Bad rust on an 08 Journey 39z ? help!

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Birddogman

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I have an ?08 Winnie Journey 39z.  We have owned several Winnie Class A?s and are very happy with this one.  We bought this one new and to my knowledge, we have never driven through salted roads with it specifically to avoid rust problems.  Nonetheless, we seem to have quite a bit of rust on the undercarriage and on the black metal ?boxes? that hold the basement storage compartments, etc.  See pics attached.

Any suggestions?
 

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The rig could have been driven on salted roads in it's maiden voyage from the factory to the dealer where it was first sold...

What I see in the pics looks like mostly surface rust to me due to the peeling paint.  On the face of the storage boxes, and any other normally visible areas, I probably would wire brush the areas to clean them up, then spray with a rust cure/preventative, and then cover with spray paint.  If the undercarriage rust isn't more than just surface rust, I don't worry about it on mine...
 
A good rust preventative is Ospho.  You can get it at most paint or hardware stores.  You brush it on and leave it overnight and the rusted areas turn black and you paint over them.  It works real well.  It is what we used on the ships and boats.
 
Yep, what you have seems to be really common.  When I fixed mine I wire brushed the area, a light sand, and then used brush on Rust-o-leum.  The brush on goes on much thicker than the spray on, and I was able to do it in a campground without overspray to worry about.  I still carry whats left of the quart of paint I didn't use. I touch up various things on the rig from time to time.
 
Wire brush it, get a wire brush that attaches to your drill, sand it good, try a product called POR 15, its a 2 step process, the rust will not come back.
 
We have some of the same issues in spite of the optional undercoating we ordered.  I've already sandblasted around the plumbing bay sheet metal (under the gasket was rusty), primed and repainted.  Not sure what the deal is with this.
 
The powder coat finish is peeling right off, so I would guess poor prep work at the factory.  The fact that many of you are having the same issue further suggests that.  The rust is along a welded seam and that is an area ripe for rust anyway and more difficult to prep properly for painting. Once the powder coat begins to lift, it actually traps moisture between itself and the metal and you get widespread and deep rust before the coating finally breaks away and exposes it.

The suggested techniques should do the repair job. It's a bit time consuming & dirty but not highly highly skilled work.
 
Another thing I did when repairing the same thing on mine was replace the screws you see with stainless steel. A mini side grinder with wire brush worked great, then had to use a toothbrush size wire brush in the crevices.

Applied a rust preventative, can't remember the name, then several coats of Rustoleum.  Been holding good now for a few years.
 
Gary - don't think it is powder coated, I think it might be dipped.  I agree with you about the poor surface prep, if our other vehicles can manage to keep their paint, so should our coach.

I'm also replacing some exterior fasteners with stainless.  Need to do a bunch on the roof.
 
my 08 bounder has rust in the same areas... not as bad but I know it will be soon. Dealing with fleetwood on fixing it since we are still under warrante

mine is painted... not powdercoated
 
Hey John, you see a pattern here?  I see an 02' coach, you have an 05', I have an 06', and the OP has an 08'.  Me thinks that there is a significant problem in the building process.  It is obivious that their manufacturing process needs an overhaul.  What do you think?
 
Well there is obviously a problem with their manufacturing process with these parts. And I don't know about everyone else, but at least for myself and SCVJeff, our rigs spent most of the time in sunny So. Cal.  No ice, no snow, and no salted roads.  Yep, there's a problem there.........
 
My 06 Voyage had it bad two years ago. Not any better now! But I see the tone on this thread has changed. When I mentioned it a while ago, a lot was said about the environment  I live in. Well my 11 year old Jeep has almost NO rust on it & it has been sitting out in the Alabama sun all this time. Winnebago boasts about there dipping in a bath to rust proof the frame pieces. I do NOT believe in a love fest with any manufacturer. They make a good Rv but if we never complain I bet the problem also never gets fixed.
 
I have no rust problem around the compartment boxes, but did have a very bad problem at 4 yr with the metal that holds the kick panel on under the entry door. When at GNR I took the tour of the corrosion control ection ...what I saw and heard there made the rusted metal I repaired behind the kick panel very mysterious to me...
 
Art In Mobile said:
Winnebago boasts about there dipping in a bath to rust proof the frame pieces
Click to expand...

Art - as far as I remember, only the cab area steel frame is dipped in the giant vats and I think the steel that has the bath treatment does quite well.  That coating was apparently quite effective because Winne had a contract to process military Hummer parts - my memory might be a little off in the details, but they do or have processed other manufacturer's steel parts.
 
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