That's a good policy, I did those mud traps by the bottom front door hinges the other day. Have you retained your mud-flaps or took them off, they seem guilty of detainment? :naughty
Mick
I regularly wash through the back of the front mud flaps, this part of the vehicle doesn't wash through to the sills, so you are in no danger of pushing mud there.
Last year I checked behind this area, it was free of mud, free of rust, so I gave it another coat of waxoyl.
I also wash through the front wings from when the front doors are open too, basically, if I use a hose and mud comes out when it didn't before, then this is part of my washing routine.
As are the edges of the wheel arches, with a spray washing from inside out, I usually get soaked doing this...:doh
There are two areas I want to check and de rust if required , and that is the front cross member, bumper off job, and the area under the rear seat.
The out riggers that hold the outer edges of the front bumper are showing signs of rusting, so time to gain access to it. Job for after the MOT me thinks...
These areas from what I have read on this forum are areas that require the most attention, as they are out of sight, out of mind, quietly rusting away until the rust breaks through, then major surgery is required to fix it.
Another silent location, is the sills, mud gets in, drains block, water gets in from either the sun roof drain, or from some of the unblocked drains, leaving the area wet all the time. Keeping the drains clear is essential, but also getting that mud out.
AND THE BIG ONE....Well the first serious rust on my Mav so far :doh
The fuel tank is vulnerable to rusting on the front seam, if you look at the seam between the front 3 mounting bolts you will probably see that the seam has started to expand due to rust that pushes apart the seam and WILL eventually cause the weld at the rear to split, this will eventually cause a fuel leak.
Of all the second hand tanks I have looked at, they have all started to expand, some worse than others, I eventually found one that was not as bad as the others, and I have used rust converter in the seam, and then epoxied over the seam to keep the water out, thus stopping the rust in its tracks... I hope... watch this space.
Now what I found is...
I saw a minor leak, so I slackened the tank mounting bolts to make sure I could remove the tank, tightened them up again... Guess what, the leak was much worse, :doh:doh as probably the built up compression of the rust was being kept in check by the tight bolts.
So warning, if you slacken your bolts, then you could well create a leak that wasn't there before.
Maybe you could start the rust treatment with the tank in situe, consider this, power wash the seam, let it dry, get some liquid rust converter, use a syringe like you get with printer ink refills, inject the seam over a few days, when converted, push in some epoxy chemical metal, or leak fix, to keep the water out.
This will not cure a leak, mine was too late, BUT it might buy you some time, I wish I did mine a year ago.:doh
This is only a suggestion, and may or may not work, you need to make your own mind up.:nenau
Hope it helps.
Best regards,
Rustic
Is that Rust I See, = Rust I C = Rustic:lol:lol:lol