The previous part of this story can be found here, but if you’re just joining us the beginning is all the way back here if you’d like to catch up.
September 2015 | 181,250 miles
Rust…
You’re going to run into it eventually, and it sucks. It makes everything harder. It never sleeps. It’s always spreading…it’s spreading somewhere right now as I type. It makes your eyes hurt when it falls into them laying under your beloved car, and it makes them hurt when you cry your little heart out when the cancer finally takes your beloved car from you.
I’m not sure what stage of rust my Jeep was in, but as I took things apart it was clear that the cancer was everywhere. When I bought this Cherokee the Carfax said that it had spent most of its life in Georgia, but originated somewhere up in Ohio. I guess the disease set in early then, only slowly spreading down South rather than going Stage 4 before coming into my hands.
As already seen I had to cut out the rear leaf springs because of the rust, but had also already lost the rear bump stops due to rusted off studs on the uni-frame rails. The upper studs for the rear shocks snapped off as well. This was going to be an uphill battle, but also a learning experience in how to prevent, remediate, and repair the ravages of rust. Every gearhead needs to know how to deal with this common foe.
At least until I get that heavenly garage where rust no longer destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. That’s gonna be great.