How bad is this rust? Driving from Boston to Oakland in January.

[Sheena]

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I bought a 1989 Dodge Camper Van. Bought in New England - so it has the typical rust problem. I got it for a deal and everything else is sound. Low miles (69,000) and great interior shape. Runs great and a real smooth ride. I'm going to have a mechanic look it over soon and I'm not planning on doing any heavy modifications to it right off the bat. I don't want to sink any money until I know she is "sea-worthy." I would like to hear some early opinions from folks who have experience with rust. I plan on driving across country from Boston to Oakland come this winter.  [/font][font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif][/font]

Thanks

 

[TMG51]

Frame still looks clean in that spot. Is the frame bad in any other location? I'm from New England. Around those parts, a vehicle isn't rusted until the frame is rusted.

 

[TravelDerby]

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I bought a 1989 Dodge Camper Van. Bought in New England - so it has the typical rust problem. I got it for a deal and everything else is sound. Low miles (69,000) and great interior shape. Runs great and a real smooth ride. I'm going to have a mechanic look it over soon and I'm not planning on doing any heavy modifications to it right off the bat. I don't want to sink any money until I know she is "sea-worthy." I would like to hear some early opinions from folks who have experience with rust. I plan on driving across country from Boston to Oakland come this winter.  [/font][font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif][/font]

Thanks

Nearly lifelong dirt road driving Michigan resident here, so I'm quite familiar with rust.      It's hard to tell just from one picture, but the underside of that thing looks really clean for an 89 from New England. It appears to have had an oil based rust proofing applied at one point which really does help on those Dodge vans. The spring hanger is really the only major rust I see there and is cheap and easily replaceable (Just bolts in place).   I'd say you're good to go, but again it's tough to see just from one pic.

 

[SoulRaven]

Get it checked by a responsible mechanic, just can't tell enough from pictures.

Good Luck!

 

[Goshawk]

Think about rust of vehicles. Was it driven in the snow? Was it driven on icy roads? That is where the salt comes from. If not then you had minimal salt exposure to increase rust.

 

[GotSmart]

Any particular reason for Oakland CA?  

When I worked in N. CA that was the place to try to avoid,

 

[Sheena]

Any particular reason for Oakland CA?  

When I worked in N. CA that was the place to try to avoid,

A few reasons. I have a sister there, so it makes it easy to land knowing someone in the area. There are actually a couple van-dwellers on her street already. It's cheaper than SF and I can park right outside on her street without being harassed too much. From what I heard, there is not a lot of places you can park in SF without being harassed. I'm a designer, so there is a lot of work out that way that sounds exciting to me. Oakland isn't to gentrified yet. Plus there are great burritos. =) 

Oakland will be my base, but I plan on traveling as much as I can. I'm particularly fond of Mendocino and hope to one day find myself living there.

 

[66788]

I think the normal progression of things is to have the mechanic check out the vehicle before buying it.

Since you were going to Oakland anyway, why didn't you just fly to Oakland and then buy a rust free California van for a lot less money? My 1989 Dodge looks brand new underneath with no visible rust anywhere, and I paid $400.00 for it with a high top already installed.

Anyway, I do hope you got a good van that will serve you well. Although some on this forum don't like Dodge products, I do and I have owned more than 20 Dodge vehicles in my lifetime. All were good vehicles and served me well.

 

[GotSmart]

A few reasons. I have a sister there, so it makes it easy to land knowing someone in the area. There are actually a couple van-dwellers on her street already. It's cheaper than SF and I can park right outside on her street without being harassed too much. From what I heard, there is not a lot of places you can park in SF without being harassed. I'm a designer, so there is a lot of work out that way that sounds exciting to me. Oakland isn't to gentrified yet. Plus there are great burritos. =) 

Oakland will be my base, but I plan on traveling as much as I can. I'm particularly fond of Mendocino and hope to one day find myself living there.

I am a N. CA native myself.  The best Mexican food hands down is found close to the small produce farms in that area.  When you get there, try El Pollo Loco. The chicken burrito is unbelievable.  

You have a plan.  

Good luck.

 

[SternWake]

That rust is not too bad really. The Upper control arms look the worst. My leaf spring perch in the back are not much better than yours. My front suspension looked very similar, and when I rebuilt it, i repainted the control arms and it was all surface rust. The springs were very rusted though, and worn out and required replacement though.

Stick your camera just in front of the drivers side front tire and look at the frame in this area, and then again from in front of the Van, where the steering gear mounts. This tends to be the worst place for rust on these dodges in the salt belt.

I was less than impressed with the burritos in the San Francisco Area. Sure they were huge, but half of it was rice and beans If I want rice and beans in my burrito, which I do not, then I will order it.

I much prefer the carne asada burritos in San Diego area.

Also the California burrito, which is carne asada along with some cheese, salsa fresca and most importantly, french fries in it.

Mouth watering as I type. Must go to Juanita's now.

I stealth camped In SF in 2006 for a month without issue. I did get one parking ticket while I was sleeping in the Van as I needed to move for street sweeping. Biggest issue was getting used to the extreme parking angles.

 

[Sheena]

I think the normal progression of things is to have the mechanic check out the vehicle before buying it.

Since you were going to Oakland anyway, why didn't you just fly to Oakland and then buy a rust free California van for a lot less money? 

