Does this look like bad rust to you?
I received this email today:
I recently bought a '96 Dodge Ram extended cab 4X4 (loaded) with the 5.9 V8. My question is about frame rust.
The entire body is perfect all around including the underside. But the frame, suspension brackets, etc. are completely covered with rust.
Is this common on the earlier Rams? I looked at 3 other Dodges and none of them had rust on the frames, but this one being a '96 is the oldest one I looked at.
I love everything else about the truck. What's the easiest solution to this problem, or should I even worry about it? I drive in the winter and we get snow here. They DO NOT put any salt on the roads here though. I'm thinking of coating all areas I can with POR-15.
The truck has 140k miles on it. The CARFAX report was clean.
Everything else on the truck works great.
Thanks for any help you can provide!
-Kurt W.
Deer Park, WA
Kurt, I don't think that rust looks bad at all. What you have there is surface rust. Yes it may get worse eventually, but by the looks of the body, Very Good, I'd say the rust you have there on the frame isn't anything to worry about. Yes you could spray it down with some rust inhibitor, or special paints, or even a liberal coating of WD-40, but if your state doesn't use salt then I don't think your frame will rust out any time before the body does. I think it looks worse than it actually is.