My truck - a 2013 XLT - started its life with its first owner in Maryland. After the first year, the previous owner moved south to Florida and traded the truck for a Supercrew. Luckily for me, I was able to snag it up several months ago before anyone else did.

The truck is in excellent condition, might as well be brand new. However, the winter it spent in Maryland that first year must've been rough, because there was a substantial amount of rust on some of the front suspension components. I knew this when I purchased the truck. It bothered me a little, but the Carfax was clean and the rest of the truck was perfect (and I got a great deal on it), so I decided to go for it. I also figured it was only one winter, so it couldn't be that bad. Having lived in Florida all my life, rust on a vehicle is sort of new to me, so it's been bugging me since I got the truck. Yesterday I finally got around to getting rid of the rust, and I thought I'd do a brief write-up of the process and share some pictures. I'm sure many of you are no strangers to rust, so this may not be news to you, but hopefully this can be helpful in some way for someone. If not, at least I can show off my improvements

First of all, here's the truck as she currently sits:



As you can see from the next few pictures, only certain parts of the IFS were plagued with rust. The rest of the suspension components, frame, and body are rust free. Here are the rusty components I was dealing with:






There are many rust removal products available, but I chose Loctite Extend Rust Treatment (Loctite part # 75430) because it chemically converts the rust at a molecular level and seals the metal to prevent further rusting, rather than just covering it up. I'm sure other products do this as well, but the company I used to work for sells this stuff and I've seen it in action, so I decided to go with it.



I jacked the truck up and removed the front tires. I then used a drill (mine's a cordless 18V Milwaukee) with a wire cup brush to remove the heavy rust and prep for the application.



After the wire brush:



Then I poured a small amount of the treatment into a plastic container (be prepared to lose the container). Using a cheap chip brush, I applied an evenly distributed coat to all rusted components:





After about 20 minutes, the rust should be neutralized and the components will be coated with a sealant/protectant. The white Loctite liquid will turn black. The instructions state to allow the chemical to seal for 24 hours before driving. Here are the finished results:






A quick recap:

BEFORE:



AFTER:



It's not perfect, but it's certainly an improvement. It no longer looks like it's been at the bottom of the ocean for ten years.

The Loctite instructions give the option to take it a step further and paint over the rust treatment. I'm happy with the results, so I decided not to paint it. If the product works as it says it does, the rust should have been stopped in its tracks. I'll keep an eye on the IFS components for the next few months and post updates if necessary.