View Single Post
  #3  
Old 08-26-2012, 09:15 PM
Graham's Avatar
Graham Graham is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,463
Quote:
Originally Posted by junqueyardjim View Post
Well Graham, you have a number if good drivers to choose from, so you are not out of transportation. Since you have found those trouble spots, I would encourage you to really look that underside over really very carefully. I suspect that there is more rust lurking under there then you have discovered. Look at it from the top also. Pull everything out and away from the car floor (carpets and pads) until you have nothing but metal. I wouldn't spend a dime on repairing what you have already found, until you are certain that it is all there is, nothing more. Look at the trailing arms coming back from the sub body mount also. There have been a number of trailing arms giving up lately because of rust. That rust acts so much like cancer. Hard to see at times, and almost impossible to cure once it begins. There is tremendous pressure on that torsion bar especially on high speed curves. That is what gives you control with that independent rear suspension. If it doesn't hold on a highway curve at highway speed, people are going to get killed.
You are right that I don't need to be in a hurry.

One of the problems in doing a proper inspection, is that the entire bottom of the car is coated with oil and grime from past oil/fuel leaks and rustproofing spray we put on our cars up here. In a way it is good because major items don't rust. What does rust, is the inside of cavities that don't get any oil. The car should really be steam cleaned.

I did check the trailing arms a little while ago and they are not rusted. There is a bit of rust around the edge of the sockets that the subframe mounts fit into. But it doesn't seem anything that a little POR won't fix. Having owned this car for 20 years and driving it in all conditions, finding rust is not uncommon. I have tried to keep ahead of it and the car actually looks good.

I am going to check as much as I can on the underbody. Maybe our pressure washer will clean off some of the oil in suspect areas. Any good ideas on cleaning underside of car welcomed!
__________________
Graham
85 300D,72 350SL, 98 E320, Outback 2.5
Reply With Quote