2002 expedition rust. Need help!

[rjdelp7]

Hey Everyone, first time poster. So I just scored a gold 2002 ford expo xlt with 158k miles for $1800. My issue is there is surface rust underneath the vehicle and I’m not sure how bad it is or how to appropriately deal with (steps wise...) I’m curious as well how much a shop would charge to remove it and under coat it or how much I could save by doing it myself.
Thanks all

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fordtechmakuloco, has a video on youtube of undercoating. He used a black colored, oil based coating. Yours still looks pretty good.

 

[Tremec187]

To the OP, I am far from an expert... 18 month Expedition owner.

Lots of great threads on this site that I consulted when treating my very similar level of rust on a 2004 Arizona Expedition.

what did I do? Naval Jelly Rust Convertor on visible rust, washed off/dried, specific rust treatment primer spray and then over coating with standard Black Rustoleum.

I refreshed it again after the Midwest winter, with the same process but much less work.
I did add some limited undercoating on the frame rails behind the front tires. It appears that the tires throw enough grit and debris up to strip away the Rustoleum layers and cause surface rust. Maybe the light undercoating will be enough... Maybe not.

Moderate grinding would probably be smart, but I went the chemical path.

yeah, i just took a die grinder and took it all off. then took a couple cans of compressed air, blew it off and then added rustoleum rust reformer then rp342.

 

[Tremec187]

I laughed when I read this. What you have is the equivalent of surface rust on brake rotors after sitting for a couple days here in humid Florida. If you're showing us the worst of it, then you have nothing to worry about! Rust to be worried about is flaking off, pitted, and has holes. You my friend are a perfectionist...Save your $$$ for maintenance and when issues start popping up.

Lol by no means am i a perfectionist. i do all the work myself. the thing is though ive never owned a vehicle with rust, so this is a new experience for me. even with vehicles 20 plus years old. i may have exaggerated. ut thats about it.

 

[craig sargood]

That doesn’t look bad, it if you want to be sure ,you can you a paint called chassis saver, you need to do a little prep work(sanding) but it’s good stuff, I used it on my frame and rear end. Looks good when done.

 

[Jim Brown]

That brush-on chassis saver looks like good stuff. I don't need it for my expedition, it looks like op's, e.g. no rust. But i have this ugly trailer that would look pretty good with that chassis saver.

 

[Tremec187]

just to let everyone know. i got this 02 expy for $1800. i used a die grinder on most of the rust parts and then used rustoleum rust reformer, then went over all of it with about 2 cans of RP-342. will post pics soon.