I recently moved to Boston with my 98' 4runner. I pride myself in keeping it in pristine mechanical and cosmetic shape. The trouble is, even the best maintained 4runners in Boston are driving around with rusty tow hitches. Is there anything I can do to prevent this. What about rust in general, on the body and on the undercarriage? Has anyone living around here been able to keep their vehicle rust free?

 

there are a good group of us up here. all in the boston/ne area. none of our trucks are rusted out. the tow hitch...can't do much. when it starts to rust, hit it with a wire brush, and rustoleum the hell out of it. the underbody...just make sure you atleast pressure wash it whenever you wash it. aside from that....just keep it waxed. be sure to join over at ne4roc.org. that is the local group i was talking about. perhaps we could all meet up somewhere to share some drinks and laughs. welcome to boston.

 

Thanks for the kind words. How do you go about washing it during the winter time? I am pretty strict about not taking my vehicle through one of those tunnel washes (scratch and swirl-o-rama)

 

hey, im from boston as well.. whereabouts are you?

i try to avoid those places as well. usually i just bear down and deal with the cold and hand wash it at one of those stations... just power wash, soap, then wash again

then, as brian said, i powerwash my undercarriage.

ive been using a wax-as-you-dry product that ill keep using throughout the winter.. its really great stuff.

 

i rent in newton, so i have a driveway i can do it in. as long as the sun is out. lol! but! any of the car wash's with the diy bays work great. they usually have somewhat heated water. bring your own soap and brush. just use the water. there is a scrub a dub diy in watertown/brighton. not too bad. also, another one on arsenal st. in watertown.

let me and lee know where you are in boston (or vicinity), and we can meet up sometime.

 

I live near Davis square in Somerville. I lived in Brighton while I went to BC and then Newton after I graduated. It was nice having a driveway in Newton where I could pamper my beast. I spent the last 2 years out in Portland, OR, but now I am back. Talk about a timely thread I started, it is now snowing fairly significantly out!

 

Move SOUTH (Alabama) or WEST (Arizona)...

We don't have a problem w/ rust.

 

Look for "rustproofing" in the yellow pages.

Lamm

 

you mean some of this stuff we got today? so much for RAIN/snow showers. it turned out to be SNOW! lol. don't worry. tomorrow and monday...near 70! only in new england.

 

jeff, i actually live about 5 minutes down comm ave from b.c.


too bad you don't go to b.c. now, especially seeing how they are in the new conference. i saw the ballstate and virginia games. my girls uncle has season tickets.


honestly though....keep it waxed, keep it rinsed, and it should be fine. mine is a 98 i bought used, and it is outdoors all year round. no rust (well, i just found some, but it is from the water pooling and then freezing with the salt in it under the bug deflector).

 

jeff, i too live like 5 mins down comm ave from bc, but in the other direction!

you got as much as we did, bri

 

cool avatar!

 

If you want to make sure your tow hitch never rusts again I suggest you first remove it (so you can paint it properly) and order some POR-15 and paint it with this stuff. It is a 3 step process.

You need to buy the Marine Clean Degreaser, Metal Ready (For etching the metal/surface prep for the paint) and the POR-15 paint. All of these items can be purchased from POR-15. POR-15 prevents rust by forming an impermeable layer which doesn't allow moisture to get to the metal. It is super tough and is quite pliable with the metal. I've heard nothing but good things about this stuff and used some of it myself on the fender lip above my front tires as preventative maintenance. It's on their solid. The only issue with this stuff is it is somewhat UV sensitive (and they tell you it is) so you may need to order some top coat paint from them if you suspect your vehicle might be parked in an area where the tow hitch might see a little bit of sun in the summer and such. Lots of hardcore off-roaders like this stuff because it is so tough. Lots of restoration guys like this stuff as well for restoration jobs.