Your bumpers are the first and last thing to hit the grit and one of the best places for material to hide. Something as simple as leaving a garden sprinkler under them for a few hours can keep your rig rust-free.
If You've Ever Battled A Rusty Bolt Or Peeled Back the carpet on your rig only to find a hole big enough to throw a cat through, then you know how bad rust is. With nothing more than a little iron, oxygen, and water, this silent mixture will invade every surface of your rig to leave it looking like a giant chunk of cottage cheese. Depending on how close to the coast you live and the terrain you wheel in, the effects of rust on your rig can vary, but rest assured that the effects can destroy your rig. The key to keeping rust off your rig can be as simple as keeping your rig clean and the bare metal surfaces painted, and routinely inspecting well known trouble spots such as fenders, floorboards, truck beds, and door panels. Here are a few trouble signs and things to look for if you are in the market for another rig or suspect that the rusty phantom has taken a hold of your ride.
Truck beds always seem to take a beating, as most of us need to use our trucks for what they were intended, work. Once a bed gets eaten away with rust it loses its strength and usability. To prevent this, try and spray out your bed at least once a week. If you have bed-protecting devices such as mats or drop-in liners, it's a good idea to inspect underneath them about once a month as sand, grit, and water tend to hide under the surface and eat away at the bed. A little inconvenience now may save you a lot later. | 
Be sure to spray off the bottoms and inner sides of your fenders and door panels after spending a lot of time off road, or if you live in a state where they frequently salt the roads. These areas are often overlooked and are the reason you may need to replace the floor pans. And it's always a good idea when looking at an older 4x to look under the carpet to see what's been hiding all those years. | 
We all love wheeling our rigs and sometimes after a long day in the dirt washing them off is the last thing on our minds, but this is the best time to do it. Blasting off the mud and sand before it settles into your frame and hides beneath your sheetmetal could mean the difference between long-lasting fun or a tetanus-filled future. |