1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Rusty Struts (and whatnot) - replace or clean?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by andreimontreal, Oct 24, 2019.

  1. andreimontreal

    andreimontreal Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2019
    325
    107
    28
    Location:
    Montreal
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Look at these front struts. Should I replace them - any danger of collapse at that level of rust. Or should I clean the rust and paint? Same Q for other parts that you might see in those pics? Let me know if you'd like to see any additional part that you think it's usually dangerous/concerning.

    I was thinking of just using a drill with various wire brushes, sand paper, clean it and then apply Rustoleum - or something (let me know if you had good experience with good coats - also the temp is dropping at around 5-10C here ... not ideal for spraying).

    Andrei
     
    #1 andreimontreal, Oct 24, 2019
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,872
    38,337
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Ugh. The rear will be a similar story no doubt, or worse. There are some plastic covers back there over the trailing links. To see the condition of the trailing links you need to remove the plastic covers. I'm pretty sure with yours the bolts holding those plastic covers will just snap the heads off when you go to remove them. Maybe with the jitter action of an electric impact you can coax them off.

    Maybe just brush off the loose rust and brush on full-strength boiled linseed oil. Get a cheap pack of foam brushes, multiple sizes. Do the front end one week end, the rear the next. Pace yourself, lol.

    Any bolts/screws you take off, soak in oil.

    This put me into a slow burn btw: coatings used to be better?? All that could have been galvanized or similar?

    Slow burn #2: the insane amount of salt dumped on roads, by lawsuit-wary communities, mall owners etcetera. There are alternatives, beet juice and brine mixtures applied surgically with sprayers, various tricks.
     
    #2 Mendel Leisk, Oct 24, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2019
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,872
    38,337
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    #3 Mendel Leisk, Oct 25, 2019
    andreimontreal likes this.
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)