Rust on slideouts something to worry about?

[ArmorWrapGuy]

We are considering buying this 2008 pace Arrow 35 with 30,000 miles but saw this rust on the sliders and around the bottom. I don't see any on the chassis or underneath. Just on this poorly painted area. I'm wondering if we should run away or is this something pretty normal and sand/paint and removing the surface rust would be fine?

This is a coach from Minnesota but it's here in california now. The owners traveled the country and came to calif to avoid minnesota winters. I guess the driving in snowy/salted road conditions would cause this.

The rest of the coach looks pretty decent and I'm trying to get it for a great price but not sure if this is a can of worms.

 

[Lou Schneider]

That looks like surface rust.  If the rest of the underside looks OK I'd sand it smooth, dose it with some rust converter for good measure (Naval Jelly or equivalent), then prime and paint and call it good.

 

[Utclmjmpr]

Normal maintenance items you will have with anything that's used much.>>>Dan

 

[lynnmor]

If that is the only fault with the unit, you better buy it quick.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Agree with the others - normal surface rust for the age and easy to fix. Within the scope of "routime maintenance" for a 10 year old rig.

Wire brush or sand the loose stuff and apply a rust converter product such as Ospho, Corroseal, Ultra Rust Converter, Rustex, etc. These convert iron oxide to a stable compound such as iron phosphate. Then prime & paint. The whole process shouldn't take more than a couple hours for what is in the photos.

 

[ArmorWrapGuy]

Awesome, thanks everyone!
It felt and looked like surface rust (I have experience with an old 68 camaro I owned) but I know rust can be like cancer and if I should run away or just deal with it. Other than that, its in good shape and has a lot of great features like a drivers side door. It's the little things!

I just put in our offer so looks like we will own this thing soon.

 

[DearMissMermaid]

Being an old salt, I am not fond of rust in any shape or form.

That being said... while tootling around in my 1994 Class C, I made it my mission to eradicate rust.

The entry steps were showing rust, so I scraped, primed and painted them. They looked like new again.

The propane tank was looking a bit rough, removed rust and repainted, it looked good as new.

The running boards at passenger and driver door both had some rust. Removed rust and painted. Looked terrific.

Rear bumper was losing paint and rusting, but that was repaired.

Back ladder was showing rust, but the stainless steel readily cleaned up to look newish again. A labor of love.

When I finally sold my rig, the new owner was impressed with the obvious care I had put into maintaining her. She chose my old rig over newer ones because so many maintenance issues were taken care of such as rust removal.