rust up around third brake light area

[nilex10]

hi was wondering if anyone here has any rust around the third brake light.if so could u post a pic and some possible soloutions to it.

 

[osufans]

I don't have a KK, but had real bad rust on my KJ. Apparently the weatherstripping around the taillight leaked, allowing water to accumulate in the seam weld. It was pretty bad. I dug out the worst part of the rusted metal, then ground and cut out anything else that was loose. Then I smoothed down the seam, filled it with body filler, and repainted. Then I went back and fixed the bad weatherstripping.

Some pics:
Before

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After

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[nilex10]

great job there. mine is going bad there also to the right side of the brake light. starting to bubble really bad. live in newfoundland where there is lots of salt.starting to look bad. not that great at bodywork.

 

[nilex10]

how do i fix my light . it has come loose and the screw wont screw in .and checked it and there is bad rot. any ideas how to fix it and make it look clean

 

[Luke]

Seems to be a common problem ... luckily I caught mine before it started to rust... but it had rubbed the clear coat and paint right off.

OSU... that looks fantastic!

Nilex... you are going to have to do the same thing body filler... patience and lots of sanding.

 

[nilex10]

mine got the holes where the screws for the light rusted out. cant put my light back in

 

[osufans]

mine got the holes where the screws for the light rusted out. cant put my light back in

Mine started doing the same thing. I used some silicone to help hold the tailight in place, as well as help seal it.

If it's really bad, to the point where it won't even hold the plastic screw base, you could either look for a larger screw base (maybe like the ones for license plates), or try to epoxy your old base in place (JB Weld makes a two part liquid epoxy, works VERY well), or even have that area professionally repaired.

Do you have any pics of the damage? I know you asked me for mine, but what I posted is all I have. I either didn't take pics of doing the work, or I didn't save them.

Depending on how bad your damage is, you can do what I did. If it's a lot worse than mine (my seam weld was still intact, so I just cleaned up the bubbling and any of the loose metal near the seam), you may have to pursue other options. I'm no body man, so my advice is purely from my own experience. It's likely there is a better way to do this.

1) I used a screwdriver to pry apart the old rotten metal. Basically, I wanted all the junk stuff pulled loose.
2) Once pulled apart, I either used pliers or the cut-off wheel to remove all the old loose metal.
3) Once the loose stuff was removed, I cleaned up the rust, and used a grinder to smooth down the metal to prepare it for the filler.
4) I can't remember if at this point I went straight to the filler, or used a rust prep to cover/prevent any further rust, but you might look into it.
5) Using a flat spreader, I layered in body filler, trying to keep the appearance of the overlapping metal at that seam. Take your time, and apply in light layers. It dries fast, so only prepare what you need for each coat. Apply, sand, reapply, sand...keep going until you get the look you're going for.
6) Once dry and cured, I primed, then painted the refinished area. It's kind of hard to tell in that pic, but I just used a satin black topcoat from a spray can. You could prime, then buy a paint matched touch up can from the dealer if you want.

Good luck!

 

[sumpter1]

Yep, mine also has a little rust.

 

[Piriaka]

In Western Australia - mine has a problem - is rust bubbling to the right of the third brake light. Got a quote today - $700 to repair. The guy at the panel shop said that it is a common problem with KJs!

 

[ivantate]

Theres a bit on my 05, but its in the garage for a rear shunt so I asked them to sort out around the brake light at the same time. When looking i was amazed with the way the rear of the roof panel was just spot welded into place without any sealer etc to fill the gaps.

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[TheZombieNinja3]

Luckily my 04 isn't rising by the light yet. But I keep a close watch on it

Sent from space by the force of gravity.

 

[LibertyTC]

Ya the center brake light & under on inside window seal area on my KJ is cleaned twice a year & coated with wax.
This is what it looked like this spring before cleaning.
49064[/ATTACH]"]

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If you dont clean here it will rust
Wax is Cheap, Rust is a bad PITA..sorry pain to the metal.

 

[tjkj2002]

Ya the center brake light & under on inside window seal area on my KJ is cleaned twice a year & coated with wax.
This is what it looked like this spring before cleaning.
49069[/ATTACH]"]

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If you dont clean here it will rust
Wax is Cheap, Rust is a bad PITA..sorry pain to the metal.

Bedline the whole roof,using a quality bedliner(roll on style is not quality),and no more rust issues.

 

[Jo6pak]

Noticed today that mine is getting pretty bad in the same area.

Looks like it's time to pop out the light and get to cleaning, sanding, filling, and painting.

Hopefully it's not too bad when I get in there:blah:

 

[Luke]

Oh mine is done ... and the squirter nozzle too. ugh

Por 15 and bedliner on the to-do list.

 

[LibertyTC]

What is up with your rear squinter nozzle Luke..got any pics?
I better take a closer look at mine and possibly run some silicone around the outside of it.

 

[uss2defiant]

Bedline the whole roof,using a quality bedliner(roll on style is not quality),and no more rust issues.

bed line the roof???!

 

[tjkj2002]

bed line the roof???!

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[uss2defiant]

o.0
impressive.
is that what you have on your entire undercarriage too?

 

[KodiakKJ]

I hope I found mine just in time. So far it is still solid and the paint isn't flaking yet. Is there a somewhat easy way of fixing this without much experience?

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