I picked up my new coach Thursday night but due to the rain I was unable to do much to it. Yesterday I finally had a chance to start my projects and while installing the Torklift glowsteps I noticed the leaf springs are completely rusted over. This is a new coach that had been sitting on the dealer lot for ~9 months. Is this something I need to have the dealer look at or am I stuck with it?
Leaf spring rust
- Thread starter orion7144
- Start date
mlpeloquin
Well-known member
Loos like it was driven to the dealers lot in the winter on salted roads. Light sanding using 120 grit wet/dry sandpaper with WD40 and then wash with ZEP zep degreaser. Let it dry well. Spray on a Rustoleum rust converter and then Rustoleum black paint. You shouldn't have to do this at this point of ownership, but... Do this correctly and it will be far better then factory. The cost is minimal. I say sand with WD40, because that is what we used at the first real job I had in the GE motor plant to remove the rust on motor stators, and end shields prior to assembly. The red lead primer was applied after. The WD40 really seamed to help.
Chrisandsama
Well-known member
Mine was built in December of 2017 and delivered to southern Illinois shortly after. Looks bad also. I painted on a rust converter and will paint it when it warms up. It's not just the frame either, the propane pipe, axles, self tap screws holding up the corplast and anything else metal rusted severely. It's upsetting to have a new camper and the under side look 20 years old but it will give me something to do and it will be done correctly.
JohnD
Moved on to the next thing...
Just moved to Arizona last year...
I bought the Prowler in Colorado in April, 2015...it was built in February, 2015 and transported from Elkhart, Indiana sometime in between those dates.
However, I'm not so sure I can blame that amount of rust on salty roads in that short amount of time.
I'm guessing that maybe the frames and axles could have been just sitting around in a stack outside somewhere waiting to be installed for who knows how long...months...a couple of years...
Who knows how long these frames are made before they ever see a camper put on them?
We use to go the Florida Keys every year and camp right close to the water. I would hose down the trailer every morning . The day that we left I would also hose down the under carriage. The dealer should hose down the under carriage when he receives the trailer in the winter months when roads have been salted.
Seems as if I read somewhere that the receiving dealers were to spray things off, if transported in the winter slop, kinda a pre-pdi function. Never seen it done. Our coach like many others was transported in the winter. And yes underneath it looks like it. All you need to do is look at the built on date, pretty much can figure when it was transported. The paint on the frames etc, when new is very thin and spotty.
JohnD
Moved on to the next thing...
Yup!
Back in the 70's I lived in Bristol, Indiana (just east of Elkhart) and Jayco had purchased farm land and build a trailer factory next door to us.
Not long ago I Google Earthed our old house and zoomed in on the property...houses and barns all still there.
Our old hay field with the horse track around it is now a storage lot for trailer frames.
Lynn1130
Well-known member
Way back when, when I was working a summer job and still in high school, the company made grain elevator lifts. They lift the front of a vehicle that does not have a dump bed so that grain can be removed. Many of the parts were stored outside which meant there was rust on them when they were ready to be assembled. My job was sandblasting the parts before they were sent inside for assembly. I am not sure why they would send rusty parts into the assembly line. But then who knows?
Hey JohnD - hope you are well friend. Frames are built on a JIT (just in time) manufacturing model and are built to order. They are generally delivered a day or 2 prior to being built upon.
Axles come with the spring packs already bolted to them. These come in larger loads and may be around for a couple of days max.
I believe frames are electrostatically painted but not powder coated. Likewise, springs and axles are also, not powder coated.
In the many RVs that I have had (all Lippert Frames), I've never found the finish to hold up against surface rusting.
We have a few members here that have undercoated their frames with automotive undercoating material. Adds weight and cost but I'll bet those frames look amazing today.
We have others here that have used a rust converter such as POR to treat rusty frames prior to putting a real good coat of paint over it. There too, probably really nice frames still today.
I'd like to say that no one should ever have to do this to their frames to prevent surface rust. But I can't say that. The coatings and processes being used just isn't what most of us want it to be.
