Nutserts....Corrosion?

Here are my nutserts.

Black Betty is having her flares re-powdercoated because the first job was AWFUL.

I have had the worst time with painters and powdercoaters in NJ. I cannot seem to get quality work with either.

I came across a new powdercoater recently who took one look at my flares, and explained what had been done wrong. I'll get more in depth about powder coat and how to tell if the shop your dealing with knows what they are doing or not.

Thats still to come.

Otherwise, we stripped the flares off black betty, and found the nutserts in questionable condition.

Here's a pic.

I havent tried to clean them up yet, Im not sure if its corrosion, or salt, but im going to rub them with WD-40 and see.

I was going to take the truck to a car wash but realized that I do NOT want water getting in those holes.

Maybe Ill clean them up and then paint some POR15 on them.

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I should mention that the nutserts are 6 months old.

Here's some shots of the nutserts before I cleaned them.

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The inside of the nutserts looks gross also, but I've decided that its the anti-seize that we put on the stainless steel bolts that hold the flares on.

The real concern here, is that if the corrosion eats through the outer ring of the nutsert, it will allow the nutsert to spin in the JK's super thin sheet metal. That would mean I'd be in a situation where the flare is half on and half off with the stainless bolt halfway out. Then I'd have to cut it off and drill out the nutsert.

Any way you slice it, you need to make sure to prevent that sort of problem rather than deal with it.

Here's my solution.

Im going clean the nutserts as best I can with a waterbased degreaser. In this case, its going to be "simple green". I think it will be gentle on my paint, while cleaning the nutserts.

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Then once they are as clean as I can get them, Im going to POR-15 them to seal out the elements.

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Here are the shots after I rubbed them with the simple green, on a towel first, then on a cotton ball that i jammed into each.

I should note I cleaned the section that I simple green'd with carwash spray.

I did not spray anything directly on the section. I didnt want to have any sort of moisture getting inside the body panel.

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Here they are painted.

The technique is thin coats, but do a few of them. Also, cover up. gloves, long sleeves, if you get POR15 on you, its staying on you.

If you get it on your garage floor, its staying on your garage floor. They made it permanent on purpose.

The first coat, I could kind of see through. Then the second I got full coverage. I might do a third coat.

One other note, mix the POR 15 in the can, but then pour it into a paper cup. The brush will pick up contaminants when you brush it against rust and corrosion. You dont want to put that brush back in the can.

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Nutserts are one thing you do NOT want corroded. That makes for BIG problems. And these nutserts are the same as poison spider and metal cloak etc.

They should make them out of steel and tack weld them to the body. Then you just spray paint the whole thing and your good to go.

I think the POR15 is good in this case, but only time will tell. (you probably won't ever take the flares off again in the future tho)

That is serious corrosion for a 6 month period. Por 15 is an amazing product and will prevent corrosion. Period. This has me freaked out about mine front and rear as I have many more that hold the side of my jeep together!

I have nutserts that are YEARS old.

I was thinking bout taking the flares off and changing, Not anymore. It will stay as it is. They might be hangin by a thread by now.

sooooo, whats the consensous from the jeeplab brain team? Stay away from nutserts? Or take steps to take care of them and they are fine?

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Originally Posted by Yoinkers

sooooo, whats the consensous from the jeeplab brain team? Stay away from nutserts? Or take steps to take care of them and they are fine?

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Dont be scared of nutserts. Just protect them. I'll strip BB's flares a year from now and we will look again. Once I cleaned mine, it didnt look so terrible, but make sure that installing them, you take ALL the steps. Nutsert problems are big problems.

This thread might be a SLIGHT over reaction.

When you take the flare off, and see that gunk inside, its frightening. Anyone would agree. Especially with something as delicate as riv nuts.

However. It takes a long time for something to corrode thru. And I don't see any RUST in any of those pics.

Here's my opinion - Black Betty lives in the north east. And this was one of the worst winters ever in that area. Something like triple the normal snow fall.

Those roads are covered in salt now, then with the snow melting, the salt becomes saltwater on the road. Then those 37s fling the "salt water" up into the flare, and there it stays...and drys.... and thats what you were scraping off.

Is it good for the rig-nuts? no. Is por15 sealing them smart? Yes.

But had you not done it, and not taken the flares off, you may never have known, and MAY never have had a problem.

The guys on this site plastic wrapping their trucks BB, JG, are people who love their trucks and never intend to sell them. Anyone else who keeps a car for a few years and then gets a new one, they don't need to worry about this kind of stuff.

BEWARE tho. - you can start out with a jeep and think you'll sell it in the future, but they get under your skin, and become family members without us being aware. You don't want to fall in love with your Jeep year 2 and be sorry you didnt protect it well in year one.

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Originally Posted by Rexx19

This thread might be a SLIGHT over reaction.

When you take the flare off, and see that gunk inside, its frightening. Anyone would agree. Especially with something as delicate as riv nuts.

However. It takes a long time for something to corrode thru. And I don't see any RUST in any of those pics.

Here's my opinion - Black Betty lives in the north east. And this was one of the worst winters ever in that area. Something like triple the normal snow fall.

Those roads are covered in salt now, then with the snow melting, the salt becomes saltwater on the road. Then those 37s fling the "salt water" up into the flare, and there it stays...and drys.... and thats what you were scraping off.

Is it good for the rig-nuts? no. Is por15 sealing them smart? Yes.

But had you not done it, and not taken the flares off, you may never have known, and MAY never have had a problem.

The guys on this site plastic wrapping their trucks BB, JG, are people who love their trucks and never intend to sell them. Anyone else who keeps a car for a few years and then gets a new one, they don't need to worry about this kind of stuff.

BEWARE tho. - you can start out with a jeep and think you'll sell it in the future, but they get under your skin, and become family members without us being aware. You don't want to fall in love with your Jeep year 2 and be sorry you didnt protect it well in year one.

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Well said. and maybe we do overreact a little. best to freak out over little things before they turn into big things.

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Originally Posted by JeepLab

Well said. and maybe we do overreact a little. best to freak out over little things before they turn into big things.

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I live by that rule. (and it works for me)