Glad I found this thread. I'm at the point now where I am going to be doing this. I have some rust in the rear of the tire carrier. Rest of the frame doesn't look ANYWHERE near what OP has posted. But I have read several things stating that if you use the chassis sealer all it does is seal in moisture and rot the frame out more... Is this the case?

See picture of my truck in the rear. rest of the rails look OK. Front picture showing the fuel pump.

-Nigel

 

I didn't have anywhere near as much rust on my ranger frame as you do (I had some starting so that's why I used the chassis sealer after using a wire brush). My 6' bed on my ranger looked like your frame and so I replaced it entirely with a (new) used one. That's how I got access to the frame with the sealer. The chassis sealer has been on there a year and no problems so far. Hope that helps!

 

I think swapping frames would be a lot of work. I have a lift in my garage but still the idea of doing such a thing doesn't seem worth it...lol Plus I don't think I could find a decent one.

I took the bed off the other day with the help of my neighbor. The WORST of it is at that rear tire carrier... the rest of the frame honestly looks fine.

See attached pictures.

I'm pretty much going to wire brush/wire wheel it with my angle grinder, try to get all the spots. Spray it down with acetone and clean the rust dust off, then paint when I get the stuff tomorrow.

I fixed my fuel pump so now the truck starts, I can pull it in the garage now and work on it which is nice. I hope that painting it the chassis sealer will slow down prolong that rear part. Still for a 17 year old truck that was initially in PA, and here in VA who both use salt, I'd say it could be a lot worse...lol My parents jeep and van both rusted out before any major mechanical problem ever happened. Same with my sisters focus. Damn thing at 70k miles was destroyed underneath.

-Nigel