quick little idea to help keep running board supports from rotting out.

[kctyphoon]

just an idea i thought i would share if it helps anyone. my truck has the factory abs style running boards with the step painted to match the truck. ya know - the ones that come on the eddie bauer (spelling?) editions and the broncos. anyway, as most people that have them can tell you, they are the absolute first thing to rust out and break apart under the truck. these are the actual metal step supports hidden beneath the abs running board. its nothing but a hollow pipe with a few bends in it, but if and when they rot out, good luck finding replacements. ford no longer makes them, and they had like a $500 price tag attached to them too. after HOURS online i found a decent set (only one online) for sale and it cost me about $300 just for the brackets. these seem to rust from the inside out so i wanted to at least make a small effort to keep this from happening again. i used a drill with wire brush to take off any rust on the outside, and got as much loose rust and crap inside to fall out through the mounting holes by banging them on the groud. i painted them with rust reformering spray paint, and then added a coat of spray on bedliner to help with any scuffs they might be forced to absorb. my main concern was too do something to keep out the moisture, and water thats causing the rust inside of the pipes on the first place, so i filled the entire pipe with spray foam to keep all the crap out. just inserted the flexible dispensing tube at the mounting holes , and held the trigger down till foam bleed out the opposite end of that section. figured this would be an idea other people could use, as i image you can do the same to all those tublar running boards and nerf bars. if a $3 can of spray foam can translate into a few extra years i figure its worth it.

[zROCK]

its good in theory but the spray foam actually makes things worse. I have done similar before and rusted out super fast. Spray foam is mainly filled with little air bubbles that will trap any type of moisture. Since now it will be almost impossible to get the foam out try to take a inch or so out of each end and pump some silicone on their to seal it up...

[kctyphoon]

Well my thinking was that it wouldnt allow any more moisture in either.. i took my olds ones out in pieces so hopefully these will last a while. Wish someone would sell new sets of them as they look easy enough to make. Id hate to have take these running boards off some day. They really make a difference how the truck looks

[lug]

You can always try Corrosion X or ACF50. That stuff works great on helicopters working offshore in a high salt enviroment.

[kctyphoon]

Originally Posted by lug

You can always try Corrosion X or ACF50. That stuff works great on helicopters working offshore in a high salt enviroment.

good idea. im pretty much done with what im gonna do with them though. the new ones are going back on the truck today. i just didnt feel right throwing replacments in there without at least trying to do something to protect them a bit. ive been putting off alot of small projects the truck needs done so im trying to catch up now. i think every friggin thing possible on this truck is leaking so i didnt wanna spend too much time on these. thanks for the idea though

[creekfreak]

Yeah spray foam is not hydrophobic like closed cell foam is. Find your local canoe/kayak shop and get some scrap closed cell foam and just make a couple plug ends....