New southern truck, how to stop rust

[93fordturbo]

I just bought a real clean 85 cc drw 6.9. I live in Wisconsin and the truck is from Missouri. What can I do to prevent the rust or at least slow it down. I have heard the under coating if done wrong can actually be worse for it. Any advice is much appreciated. I will be driving it in the winter. Thanks

 

[93fordturbo]

Just started driving home and got her up to 65 and blew the water pump and radiator and fan are shot now too. Hope to get her up and running soon. With a c6 I should still be able to go 60 65 right?

 

[IDIoit]

really depends on your gears.
in my 87 with 3.55's, a 7.3 and T19 i could do 70 max!
with my ZF swap, i can burry the needle if i wanted to.

for rust preventive measures, i choose POR 15

nice truck

 

[riotwarrior]

Just started driving home and got her up to 65 and blew the water pump and radiator and fan are shot now too. Hope to get her up and running soon. With a c6 I should still be able to go 60 65 right?

2000 rpm on my truck...74 km 2200 bout almost 90
C6 3.55 w 255/85/16 tyres.

Guys here like to spin up to 3600 rpm...me I want to be bout 18-22 max...spinning costs fuel...

Have fun enjoy the truck....in for a penny I say in for a pound...replace tstat now while rad wp n such is getting done. Ford Motorcraft or IH tstat only no cheapnese offshorecrappola from cheap auto partz store.

JM7.3CW

 

[laserjock]

Best thing to do to prevent rust is clean and paint everything thoroughly then park in the garage from October 30- May 1st. Preferably with a car cover to keep the dust off.

[emoji6]

In all seriousness, you can clean and paint all you want but it's gonna rust. Problem areas are in the wheel arches and cab corners especially on super cabs because of the way it's constructed. If I had a clean super cab truck, I'd drill a few holes from the inside (take the side plastic trim out and it will cover it up) and shoot something in there like Eastwood inner frame protector. It's got a long tube nozzle that comes with it and don't be bashful with it. The wheel arches, take the plastic inner fenders out and hose out above the metal inner fender and coat it with something too.

 

[The Warden]

With a c6 I should still be able to go 60 65 right?

As other said, it depends on the gearing.

With a C6 and 3.54 gears in my old van, I could bury the 85 mph needle...not that I ever did it

I drove a U-Haul with a C5 and 4.10's once, and the engine hit the governor at 70 mph

Nice looking truck I'll be following to see what others have to say about rust prevention...

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

for rust preventive measures, i choose POR 15

nice truck

+1 on POR for rust rust prevention. Loctite also sells a product called Extend for rust conversion, I have used it and like it a lot too.

Great rig, too bad the stand alone E4OD controllers are so spendy as that would be the perfect long term solution. The GV overdrive is nice, but I have a tough time with anything that doesn't have an overdrive gear and a lock up torque converter. Good luck whichever way you go, and BTW: that's a great looking rig

 

[Clb]

There was a thread about rust awhile back, oil verses pro installed stuff.
Maybe someone can pull it up.


My 4:10 7.3 c-6 banks would do 75-80? Not happily tho(65 was sweetspot).

 

[Clb]

I bumped some rust threads for ya.
Edit....the 2 threads I found are in general performance section

 

[jayro88]

My van is a c6 with 3.54's. It will run in the 60-70mph range pretty easy......though there is quite a bit of difference in MPG between 60mph and 70mph. I usually stay between 60-65mph.

As far as rust proofing....I took mine to Zebart and had it done. Go back once a year for an annual touch up. So far it has done well and it is my DD. We get a decent amount of snow and salt on the roads in northern Indiana. I also try and take to the wash and keep it cleaned off as best I can during the winter.

 

[93fordturbo]

I'll have to look and see what gears, but in all seriousness, when I go over 60, it's wound pretty tight, I mean I don't really dare go over 70. I'm just going by sound, but it really sounds up there. Pushing 2800 3k? Idk. So how much to have a dealership or shop do some under coating? Just curious. I love the truck. Thinking of a 5 speed swap and 4wd. I the same truck in my sig. Still have it and was thinking of just swapping parts over

 

[kas83]

You're not gonna swap parts over lol. Get me the axle code and I'll tell you the ratio.

 

[dunk]

'86 CC F-350 4x4 with C6 and 3.55:1 gears... 60-70 MPH is comfortable cruising, with the higher end of that pushing comfortable. In that range is around 3000 RPM IIRC. I've ran 3300+ RPM at 90+ MPH sustained for over an hour. Last time I did that it cracked an injector line and I ran on 7 leaking all over for a few hours to get home. Blame PO or blame me but it was missing a clamp for the lines, and the line that cracked had no clamp at any point of the line. Probably was gonna crack sooner at 3300 or later under 3000 either way. I generally keep RPM 3000 or less just because these cranks and rods are heavy, it's a lot of weight to be spinning fast. ZF5 will go in whenever I stop being lazy and rebuild it.

Anyhow, if you have 3.55:1 gears 3000 RPM is closer to 70 MPH, if 4.10 it's closer to 60 MPH. Varies depending on tires. Really the engine feels like it's most comfortable around 2800 RPM, more and feel like it takes a lot more pedal and the exhaust gets deeper like it's working harder.

As for rust... In the northeast here I spend most of the time on any given truck project or maintenance sand blasting or wire wheeling to bare metal and prep/paint. Just give it a once over and anything rusty (even surface rust) mark for taking to bare metal, cleaning, rust converting primer, paint. If you keep it any length of time you'll be doing this on the same parts several times. Any time you take anything apart and it's rusty, bare metal and paint. It's just what is required to keep an older vehicle from rotting away. A couple cans of WD40 underneath all over and strategic spots when the snow start falling may help too. On some warmer winter days above freezing I hose off the underside of the truck or whatever vehicle I've driven in snow and salt. Be sure to get plenty of rinsing underneath in cab corners, wheel wells, and bed corners. You'd be amazed how much crap comes out before it runs clear. Be sure to thoroughly vacuum/clean/paint inside and underneath rocker panels and cab corners. It's a constant battle.

 

[mblaney]

I have rustproofed my truck since new using hydraulic fluid. Hydraulic fluid has rust inhibitors but does not have detergents that will wreck rubbers. Hyd fluid goes on sale, easy to spray, weeps everywhere...

 

[Garbage_Mechan]

While I was running a fleet up in Montana I did some studying on this and found that hot oil is one of the best. It penetrates between spring leaves etc. Soaks in to places no paint or coating are going. May be messy but I'll bet more bolts will unscrew on an oiled truck than on a undercoated or POR'd truck. Just as I was leaving Montana I discovered Fluid Film. It is a true marine grade product. It penetrates and stays put. Made in all kinds of formulas and comes in 55 gal drums if desired. It's only drawback is that it smells like a wet sheep (made from lanolin) There are grades of it for coating bilges and another made specifically for filling hollow ship rudders to prevent salt water intrusion. Serious stuff. It is available at auto parts stores in spray cans, and gallons. Put it on with a siphon spray gun, let it get everywhere, drip off, whatever. It penetrates and salt water doesn't go where Fluid Film is.