Do you face Jeep Wrangler rust issues? You may want to know how to prevent your Jeep from rusting.
Even if you go the extra mile in maintaining your vehicle, it will start rusting at some point. Owners of 4-wheel drive vehicles and SUVs like Jeep Wranglers might experience greater rust problems due to off-road driving.
However, you can take certain steps to reduce rust development and clear it if it forms.
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Cause of Rust
Oxidation is what causes rust to form. This happens when oxygen from air undergoes a chemical reaction with iron from the metallic alloy. While the Jeep Wrangler is rusting, oxygen from moist air reacts with iron in the metal frame.
Jeep Wranglers have a heavy-duty metal frame comprising various metal panels. However, other kinds of automobiles have various composite and plastic panels to reduce both weight and cost. Due to this reason, the Jeep Wrangler has a greater surface area that is exposed to potential rust.
Troublesome Parts
A big reason why Jeep Wranglers can potentially develop more rust is because of the way they are driven. Since the Jeep Wrangler is a highly capable SUV that can handle all sorts of terrains, its drivers often use it for off-road driving.
Although off-road driving may sound like great fun to many, it is not exactly ideal for the metal body of your Jeep Wrangler. The Jeep Wrangler may be struck by tree limbs, big rocks, and small pebbles during off-road excursions. A large amount of dust can also batter the metal frame of the Jeep Wrangler. This has an unfortunate effect on the Jeep body’s paint. The paint may wear off as a result of all these harsh impacts. The metal body underneath the paint will then be exposed to moist air, due to which rust can develop.
The area surrounding the fender is one place where rust commonly develops since this part is struck quite often by the debris and stones that the vehicle’s wheels are constantly hurling. Damage ensues due to this factor, and the paint will slowly come off, exposing the metal underneath. The area exposed thus may then start rusting.
Preventing Rust in Jeep Wrangler
You may have realized that avoiding off-road driving is one way to slow down rust formation on your Jeep Wrangler. However, even with normal driving on the road, rust can develop. This is due to several factors. Humidity is the key reason why rust will form on your Jeep. This is something that you cannot avoid. The moisture in the air will ultimately reach the metal frame, where it will react with iron in the metal frame. The result is rusting.
Maintenance is necessary for reducing rust formation. Hence, you should clean your vehicle regularly and apply wax to it. You can also think of installing plastic fenders to avoid rusting in this trouble spot.
If you find damage anywhere on the body, you should have it fixed quickly to minimize rusting.
Rust Removal
When rust inevitably forms, you can do a few things. What steps you take depends on your budget and the amount of rust that has developed. In case there is a lot of rust, you may have to replace whole body panels. Or you can use some kind of filler material for repairing damage in those parts from where you have cleaned a lot of rust.
For smaller amounts of rust, you can remove it using fine-grit sandpaper. If you are finding it too hard to remove rust this way, you can try applying a product for oxide conversion to eliminate the rust that remains. You can prime and apply paint to this area that is being repaired. You should also apply another coat of paint to minimize rust development.
Warranty Coverage
The warranty provided by parent group Chrysler may cover extreme rust damage in certain cases. The warranty for rust repair extends to 100,000 miles or five years. But this warranty covers only an extreme amount of rust damage. This warranty only covers rust damage that has made a hole in the body of the Jeep Wrangler. This means that surface rust is not included in the warranty. This is the owner’s responsibility to either prevent or repair.
You can remove a small amount of rust fairly easily using fine-grit sandpaper or an electric orbital machine. For any rust that you cannot remove this way, you can coat it using an oxide converter for removal.
You can then apply a body filler made of fiberglass. Automotive Touch Up supplies different kinds of body fillers. You can apply one of these products to the rust-affected area after removing rust from here. They can cure quickly, are durable, and you can sand them in around 20 minutes or so. The Premium Filler adheres very firmly to sanded parts and also primer-covered surfaces.
You can prime and paint the rust-affected patch using POR-15 paint (POR stands for Paint Over Rust). This is a specially formulated paint to prevent rust from developing. You can apply it to surfaces that have rusted to prevent further rusting.
Automotive Touch Up paints all standard colors of Jeep Wranglers and other Jeep models. Hence, you should ensure that the selected paint exactly matches the paint color of your Jeep. The brand provides paint in 2 ounces and 0.5-ounce bottles. For smaller repair work, you can also buy their paint pens. Aerosols and spray guns are also available for faster painting.
You can apply a clear protective coat of paint to stop further rusting and salt or weather damage.
Bottom Line
If you have Jeep rust issues, you can take care of them using the methods mentioned above. We hope it was a great read for you!