silvercherokee

HI GUYS!

I'm new to the forums and the Jeep world. After doing a lot of looking around and research I wanted to get a Jeep Cherokee based on the styling of it, 4x4, the fun factor and the indestructible straight six engine. I bought a 2000 Jeep Cherokee with really low miles on it. Thought it was a good buy But there is some rust forming on the body of it. I know this will happen to all Cherokees eventually because of salt on the roads during winter time. The rust is starting to form under all the doors inside by the rocker panels. There is a small spot by the rear right back window molding. Where the 4x4 emblem is. What can I do to fix the existing rust and help prevent it.

skookxj

if you want to rid ur xj of it ur best bet is to cut and tack in new sheet metal then a lil bondo to smooth it all out.....

96Cherokee113

x2. Got to cut out the cancer to actually fix the problem, otherwise it just spreads.

silvercherokee

wow! thanks for the fast reply guys! Well, I'm a newbie with working on vehicles and limited on tools. I would probably have to have someone do the work. The rust just looks like its starting so I want to stop it before it get bad and starts coming through the outside of the doors. Should take it to a body shop to get the work done? I don't know what to do? Rust sucks...

93jeepthing

if the rust is not all the way through, you could probably get away with just sanding it/ grinding it down, filing it with body filler, and painting it. the problem is that its going to be a little hard to find a perfectly matching paint- so if you want it to look really good, your going to have to paint the whole thing, or at least the particular panel you are working on. For body filler i recommend using bondo-glass, which is like regular bondo, but it is fiberglass based, and has short strands of fiberglass in it to add strength. I personally think it is better because unlike regular bondo, it does not absorb moisture, and it is much stronger. you could even use it to fill very small rust holes (as long as you grind all the rust off) The only disadvantage is it is a little harder to work with. good luck

-Brian

93jeepthing

also, a quick fix for the doors, if you dont want to pay tons of money to have a shop do it, is to grind all the paint/ as much of the loose rust as possible off, buy a small can of POR-15, and paint right over the rust spots. this way you wont have to mess with cutting it out and screwing up you paint job... of course although POR-15 is awesome stuff, the rust will still eventually prevail. if you want a more permanent solution, its going to have to be cut out. I did this fix to my 92 corolla several years ago and have not seen any rust come through yet... even with driving through salty roads every winter.

-Brian

storm101

As far as the paint goes, you can pull the code off of the door sticker, and bring it to napa (if you have one close by) they can make the matching paint for you in a small bottle, and yes i speak from experience, I used to detail cars...if you decided to go that route and needed help finding the code, PM me and ill send you in the right direction on where to find it!

ptonjeep

would it cost me a fortune to take my jeep to a body shop to have the rust removed and the whole thing painted??? i have literaly no time except for in the winter to work on my jeep and i have no usable usable garage

00Pajeepcherokee

Spray used oil in the door panels and the rear quarter panel. Will slow the spread of the cancer if not stop it. We used to do this to old subarus and Dodge caravans that were rusting out.

Zack92MJ

any updates? i have rust in the same spots lol

CattyXJ

On the spots I had rusted through on my rockers, etc. I cut the cancer out and jb welded new metal on. It doesn't look perfect cause obviously it sticks out a bit, but problem cheaply solved, and no more rust!

Zack92MJ

Well I gonna bedliner my jeep so no worries on that.. but alright that's probably the way I'll go, thanks!