RUST IS A BUGGER. In fact, it ranks as the worst possible deteriorating factor in the automotive world. Engines can be replaced or rebuilt, suspensions can be re-bushed and tensioned, even the interior can be re-upholstered but if a vehicle's got severe rust, it's cactus. Kaput, dig a big hole and finish the job because your vehicle has already started by returning to its natural state.
It used to be economically viable to effect some rust repairs to some vehicles - cutting out the rot and replacing it with new steel - but these

After all, for corrosion to begin, you need what's called an 'oxidizing environment', a place where moisture and bare metal can combine to begin the electro-chemical reaction that slowly returns the iron content of steel to its natural state - iron ore, Ferric Oxide Fe203 or, as we know it, rust.
And that's about where most of us off-roaders prefer to spend our time  in an oxidizing environment, be it the beach, where the salt content of the water puts the electrochemical reaction into overdrive, or the bush, with mud puddles and

Simple and guaranteed to work, as long as every possible seam, surface or area is coated thoroughly. One stone chip, one drill hole or screwdriver bite and corrosion gets a start, eating away at the steel content of your vehicle.
With hidden panels and seams, with things like the gutter line and the thousands of spot welds present in modern vehicles, no coating can protect a vehicle if it's exposed to salt or moisture in the long run. Even galvanizing will break down eventually. Which is why we decided to take a good look at CounterAct's electronic rust

Today's vehicles have many hidden areas vulnerable to rust; places you can't see where the panels are overlapped, spot-welded joins or seamed. And, of course, modern panels are made from thinner steel. Then there's the bugbear of rust affecting other components. Rusted bolts and pins on the suspension will snap, making simple repairs grow into expensive propositions. Yep, no way out of it, rust is a bugger! That's the situation and as a four wheel driver, you're no doubt more aware of corrosion than most other vehicle owners.

creeks keeping your extensive under-vehicle dirt collection moist. Even in our dry outback, salt lakes remind us our whole country used to be under salty water.
As most of our readers are adventurous types, rust is something we have all got to come to terms with eventually.
Conventional rustproofing treatments have been based on the sound philosophy that, if you coast the metal with a thick and flexible coating, it will inhibit rust growth by keeping moisture away from the metal.

Unfortunately, that's because boat technology - which takes advantage of the electrochemical reaction to direct all corrosion to a cathode - was utilized for land-based vehicles in most of these early systems. Good on paper, there was a major glitch - boats spend their lives in water, the medium required to make the cathodic system work - for the same reason your battery requires water for the power to conduct between cells. So bung that system onto a car and it's not going to work unless you park off the end of the wharf...