Does Body Armor attract rust?

Guys,

I am looking at installing some rocker protection for the lower 4" of the 4 doors and behind the rear tires like the kit on simplyoffroad.com. I was wondering if any of you had any problems with installing body armor and it being a place to harbor rust or attract it. I live in chicago and around the midwest they use alot of salt (obviously) and are commonly rusting.

thanks.
Morgan

Just put a bead of silicon close to the edge when you install it.

thanks goat

Goatman said:

Just put a bead of silicon close to the edge when you install it.

Click to expand...

Make sure you put that silicon on well,

b/c if you dont...water will find its way under there, and stay in there
and then it WILL rust.....

if it was me i would maybe put some washers or some kind of spacer to keep the armor slightly off the body, which will solve any moisture from staying under there

just my way of thinking

Tips...
Silicon (as mentioned)
Mark all holes, drill, apply touch up to holes before attatching.
Wax before attaching.
Make sure product your attatching is fully sealed & painted.
I will also sometimes run a small strip of 1/4" foam weather
stripping completely around the inside boarder, 1/2" in, it
seems to help alot.

Using alum. rivets or hardware attracts rust by a reaction between
the 2 metals, use stainless hardware when possible.

C85D4x4 said:

Make sure you put that silicon on well,

b/c if you dont...water will find its way under there, and stay in there
and then it WILL rust.....

if it was me i would maybe put some washers or some kind of spacer to keep the armor slightly off the body, which will solve any moisture from staying under there

just my way of thinking

Click to expand...

Good point about the silicon, if you use it you don't want moisture to get trapped in there. That's why I think it's best to apply a bead inside of the edge, not just around the edge, and the recommendation to seal around the holes is also good.

Personally, I don't use silicon because I don't want water to get trapped behind. However, I live in the dry west where I'm just concerned about a little rain and when washing the rig. It is probably a different situation where the roads get salted.

I wouldn't recommend spacing the body armor out, though I understand why. The idea is to protect the body, and leaving a gap weakens it.

Do what you can, but I guarantee you'll see rust soon enough here in WI/IL. You just can't get around it. The SW wheelers just don't face the harsh conditions we do. BTW, when I installed my body armor, I used black Urethane all the way around the perimeter between the body and the armor, around each hole, and left a nice clean filet between the 1/8" armor and the sheet metal around the edges. I also used SS 10-32 counter sunk flat head machine screws with a fender washer and ss keps nuts on the inside of the Jeep. It was a super mess getting things installed, but now that it's been on there a year or so it is holding up ok. The heads of my SS bolts are showing brown from rust though. Probably from turning in the panel during install. I would imagine that action scraped a touch of the paint off and now moisture plus salt is getting in there causing corrosion. Jeff

I remember someone in the Navy posted here about how they install panels. He said they used a marine adhesive/sealer and spread it ALL over the back side, not just the perimeter, then put it in position and screwed it down.

Thayer said:

I remember someone in the Navy posted here about how they install panels. He said they used a marine adhesive/sealer and spread it ALL over the back side, not just the perimeter, then put it in position and screwed it down.

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That sounds like the best way to do it to me, then hope that the armor will make a good replacement for body when the rust eats in from behind the panel.

thanks for the replies.....kinda looks like it would cause more possible harm than good.

morgan

I used sealant (can not remember which) all over the back of mine when I installed mine. Spread it on with a notched trowel so that it was consistent (just like when applying a laminate). Wiped off the edges and then used a sealant on the top and sides (after installed). I used SS rivets (just to hold it while it was drying.

I have not had any issues with it, but I live in the NW and my jeep stays in the garage except when it is allowed to go to the trail.

Michael