Forum:
Iv had my 98R fourtrak tdx for a couple of months and have been doing the usual oil/filter changes, whilst underneath i noticed rust in the wheel arches.
I set to work removing the rust and under sealing (what joy)anyway whilst underneath the closer i looked the more rust i found, especially at the rear of the vehical.
I have now removed the tow bar and rear bumpers to gain access to the area around the fuel tank which i am now removing all of the rust.
Its starting to remind me of the restoration i did on a 1963 LR series 2a a few years ago.
I owned a 96 p reg landcruiser prior to the fourtrak and did not notice any thing like the rust i have found on the fourtrak.
Iam i right in thinking Daihatsu were not big on rust prevention when building these vehicles or they expected them to be used in warmer/dryer climates, just a little suprised at what i have uncovered.
Rust Buckets
Most Fourtrak's were bought and used as working vehicles from new, this means that they were used in the same way as many Land Rover's, they often work in the most inhospitable conditions, and regularly on farms and construction sites.
Fourtrak's rusted far slower than Land Rovers, but faster than some more prestigious vehicles, it depends what your vehicle did in the past, and how the previous owners looked after it.
Heavy off road work for any vehicle will mean it will be caked in mud, this will be trapped in many of the crevices around the vehicle. Remove as many of the underbody panels, and plastic trim panels as possible, and using a jet washer set at lower pressures, clean the entire underside. Put the fromt wheels on ramps and get inside the chassis members, watch how much dirt runs out of the back of the chassis rails, this is a good indicator of how it has been used, and cleaned; or not, as the case may be. Clean off all rust back to bare metal, a resin bonded disc on an angle grinder is the most effective way, paint the bare metal with a good industrial paint, apply a few coats if possible. When this is done apply underseal, preferably sprayed on with a schultz gun, this gets into more places than a brush.
Remove the rear trim panels to gain access to the inside of the rear wheel arches, these too are prone to rust, and replacement panels are not available. Spray the inside of the arches with Waxoyl or similar, and also the inside of the chassis rails and any other hollow sections requiring treatment.
Finally; using industrial paint, paint all metal components such as the tow bar assembly, give this a few coats, and also the underbody skid plates.
RUST
I think it is more of how they have been maintained rather than poor rust prevention by Daihatsu. I have a 1991 Sportrak with barely a trace of rust on it but I have had it since 1995 and regularily pressure hose it and every year check and repaint the underseal to the rear arches and every 3 years spray out the interiors of the rear wings, front wings beneath the shields and chassis members with WAXOYL. Like you I had an old landy but was lucky enough to have a Galvanised Chassis. This now resides in Africa.
Overall rust prevention on the Daihatsu was quite good but they must be kept cleaned out in all the nooks and crannies and if neglected then like all cars they will rust. I have a 1996 Anjou Sportrack which has a lot more rust on it and in particular behind those wheel arch extensions. It is my view that to keep prices down daihatsu reduced standards in the final years of production as the 1991 is far better in many ways and in particular the interior. It feels stronger and pulls better but again I suspect the gear ratios were altered to improve emissions and MPG. ALl are now getting long in the tooth and will need more attention to keep the rust worm at bay. Underseal unfortunately dries out and wax washes off so it is a case of regular checks and adding more prevention as time goes on.
If you want to see rust have a look at Rover Mini's, they never learnt in 40 years or seem to have even attempted to cure well known rust areas, now I restore these as a hobby and regardless of age the same areas rot. I brought one new in 2000 before the end of production at a huge cost compared to the first cars and expected to see better rust prevention. Their was very little improvement and no apparent rust prevention attempted by Rover save for some stone chip on the bottom. Sadly, I now see many of the same age with rotten doors, sills, skuttles, light surrounds, A panels etc. All of these areas were evident shortly after the first cars in 1959 but they never bothered to improve their rust prevention. Luckily for my new one I treated it from delivery and it cost me £20 for black WAXOYL and it is still as rust free as the day it left the factory, so it can be done but of course it doesn't sell more cars.
OLDMINIMAN
M J Young
Should never have washed it...
Found all of these comments on rust treatment helpful, as I recently jet washed my 1992 fourtrak. That was mistake no. 1.
I saw a few rust bubbles around the wheel arch and I thought to myself 'I'll fix that, it'll only be a quick job.' Mistake no. 2.
When I started sanding it, I found the rust bubbles were from a previous repair job that had been bodged with lots of filler and no rust killer / undercoat / red oxide, just a quick coat of spray paint.
I now have several holes in the wheel arch, and have decided that next time I see rust, I'm selling the truck