that again. I guess my driveway prep job was never good enough, but the paint was always flaking off leaving bare metal exposed. I am a wool wax believer now. It's hard to screw it up.

 

This is the best answer...

Since you are asking that question, if you want to actually apply a coating like paint, you probably are not set-up for the prep work to properly apply paint. It's a huge time consuming pain in the ass.

Just wool wax or fluidfilm it. 4 rattle cans, 30min, once a year.

 

No... Those converters only convert the very, very, very lightest surface rust. I've used multiple rust converters, on something hard to reach like a truck frame, rust converters are a waste of time and money.

You are welcome to learn this on your own...

 

Thanks again for the info. I just found this interesting article
https://mycarmakesnoise.com/outside-the-car/woolwax-vs-fluid-film/

 

Just go get 4 cans of fluid film. Don't get the black stuff as you do want to be able to see the rust damage.

I don't think wool wax comes in rattle cans, so it more complicated to apply.

Just do it. In a few weeks, touch up whatever spots you see that you missed.

Woolwax is better, if you want to pay a shop to apply it. Or , get committed and buy the spraying equipment.

But fluid film is $10 a can. Just get it done, your frame is getting more rusty as we speak...

This topic comes up on tw constantly. There are multiple ways to protect your frame and suspension, fluid film is hands down the easiest, cheapest and quickest. Any paint type coating is just going to come off, unless you spend 40 working hours under there meticulously cleaning %100 of the rust, then priming then top coat. It is it is impossible to get all the tight, without removing the frame from the bspacesody, gastank, suspension, everything. Nobody in a driveway is going to get this perfect and it's going to peel off in 6month to a year. Total waste.

This topic needs to be a STICKY.

(I don't know WTF i was trying to say, but autocorrect makes even less sense)