People keep confusing rust with surface dirt on used trucks

I see posts all the time where someone wipes a spot on a 2005 Ford with a rag and calls it "just surface rust." If it bubbles the paint, that rust is already eating through from underneath and will cost you $600+ to fix right. Next time scratch at it with a key first.

4 comments

4 Comments

holly_sanchez7523d ago

Honestly, the whole "scratch it with a key" thing is good advice but people forget to check the underside of the frame rails. That bubbly stuff on the body panels is annoying, but if you see orange powder flaking off the frame itself, that truck is a ticking time bomb.

the_paul23d ago

Used to be one of those guys who only looked at the body panels and thought that was enough. Figured if the paint was bubbling or the fenders were crusty, just walk away. But you're right, the frame is where the real danger hides. That orange powder is basically the truck telling you it's ready to snap in half. Seen a few trucks on marketplace with clean cabs but the frame is Swiss cheese underneath. Totally changed how I look at used trucks now.

the_john10d ago

Yeah I used to be that guy too @the_paul, now I'm the guy crawling under trucks in the Home Depot parking lot like a lunatic.

joseph_adams6610d ago

My buddy had a 2001 Silverado that looked mint on top, but I crawled under it with him and we poked the frame with a screwdriver near the spare tire mount and it went right through like butter. That was the wakeup call. Now I always take a long flathead and a flashlight and check the rear section near the leaf spring hangers, where salt and mud pile up. If that metal flakes off in chunks instead of just surface rust, you're looking at a frame swap or a parts truck.