evo rocker skins, and east coast weather

Quick question to anyone on the east coast running the EVO skins. (or any other type of body mod that requires drilling)

Have you had any issues with rust? I'm considering these BEFORE I get my weld on frame mounted sliders. I'd like to keep the jeep as rust free as possible, and that's a mission in itself on the east coast.

What do you guys think? Run the Sliders sans skins to save a potential headache?

I now live near Phoenix, AZ but lived in NJ until I was 50 and know about east coast rust - it is murder.

For whatever it's worth, I think you can put skins on east coast Jeeps if you take all precautions against rust.

I just put Poison Spyder brawler rockers and rear corners on my Jeep. Following Eddie's advice I ran a bead of silicone sealer all around the skins to keep water/mud/etc from getting behind the skins. And I painted the edges of the holes drilled for the nutserts (2 coats of Rustoleum primer and 2 coats of gloss primer) and then painted the nutserts themselves with the same 2 coats of primer and gloss topcoat making sure to seal the edges good (don't worry about paint getting all over the Jeep itself, the skins are never coming off anyway). And I put anti-seize on the nutsert threads and bolts to keep rust out of there as well. Painting everything well makes the install slower since you have to wait for the coats to dry but I think it is well worth it.

Since there is a small gap between the skins and the Jeep sheetmetal, there is air in that gap and that air has water vapor in it and that water will condense out when the dew point is hit so there will be some water in there from time to time which cannot be prevented. But by painting the nutsert holes and the nutserts, I feel that the Jeep sheetmetal will be pretty well protected and that any rust will be minimal at least for some number of years, probably more than 5 years.

If you intend to keep the Jeep for a long time there is definitely some risk of serious rust damage. But there is also risk of other types of damage so I say go for it! The skins look really cool.

Here are some pics showing the silicone seal, paint on the nutsert holes and anti-seize:

i have the rocker skins. had them on for about a year now. they have rusted underneath the powder coat from ORE. i am getting them sand blasted and recoated on monday. i heard a rumor that powder coat varies from area to area. something with the chemicals they use helps maintain them. also once i get them repowder coated i am going to rub them down with fluid film after to talking to CanvasJK. he said this will absorb down to the metal and help prevent them from rusting. the navy uses it all the time.

cozdude said:

i have the rocker skins. had them on for about a year now. they have rusted underneath the powder coat from ORE. i am getting them sand blasted and recoated on monday. i heard a rumor that powder coat varies from area to area. something with the chemicals they use helps maintain them. also once i get them repowder coated i am going to rub them down with fluid film after to talking to CanvasJK. he said this will absorb down to the metal and help prevent them from rusting. the navy uses it all the time.

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I was going to fluid film my entire undercarriage. Might have to use it on some armor too if I buy it.

Did you install yours Steve? How was it as far as lining up the holes, did you buy a nutsert tool?

KingCopperhead said:

I was going to fluid film my entire undercarriage. Might have to use it on some armor too if I buy it.

Did you install yours Steve? How was it as far as lining up the holes, did you buy a nutsert tool?

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Hinrich and i installed mine. he had a nutsert tool that sharkey recommended. its easy to line up if you have two people. makes the job a lot easier

Cool deal, the astro tool? I was just googling it. And step drill bits. Figure at some point I'll want to do corner skins so the tool would be worth it.

Might pull the trigger on the skins and use the aforementioned paint and silicone method along with the fluid film to keep rust at bay. Thanks for the advice guys.

cozdude said:

i have the rocker skins. had them on for about a year now. they have rusted underneath the powder coat from ORE. i am getting them sand blasted and recoated on monday. i heard a rumor that powder coat varies from area to area. something with the chemicals they use helps maintain them. also once i get them repowder coated i am going to rub them down with fluid film after to talking to CanvasJK. he said this will absorb down to the metal and help prevent them from rusting. the navy uses it all the time.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip! Fluid Film sounds like a great idea.

Here is the website, wish I knew about it before: http://www.fluid-film.com/

The company says FF is safe to use on most paints, and still protects the metal. I would have used it if I knew about it. I did have my skins powder coated on both sides and I should be OK here in AZ which has very low humidity and little rain or wet stuff.

KingCopperhead said:

Cool deal, the astro tool? I was just googling it. And step drill bits. Figure at some point I'll want to do corner skins so the tool would be worth it.

Might pull the trigger on the skins and use the aforementioned paint and silicone method along with the fluid film to keep rust at bay. Thanks for the advice guys.

Click to expand...

I you have time take a look at my post about installing PSC rear corners, I have some info and pics in there about tools for installing nutserts that might help:

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?19537-GenRight-Carrier-on-Poison-Spyder-Corners

I used the Astro 1442 to install my rock skins. It is a great tool! Definitely worth every penny. I helped a friend install some OMF rocker armor and broke the 1/4-20 mandrel. I called Astro and ordered 5 more. The mandrels were only about $3.50 each or so.

wwood said:

I you have time take a look at my post about installing PSC rear corners, I have some info and pics in there about tools for installing nutserts that might help:

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?19537-GenRight-Carrier-on-Poison-Spyder-Corners

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That was an awesome thread. Great info and pics. I don't know if I'm ready to invest that much in tools right now. Maybe I'll wait and grab the tools first.

wwood said:

Thanks for the tip! Fluid Film sounds like a great idea.

Here is the website, wish I knew about it before: http://www.fluid-film.com/

The company says FF is safe to use on most paints, and still protects the metal. I would have used it if I knew about it. I did have my skins powder coated on both sides and I should be OK here in AZ which has very low humidity and little rain or wet stuff.

Click to expand...

Ha!! I was going to recommend this stuff. I haven't gone through a winter yet but been using it for a few months. Nothing I used it on is showing any signs of rust.
It's great for keeping rod ends quiet and lubricated also.
The stuff is fantastic ... Love it.