How to Inspect a Vehicle's Frame for Rust

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How to inspect a frame for rust, this can be used on your vehicles or if you’re purchasing a vehicle. As some of you know, I live in Canada, specifically the rust belt where salt is used and this can do quite a bit of damage over the years. While this example is being done on a full-frame vehicle, the same process can also be used to inspect unibody vehicles too as they do have enclosed structural components and subframes. #oemtools #frame #rust

Tools/Supplies Needed:
-hammer
-flash light
-borescope

Procedure:
Frame rust is an even bigger problem with enclosed frames now as they can trap in road debris which keeps a damp environment making an ideal environment for rust. Going from the outside, we can do a visual inspection. This frame has had an oil spray applied at some point in its life as shown by the build-up. A plastic scraper can be used to expose the paint in behind if you wish or it can sometimes be removed with your finger. This would expose the base and it’s sometimes good to do this to see what’s hiding in behind.

The factory paint should have a smooth, clean finish. If you are noticing paint over what appears to be pitting metal, someone has painted over what was a rusty frame. Painting is fine, as long as someone did a good job. With the small amount of rust on this frame, I’ll probably go around with a wire wheel to spot clean and paint those areas to prevent them from getting worse.

Areas that can be exposed to more road debris, basically sandblasting the paint from the frame would be the fender wells. This is especially an issue with vehicles that have been driven on gravel roads, once that paint has been removed, the metal is bare and this will result in rusting. Other issues can be areas that allow dirt to become trapped such as flat brackets or ones which create a pocket. An example of this would be the rear leaf spring brackets on the frame.

Moving to the inside face of the frame, this is where you’ll have to climb under the vehicle. Again inspect for any rust, a common area can be next to the exhaust where the heat can melt any snow with a salt mixture, accelerating any rust. Open the hood, depending on the vehicle, you may be able to get a good view from here. I would recommend having a good high powered flashlight to get good views so you don’t miss anything.

The next thing which can also be done is using a hammer. If you’re inspecting a vehicle to purchase, be sure to ask the owner’s permission first. A chipping hammer such as what I have here is excellent for poking at rust, with the pointed end, you’ll find a soft spot right away. Another option would be a ball-peen hammer such as this. I’d only recommend using this on rusty areas where you may see scaling and bubbling. Don’t use this on painted areas as you can chip away the paint, removing that layer of protection.

As for other parts of the frame, use a dead blower hammer instead. This will provide a solid hit, demonstrating a consistent sound. With the rubber exterior, this helps prevent any damage to the paint which would be hard to prevent with a metal hammer. Irregularities in the sound would show up where the frame may change its shape, there’s a bracket, or a repair has been made. If a solid plate was welded in, you would hear a more solid tone. This may even show areas where someone used a filler to do a quick cover up on a frame, I have seen this in the past.

I would highly recommend investing in a borescope. You may have noticed those factory holes when inspecting the frame, this is a great way for viewing inside the frame. Here we can see the interior condition. The tube frames do tend to trap road debris as mentioned earlier and not all frames were equipped with large enough drain holes. Even if the frame looks perfect from the outside, inspecting from the inside can show any previous repairs, bubbling, excessive scale, or any other damage which may jeopardize the structural integrity.

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© 4DIYers 2013
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No part of this video or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author.
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DIYers
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I’m not very knowledgeable about vehicles so I needed to know how to properly inspect a frame. This video was awesome! Very thorough and easy to follow. Thanks!

robertkissel
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Most used car sales dealers I’ve been to have the worst rotted frames but nice exterior. Lipstick on a pig. Price tags around 19-20k

Dustyfingers
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How is legal for auto manufacturers to sell trucks with un-galvanized frames? What a shitshow we live in

thestime
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That’s a GREAT LOOKING frame for what it’s been exposed to.👍

Zoofactory
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looking into buying a first car in mississauga, so this was extremely helpful

Abdullahxvii
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Thank you for this video!! You are very thorough and informative! Unfortunately, I found this after buying.
I bought a 2004 Honda Civic with 89, 300 miles, but it has quite a bit of rust on the undercarriage. I don’t know what I was thinking.

cmk
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Great video! Im looking at a 2011 ford ranger right now that has 46k miles on it (driven mostly on dirt roads) and trying to decide if the rust under it is surface rust or not

SuperDachee
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It’s scary how most people don’t even think to inspect the frame for rust when buying a used car!! And if you go back in time just a few months I’m also talking about myself! Now I’m obsessed with frame condition. So I just looked at about 3000 photos while looking to buy a used car…NOT ONE photo of a frame yet. Currently I’m eyeing up this 2007 Corolla, the original owner had it until 2020 and lived in snowless GEORGIA!!! ❄️

JoeBuck-ucbl
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Well I was looking for where cabin leaks commin from under windshiled area(dashboard) So I was pouring water on windshield to see, if drainage holes are blocked etc. and I noticed there is a hole in my frame rusted thru and water is pouring from down there (which means there's also hole on top, where the water is getting in) ... well that made my day.

DanielTejnicky
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So just to confirm, does the vehicle you inspected in the video have a rust issue or is it in good shape

taylorlan
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I would like to hear your option on that truck you were inspecting. Would you consider that an acceptable truck to buy? Is the condition it's in maintainable? Meaning can the rust it has be slowed down or stopped from advancing by say oil coating application?

volbster
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Did I hear you say that's a 2006? My truck had more rust a year out of the factory!

markdog
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Thanks for the video. Which SUV brands are known to be more rust resistance to snow salty areas in north?

cyrusIIIII
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Damn what if its rotting out? Can it be reveresed or is it too late?

senortaco
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Looking at a 2016 f150 in Oklahoma that spent most of its life up in canada. I'm skeptical as I know a lot of salt is used up there compared to down here

nrs
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Thanks. Can it rust if left sitting? No salt on ground?

PatriciaRhoades-hbog
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Hi guys, I was looking at a used truck for sale at a dealership. There was no "fix engine" light or anything. when i put the fixd app into work, it came back with a code that said that there is a 70% chance this was going to be an $800 problem. I told the dealer and I left. He sent me a text the other day saying he had driven the truck for about a hundred miles, and that when they plugged it in, the codes were gone. he then said that it was a previous issue and the the truck was ready for sale. Does that make sense to you because i'm not buying any of it. thanks in advance!

jeffrey
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Will this truck in the video pass inspection?

jaman
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I want to vehicle inspection job in canada. Any idea. Please let me know .now i am in japan I do truck inspection job in japan

himalaya