Yes, obviously the ideal would be mechanic before, but it didn't happen that way. That's why I'm reaching out to friends on here with what I do have.

I didn't just "fly to Oakland and buy a rust free California van" for $400 because - that's just not what happened. There are a million reasons and life circumstance that prevent perfect conditions from always taking place - Money, time, experience, etc. but I'll spare us both by not listing them all here. 

I'm here asking for advice from people based on what the circumstances ARE not what the past didn't produce or what I should have done. But by all means, if you know someone who wants to sell me a near perfect condition, rust free, 1989 Dodge Camper van, for $400, I will reach out to them. You can just DM me their contact info. 

 

[Sheena]

Nearly lifelong dirt road driving Michigan resident here, so I'm quite familiar with rust.      

Thanks TravelDerby!

Ha, yes, Michigan knows all about rust! I asked about the same issue on Reddit and I had a guy say: "From Canada: What rust?" Hahaha. I guess it's all about perspective. 

I'll try and get some more pictures to make things more clear. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Sheena]

I am a N. CA native myself. When you get there, try El Pollo Loco. The chicken burrito is unbelievable.  

ALWAYS open to hearing recommendations for future meal stops! I'll add it to my list. Thank you!

 

[Sheena]

"Stick your camera just in front of the drivers side front tire and look at the frame in this area, and then again from in front of the Van, where the steering gear mounts.  This tends to be the worst place for rust on these dodges in the salt belt.

I much prefer the carne asada burritos in San Diego area.

I stealth camped In SF in 2006 for a month without issue.  I did get one parking ticket while I was sleeping in the Van as I needed to move for street sweeping.  Biggest issue was getting used to the extreme parking angles.

I'll get those photos and post them up! I'd love to hear more knowledge.  I'm not mechanically inclined (yet!) so even if I bring it to a mechanic, I'd like to learn/know what I'm looking at. 

We have to stop all this burrito talk or I'm going to head out before my planned departure date! 

I'd love to stay closer to SF now and then to be closer to the jobs I'll be looking at.  I think it would be good for work. Ultimately, the dream is buying my own land. Even if I can't build for a few years. Northern California is the dream.

 

[Sheena]

Was it driven in the snow?  Was it driven on icy roads?  That is where the salt comes from. If not then you had minimal salt exposure to increase rust.

Likely, yes to snow and icy roads. This is a New England van. Unless they were snow birds but it has really low miles, so I doubt it.

 

[Ballenxj]

I offered my .02 cents in your other thread, but I'll also post here that it looks like it's just surface rust. Hopefully your pictures to come will give us a better picture. <---- Sorry, no pun intended. ;-)

 

[ahh_me2]

Hi Sheena,

2 things....

1-

I have a  1986 Ford van that I bought in 2008 with 44,000 original KM's on it.
It had rust spots all over the body, from sitting beside the driveway in the weeds.
The undercarriage looked downright scary in terms of rust.
I am in the north in Canada where we have harsh winters with lots of snow.

I drove it as a daily driver until this summer, having put on about 75,000KM's
on it, and to be honest, it isn't much more rusty than it was 7 years ago when I bought it.

2-

I have a 1982 Dodge Ram 250 van that has the exact same Leaf spring hanger as  the one  in your pic, that part was the same over at least a dozen years of Dodges.
Anyway, this summer I had to replace my leafsprings as I had a leaf broken in each side.
That was easy, but my leaf spring hangers were shot , rusted out more than yours.
I had to replace them.

So the rust on your vehicle shouldn't be a concern for a few years at least if you don't count aesthetics.

The leaf spring hanger is only $24.79 at RockAuto and is easy to change out as it's 3 bolts to the frame, and one bolt to the shackle.

 

[Sheena]

So the rust on your vehicle shouldn't be a concern for a few years at least if you don't count aesthetics.

The leaf spring hanger is only $24.79 at RockAuto and is easy to change out as it's 3 bolts to the frame, and one bolt to the shackle.

This is reassuring. Always good to hear from someone who has experience with a similar van as mine. Not really any rust on the body. Interior was in great shape (But I ripped it all out to customize it.) A leak in the air conditioner as I can see some damage to the wood right near it. I've only found 2 other leaks. One from some plumbing and one from a skylight window. Actually, there seems to be so little wrong with it that I think that's why I'm reaching out to everyone. Seems too dreamy to be true.

 

[ahh_me2]

Hi Sheena,

I figured I'd show you a few pics of the Dodge hanger and how it fails.
This is for you and anyone else running Dodges as this was a universal hanger for years.

In the first pic, the view is what you would see looking up from underneath your vehicle, this is at the end of the leaf spring assembly and is bolted to the frame.

There should NOT be a hole in the middle like mine, nor should you see a crack.



This is how it broke, into 2 pieces and I drove it like this for a week.
Since it is on the rear of the leaf spring, it's not a catastrophic failure as you can still drive around for a bit.



This is the underside view of the hanger and why/how it failed.
As you can see it is somewhat cup shaped and catches all the water/snow that is thrown up by the rear wheel and allows it to sit and rot/rust.




That is typically how these hangers fail, and if you know what to look for, you will know when you need to replace them(at about $25 each).

Yours are showing signs of rust, but not as much as mine, so you should be ok for a while yet.

Hope this helps you to have more faith in your vehicle!