Chuck was purchased new as a Maine work truck in 2006. Consequently, rust on the undercarriage began to form as soon as it was pulled out onto the roadway. Maine does a great job of keeping winter roads safe and free of ice and snow. Unfortunately, to get there they bury rural roads with a toxic blend of sand and salt, with perhaps just a dash of fluoroantimonic acid.
Subsequently, Mainers wash their trucks and cars much more in the winter than the summer and always at a car wash that pressure washes off the bottom side. While this will not solve the problem of a premature rusting chassis and suspension, it does slow the progression from driving off the dealer’s lot to a trip to the junk yard, at least by one third. In between washes, Maine drivers turn up the radio and pretend to not hear the wet salt spray’s Led Zeppelin like drumming against their vehicle’s undercarriage and floor panels.
Chuck did four years of Maine hauling duty, then was sent to Texas family where it would be fully utilized. With the change in climate and road conditions, the rusting process immediately arrested and life for Chuck became good. Kids loved to pile into his vast back seat and look down at the rest of the world from aloft. In Texas hot days, 100°F+, his commercial vehicle AC always blew cold keeping everyone comfortable, his oversized brakes and heavy duty suspension kept everyone safe. His 5.3 liter engine, big tires and 4.10 posi rear easily cruised Texas highways. His four wheel drive could pull up tree stumps if the need arose.
Fourteen years passed and Chuck was no longer needed in Texas. So I planned a road trip, driving down in one car to be left for my granddaughter with the intention of bringing Chuck home. Unfortunately, while parked in the street, Chuck got his butt kicked by a major, major hailstorm. The windshield was blown out, the roof, doors skins and bed side were badly cratered. Fortunately, damage was covered by home hail insurance and not vehicle insurance and Chuck got a lot of new sheet metal.
Lots of shops won’t work on old vehicles; collision or weather damaged. New trucks are so expensive that body work ranging in tens of thousands of dollars is feasible. Five grand into a extended cab, long bed work truck with a Blue Book of $6000… not so much. But my son kept at it, found a good body shop that knew how to reskin a roof and doors without breaking out in a rash, and they did the repairs and put it back together. The silver birch paint was a very close match, if not perfect, and the body panels were new truck strait.
So four months after the hail storm, I hopped in the SUV, drove down to Texas and drove Chuck back home. I loved that drive. It was a teenager’s road trip. Ten MPH over the speed limit, giant truck stop double burgers and fries, tossed around by rigid heavy duty suspension all the way, and a 34 gallon gas tank that cut fuel stops to a minimum. Driving into a sunrise, or into a sun down, sunshine or fog, mountains and woodland, along twisting rivers. America in three nights and four days.
Rust, rust. We must take care of our trucks…
The rust mentioned at the onset of this collection of poor grammar needs to be tended to before it becomes significant. So I took it to one of the local rust specialist body shops, expecting to get a quote for pulling the long bed and cleaning up the frame and suspension. Apparently he does not do that type of work because it is time consuming. He felt the frame and suspension looked pretty good and did not need that type of work. I mostly wondered how he could tell through all of the surface rust.
He did feel the rocker panels and lower can caps could use some work… which surprised me because all of that sheet metal was replaced less than two years ago. However, he explained he no longer welds or OEM paints, so he would, as he put it, “Glue and screw” and “paint” the work externally with something that looks a lot like bed liner. Proudly showing me a truck he just finished, which looked like a screwed on patch panel, sprayed rubbery black. Cost? A mere $4800 and he had an opening end of March 2027.
The shop estimator, operator and bodywork technician unified into one human being felt bad I would have to wait so long, but his pro-fessional recommendation was to spray lanolin derivative in all of the chassis access hopes and the entire bottom side of the truck. Cost? Only $250, to be done once every year. The estimate was written down for me on the back of a business card as $4800 with no other descriptive detail.
How much does it really cost to screw and glue?
In checking on the price of rocker panels, adhesive and screws the costs are $40, $35 and $2.36 respectively. Wool Wax, a lanolin derivative, costs $235 for a 5 gallon pail, AKA a long truck’s worth. Wool wax does not remove or even stop rust in progress. It just shields the rust from salt water spray so it can continue gnawing away at a frame without interruption. It got me thinking. Something had to get me thinking.
I’ve got a garage full of tools and I can always use more. I have a credit card so I can order parts, pieces and equipment in small doses. I can read application notes and instructions and, for the most part, follow along. So I low bid my own job and figure $800 can get me there, including OEM Birch Metallic Paint and a frame and suspension stripped of rust… I think. And if I haul the welder up from basement storage, I may skip the glue and screw altogether!..!! I’ll just fit it all in after I finish the exterior house trim replacement, re-staining the porch deck, painting the railing system, rebuilding the drip lines, finish clearing trees… I am so screwed, if not glued.
Why? Why? Why?
Friends all seem to have moved to gated retirement communities and jettisoned the trappings of the wider world. They seem to drink a lot and seek social gatherings of similarly aged friends and acquaintances. When one half of a couple passes on, the remaining partner immediately finds another remaining partner so they… well, I don’t know why. The important thing is that it makes them happy.
For me, life is a continuum, so sitting still is not an option. Learn something every day, try something new everyday, work so sleep comes easy. Good people belong in your life, even if not every second. When it is time to stop I am sure He will let me know.
“Learn something every day, try something new everyday, work so sleep comes easy. Good people belong in your life, even if not every second. When it is time to stop I am sure He will let me know.”
Wise words.
Totally agree.