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Old 04-03-2021, 08:31 PM   #1
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2023 27' International
Waynesville , Missouri
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 176
After Winter Rust

Good evening all! Already been out a couple of times this year and have been picking and choosing maintenance points. One spot caught me by surprise......the underside of the step(s). I have a 2019 Sport 22’ and I thought the bottom of the step would be protected. I found rust along the the entire weld lines under the step. I’ll be cleaning that up and painting it tomorrow when it warms up. I’ve been keeping up with the A frame, but this area caught me by surprise. Recommend you lift up the step(s) and check that weld line out.
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Old 04-03-2021, 08:53 PM   #2
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2020 25' International
minneapolis , Minnesota
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Isn’t the step aluminum?
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Old 04-03-2021, 09:31 PM   #3
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2007 27' Safari FB SE
NW Oregon in a nice spot , Oregon
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"couple of times out this year". Have you been driving on roads that have been salted or sanded?
Too many variables to honestly answer your question from my read.
Not to be rude, but more info would help others to figure, guess, speculate, and bash Airstream out.
It sounds like you use your trailer, which is good. But if you are running in winter or semi-winter conditions you are going to see stuff like this show up. My trailer princess has not seen a bit of winter and I have never had to treat the A frame as you say you have.
Please provide more info as others who travel like you do (not me) can help you figure things out.
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Old 04-04-2021, 08:37 AM   #4
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Rust is not all that bad all the time...it forms an oxide which can coat & protect, corrosion is reactive and can destroy the metal.

It's better to coat rust with a converter, that works much better in preventing the spread.

Bob
🇺🇸


POI...our step is no worse now than it was 15yrs ago when I repaired the support arm.
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Old 04-05-2021, 09:11 PM   #5
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2023 27' International
Waynesville , Missouri
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There were a few questions for clarification to what I observed. First, my 2019 Sport comes with a steel step, not aluminum. I’m an old Army retiree. I was taught that rust is never your friend, either clean it and oil/grease it, or paint it. As I see it, all of the activity around the A Frame of the camper causes scratches that break through the original paint. Even something like a plastic battery box wiggles just enough to wear through the paint and cause rust. Rust is steel cancer. It just keeps eating away until there is no more steel. Clean it and paint it! Yes, I have been out a couple of times this year, but the weather was decent, no snow or salted roads. What I saw under my step was cumulative over the 2 years that we’ve been camping. Sorry I didn’t take ‘before’ pics,, cleaned it and painted it. I posted this message as not a complaint, but as a reminder to everyone to look in unusual spots for that horrible steel cancer. It easy to find on top of the A Frame, not obvious at all under the step leading aboard our land yacht.
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Old 04-13-2021, 09:39 PM   #6
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2022 27' International
Clayton , North Carolina
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When possible, I use a product that protects the metal from corroding better than just painting. It’s call HD Metal Protectant by Amsoil. Easy to use. I use it on my vehicles’ chassis and have not had any corrosion. Spent 8 years in the USAF in Corrosion Control. Uncle Sam taught me well. Here’s the technical info for you: https://www.amsoil.com/p/heavy-duty-...?code=AMHSC-EA
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Old 04-19-2021, 09:36 PM   #7
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Spicewood (W of Austin) , Texas
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Davsch... you are quite right...and you did us all a favor by bringing this to our attention.

MY suggestion..is to use a wire brush to remove existing rust...then clean/dry it ....(I like a spray cleaner found at WalMart CRC Electronic cleaner as a degreaser).... then treat it with an aerosol product/paint: Rustoleum Zinc-Rich “Cold Galvanize”.

The zinc/galvanize will absolutely STOP corrosion of steel.

Hope this helps.
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Old 04-20-2021, 02:06 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS View Post
Rust is not all that bad all the time...it forms an oxide which can coat & protect, corrosion is reactive and can destroy the metal.

It's better to coat rust with a converter, that works much better in preventing the spread.

Bob
🇺🇸


POI...our step is no worse now than it was 15yrs ago when I repaired the support arm.
Not exactly...

Aluminum that is exposed to oxygen readily forms a passivation layer that encapsulates and protects the substrate material from further oxidative corrosion. For exposed steel to develop a passivation like this requires a strictly controlled environment in which heat and minerals are applied in specific amounts and sequence (this is the process utilized to ‘blue’ the metal of firearms).

Such controls would never happen on a road traveled trailer frame consisting of mild HRPO steel.

Rust is permeable to air and water, and the resulting iron oxides take up more volume than the original metal. These hydroxides do not adhere to the bulk metal and actually act like a sponge that absorbs additional moisture and minerals. As they form and flake off from the surface, fresh iron is exposed, and the corrosion process continues until all of the iron is consumed—thus the nomenclature used in the auto body shop industry ’cancer’. Therefore, the interior metallic iron beneath a rust layer continues to corrode.

Rust prevention thus requires coatings that preclude rust formation. This could be through the use of pickling, continual application of a viscous volatile petroleum evaporating coating like wd40, or sanding and repainting exposed metal to maintain a protective atmospheric seal.

In short, it’s a good idea to maintain the paint on your frame.

Unfortunately, airstream really doesn’t do a great job of prepping their steel frames before applying the paint. It is pretty common to see newer coaches that have rust forming all over the exposed areas of the a-frame.
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Old 04-20-2021, 09:06 AM   #9
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Corrosion issues are one reason automobiles use the frame as the DC-ground-circuit (the negative post of the battery connected to the frame). Some earlier vehicles around 1950) and previous used positive-ground systems but were abandoned because it acted upon the frame like an impressed-current anode and contributed to rust/corrosion.
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