[peakbagger]

One of the trade offs with the latest Rav4 body in general is the snap on fender "flare"s and lower door panels cladding. These are an easy way to alter a base sheet metal body and may have some minimal aerodynamic effect but they are also form a pinch point between the snap in panels and the underlying paint. Up in the sand and salt zone grit will get caught up in this pinch point and eventually cut into the paint forming a rust spot once the aggressive deicing chemicals used these days get to the underlying steel. I had a GMC Syclone at one point that had similar cladding and after 4 winters of actually driving it, it had numerous rust spots starting to blossom under the flares at the pinch point. I ended up selling it for not much less then I paid for it but if I had kept it, all the cladding would need to be removed and the all the rust spots attended to before a repaint would be needed. My Land Cruiser LJ70 arrived with the factory flares removed but all the holes drilled in the body with some crappy aftermarket flares covering the holes. Luckily it came from somewhere in Europe where rust did not appear to be an issue so the body was rust free. The stock Toyota flares for the LJ that I purchased and installed used some skinny rubber lip seals along the edges of the flares to seal off this opening but I saw evidence of a very distinct wear line in the paint that lined up with the lip seals from the past. In my opinion the lips seals kept out the course grit but not fine grit and the fine grit was slowly grinding through the paint.

My guess is the typical typical Prime buyer will have moved on to the next hot model before its an issue but my usual plan is to keep a vehicle for 7 to 8 years. So thoughts and opinions?

I have heard of three approaches to dealing with this. One is to remove the cladding yearly and clean out any grit to delay the inevitable and catch any bad spots early. The other is remove the cladding and weld up the holes and leave the cladding off (aesthetically not very pleasant). The other option I have seen is to pop the cladding and seal the edges of the cladding where it meets the body with an alcohol based silicone sealant (GE silicon 2) and carefully smooth out the resulting bead between the cladding and the body when its reapplied. This prevents the grit from getting in but no seal is perfect so it could trap moisture behind it. My guess is the silicone might look like its bonded to the paint early on but unless the paint is roughed up the bond might fail. My plan is to pop the cladding next spring and see if there are areas of concern.

 

[AUKraut]

I wouldn't worry about it...

1) Paint and body corrosion tech has improved dramatically in the 30 years since the GMC Typhoon was made

2) There isn't a car/truck/suv/crossover on the market today that doesn't have plastic body panels or bumpers attaching to metal body parts. This technology has been used for years now and the manufacturers have the kinks worked out in it

 

[RAV4Primer]

Would applying paint protection film under the body cladding be another viable option? I just added an item to my calendar when my vehicle is 4 years 10 months old given this warranty:

• Rust-Through: 60 months/unlimited miles (corrosion perforation of sheet metal).

 

[peakbagger]

Maybe as long as it sticks out past the gap a bit that may be good fix. I agree that the manufacturers have upped their rust prevention using a combination of treated base sheetmetal and painting systems substantially since 1991 but I still see newer vehicles with cladding with these rust under cladding issues occasionally. I realize I am at typical as I keep my vehicle longer than normal so good enough to last the paint warranty is not good enough for me.

 

[Prime Time Raver]

Peakbagger, Thank you for your comments. I appreciate your concerns as I hope to keep my next vehicle for a long time. I have only used rust converter chemicals (that turn black) at the sight of corrosion but you take it to another level. This information will be useful to me as I think about long term concerns. Your concerns are real and I am glad you shared them.

 

[DANA44]

While I agree modern coating in the automotive industry have extended the service life greatly, the addiction to salt brine use is starting to negate the gains. The odd use of the penetrations as a mounting point with silly wafer gaskets based on nylon clips in tension will over time be subject to aggregate material that will wear away at protection coating. Being in a snow salt brine belt one of my go to products was LPS Procyon (hard film)now replaced by LPS 3 (soft Film) similar to Cosmoline but having a pedigree approved by some aircraft manufacturers. Ardrox AV30 is similar to LPS Procyon.
This involves removing the cladding and applying an application from a rattle can. CRC marine heavy duty corrosion inhibitor is also though soft film would be suitable. Seems to dry quick.
I installed an OEM trailer hitch and in the process took advantage of the exposure to treat. The aluminum reinforcement bumper removed in my scenario is a factory assembly of dissimilar metal the the body in proximity to acidic water vapor from the engine exhaust and 12v battery venting hybrid I thought was interesting.
The body metal is vey thin in various areas that will be exposed to salt brine use by municipalities even well above freezing temps. One definitely does not want salt parked on body panels direct when the temps are in the 60s or above, the cladding is a harbor.
The corrosion prevention compounds noted above I experienced to have a long service life in non wash down areas from road use but are not water displacing when applied thus application of surface must be clean and dry.

 

[peakbagger]

While I agree modern coating in the automotive industry have extended the service life greatly, the addiction to salt brine use is starting to negate the gains. The odd use of the penetrations as a mounting point with silly wafer gaskets based on nylon clips in tension will over time be subject to aggregate material that will wear away at protection coating. Being in a snow salt brine belt one of my go to products was LPS Procyon (hard film)now replaced by LPS 3 (soft Film) similar to Cosmoline but having a pedigree approved by some aircraft manufacturers. Ardrox AV30 is similar to LPS Procyon.
This involves removing the cladding and applying an application from a rattle can. CRC marine heavy duty corrosion inhibitor is also though soft film would be suitable. Seems to dry quick.
I installed an OEM trailer hitch and in the process took advantage of the exposure to treat. The aluminum reinforcement bumper removed in my scenario is a factory assembly of dissimilar metal the the body in proximity to acidic water vapor from the engine exhaust and 12v battery venting hybrid I thought was interesting.
The body metal is vey thin in various areas that will be exposed to salt brine use by municipalities even well above freezing temps. One definitely does not want salt parked on body panels direct when the temps are in the 60s or above, the cladding is a harbor.
The corrosion prevention compounds noted above I experienced to have a long service life in non wash down areas from road use but are not water displacing when applied thus application of surface must be clean and dry.

A question on this application which sounds like a great option. Do you mask the visible areas of paint or do you just spray up to the lower crease in the body work?. I have seen factory applications where they spray some sort of body color polymer up the lower body linecrease. Its finish is not smooth(sort of like orange peel) and it really helps to deal with chips from inevitable stones which usually are the initial source of rust and would really help with the potential cladding issue.

State and local highway departments have increasingly adopted bare tar plowing/road treatment policies iin the winter as people have the expectation that their 4WD/AWD trucks and SUVs with all season tires expect to be able to drive at or above speed limit during snowstorms Plowing operators make a bundle hauling rigs back on the road by owners that were lulled into driving way to fast for the conditions. The only way to get the roads that clear is pretreatment before the storm and the heavy use of deicing chemicals and road salt. The goal is to have the highway coated with salt brine for the duration of the storm despite below freezing temps to keep the snow from sticking. That brine goes into every crevice and sticks tenaciously. This is not Toyota RAV4 Prime specific although Toyota had that long term frame rot issue on their small trucks that cost them a bundle. I will not allow anyone to drill a hole in sheetmetal in any exterior part of vehicle as no matter how careful its sealed,as its a long term rust issue.

 

[DANA44]

With exterior panels mask off with blue painters tape or manage spray pattern with a piece of cardboard over spay is limited from a rattle can to begin on a calm day.
Example rear wheel well removed mid flaps treated area behind liner and exposed area by top shock mount.

 

[peakbagger]

Thanks!