Hi Neo
Hope all goes well for you over there.
Your Springtime there has sprung
while my Fall over here has fallen
.
Just envious of your improving weather conditions while I’m working on winterizing for the coming cold/snow/ice/slush (take you pick..New England gets it all…sometimes all at once too!!!..
)
Nice post and nice work…even if it was 4-to-6 years ago.
Over here I’ve generally used fish oil based enamel paint on bare steel or Rustoleum brand paint (in a can) liberally brush worked applied to clean dry dust free & oil free surfaces. Even the interior surfaces if possible by flooding the interior with paint and pulling a paint saturated rag ball through. I avoid close welded tubes as there is no way to ensure they are actually water tight without a pressure test or that they stay that way over time. If I cap a tube (to keep out wasps) it’s with a gapped screwed on cover or a plastic slip in/on where I’ve added several drain slots.
Your right in not wanting a sealed tube or one that lets water in but not out!
A ‘sealed’ tube heated by the sun then abruptly immersed in a nice chilly bath of water can generate a good bit of negative pressure to suck in water through the smallest of pinholes and trapping it in there forever. When the tube heats back up in the sunlight the water vapor spreads throughout the tube to perpetually rust the tube out from the inside. Seen it happen time after time after time….even with galvanized trailers where the tubes are weld sealed before being galvanized. (There isn’t any way for the galvanizing to get inside
)
In cases where non-galvanized painted equipment is gonna be subject to abuse such as rock/gravel/abrasion I also tend to overcoat with a couple layers of compatible a soft epoxy paint. The softer types tend to dent instead of chip like the hard ones do so as to leave more of a protected surface over time. I also suggest periodic applications of wax everywhere (especially the bottom surfaces) to help seal over any metal exposure points.
While all that helps to combat plain steel rust it still eventually will happen.
The new “rust dissolvers” like you mentioned are great at breaking down the iron oxides adhesion and help in allowing one to flush that away from tight spaces like leaf springs.
I’m not so thrilled by the purported “rust reformers” where they attempt to convert iron oxide into a pseudo ceramic.
My experience with them has been poor.
Generally these don’t always penetrate to the parent metal leaving a layer of “unreformed” rust next to parent material.
They are by their very nature brittle materials which tend to crack back perpendicular to the parent metal surface which allow water back in (and into that unreformed rust layer) to continue the attack on the parent metal while now hiding it from view.
I haven’t much experience with galvanized leaf type springs personally.
Wonder how well they hold up over time….
The type I’m familiar with are the bare and black painted type leaf springs.
Of the two I sort of prefer the plain bare type which I try and keep oiled with a penetrating residual oil like one uses for motorcycle chain drives ( remember the pre Kevlar drive belt and cog era?
) like the old PJ1 brand. Not WD40! Regular application seems to do a great job if you can start doing it from new and keep doing it.
Just wondering how your great work has been holding up for you over there over the years.
Any recommendations of what worked or what you’d do different?
Best Regards for a Great New Season!
(I’m still envious as I prep for a cold, icy, wet, snowy, road salted and traction sanded start of winter in New England
… I gotta get South
🏖
🏝
… I gotta get South
🏖
🏝
…. I gotta get South
🏖
🏝
)
Enjoy the warmth!
Best Regards,
Over Easy
) like the old PJ1 brand. Not WD40! Regular application seems to do a great job if you can start doing it from new and keep doing it.
)
.
snow 
storm 
.
. Good tires though!