Will a Rusted Frame Pass Inspection?

If you are about to have your vehicle inspected, you may be wary of rust, especially if you live in Snowbelt cities or near the shore; although you may think that a little rust is no big deal, repair issues can become quite complex. Save yourself the hassle of dealing with difficult inspection shops by reading our in-depth research on passing a vehicle with a rusty frame.

There are numerous factors to consider when dealing with auto body corrosion: choosing a reasonable inspection station, assessing the damage, and knowing when an investment is sour are just a few key considerations. Let’s delve further into the details below so that you feel prepared to pass your vehicle inspection.

Why Shop Owners & Inspections Are Very Strict On Regulations

The chief concern of any reasonable inspection station is the safety and well-being of their customers and other drivers on the roads. It is rare, but an inspection shop can be sued if an unsafe vehicle passes its inspection and causes injury. In fact, there are cases where criminal charges have been filed against mechanics for botched inspections that injured or killed innocent people.

Shop owners in states where people have been sued and prosecuted are more vigilant. States where the weather is inclement also show a stricter concern for rust because many have seen for themselves how quickly it spreads if left untreated.

A vehicle gets coated with road salt when it sloshes through road slush after a storm. The salt can quickly convert the remaining steel into rust and destroy the integrity of the vehicle. The frame can collapse and cause an accident in blizzard conditions and take numerous lives.

When you bring your vehicle to an inspection shop, the owner is putting their reputation on the line that the vehicle is safe to operate. While it may seem silly to obstruct you from driving a vehicle with a rusty frame that appears solid, experienced mechanics can assess the dangers and recommend appropriate repairs.

It is better to get these repairs out of the way from square one than to let them go and destroy the vehicle and possibly take someone’s life. Let’s consider, below, all the key factors that may influence your decision to take a vehicle for inspection, repair it, or buy a new vehicle.

Assessing the Extent of Oxidation

Location is one of the key factors in determining whether or not to repair a vehicle with a rusty frame. If there is rust on a thick, heavy-duty cross member of a truck frame, that is a lot easier to work with than cancer in the floorplans of a new sports car. Superficial rust can often be sanded off and sealed with a rust converter and painted very safely and easily.

Any rust repair that requires welding in reinforcement panels to stabilize the vehicle can be tricky. A newer car with a unibody construction is often made of many composite plastic materials. These materials are right beneath the metal shell and can be damaged by extreme heat.

The same problem exists with any uniframe vehicle that requires the application of heat directly below carpets and upholstery. It is a real fire hazard that requires expensive disassembly and reassembly labor to fix one little spot.

If you are lucky, the frame of your vehicle is riveted together from multiple sections or can be unbolted from the chassis. This is more commonly found in larger vehicles, such as full-size SUVs and trucks.

Most rust repairs to the frame do require welding and won’t pass the mustard with simple J.B. cold-weld putty. Cold-weld should be allowable, however, because similar epoxies are used to hold together a lot of small airplane engines. Epoxies are stronger than steel when properly applied.

Finding the Right Inspection Shop

Not every mechanic is strict when it comes to handing out safety stickers. For a lot of them, they run a racket of selling the stickers themselves, which are in limited supply, and are only concerned about immediate dangers.

A small rust hole in the frame will rarely compromise the integrity of a vehicle and could reasonably be repaired in the least expensive manner with a rust converter, sanding, and some epoxy to ensure that you are not hitchhiking to work.

Here are some key attributes to look out for when considering your next inspection station or hunting for a new one in your area:

• Are they focused chiefly on inspections?
• Do they have a corporate or personal relationship with customers?
• Do you know anyone who has had an inspection at the shop?
• Do they get uptight when you mention the word rusty frame?
• Do you see predominately newer or older vehicles in their lots?

These are all key questions that you should ask yourself before plopping down $75 for your annual inspection. One of the key considerations should be whether the shop caters to high-class customers or frugal, working-class customers who drive older vehicles.

A lot of times, these shops simply have trouble obtaining inspection stickers from the DMV and are forced to burn some of their less popular customers to give their desirable customers a smoother experience.

If the shop is friendly and seems to have a lot of older vehicles sitting on their lots, they will be more reasonable. If you do have a rust issue, they will probably repair it or refer you to someone good even if it is serious.

A shop that caters to wealthier drivers may see you as unimportant (small change) unless you regularly shop there for oil changes and other maintenance.

When to Cut Your Losses

There is really never a good time to cut your losses unless you are too busy to find the right repairman for the job or to do it yourself. In that case, if it is just a run-of-the-mill model, you may decide that it is cheaper to upgrade your vehicle.

Upgrading is most appropriate when the rust has returned after a previous rust repair, it is located in an area that is difficult to weld, or the vehicle simply has too many other lapses in maintenance or damages to invest another dime in it.

Late-model vehicles are better built than ever because technology is assisting engineers and manufacturers progress rapidly. Fuel economy, safety, reliability, and many other factors continue to improve significantly, year after year. Of course, a vehicle that was “car of the year” a couple of decades ago still may drive better, when properly cared for, than a new econobox.

It is getting harder and harder to find skilled mechanics and auto body shops who won’t rob you for a small rust repair. Many auto body shops are focused primarily on painting and repairing late-model vehicles with moderate to minimal accident damage for the high insurance payments. In many cases, it makes sense to hold onto the vehicle and do the job yourself.

How to Fix a Rusty Frame Yourself

The thing about rust is that it contaminates anything that it touches at a molecular level. You want to take great care that your tools are clean when working on a rust repair and other parts of your vehicle. You don’t want to carry the veritable pollen and sow the seeds of corrosion elsewhere.

The main issue with rust, other than contamination, is eliminating all the weak material until you have only rock-solid metal left. You may need a grinding tool to really work out the rust and remove every last bit of it. Use a rust converter to ensure that even particles are neutralized.

You would then need someone to weld it if you don’t have any welding experience and equipment. But you can eliminate a bulk of the expense by prepping the vehicle for welding by removing any of the flammable parts and fuel lines that could be affected by a spot weld heat transfer.

You can have the vehicle sent to the welder on a flatbed truck even in a state of minimal disassembly. All you need is a rolling chassis for a flatbed truck to move it. If it is a small weld that does not require any significant replacement and alignment, you may be able to weld it yourself with welding rods made of the same metal and a handheld Oxyacetylene torch.

When the repair comes back, use the rust converter again to neutralize any invisible particles that are oxidizing on the surface of the repair. Then you can prime and paint it to look normal. Color-matched paints are often available in aerosol cans that can easily be applied and blend in very well. But you’ll need some practice by slowly layering the paint at the right humidity and temperature levels.

Conclusion

Whether you have a lot of rust or a little, passing your inspection shouldn’t be a challenge with the right tools, know-how, or a great body shop. We do hope that we’ve given you all of the information needed in order to pass your vehicle inspection with no issues. As always, safety is the top priority – so be sure to do your research and go in with your head held high when dealing with any motor vehicle safety issue.