Paint peeling off underneath car - is yours please?

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cdb2

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Underneath the car at the rear infront of the exhaust back box are 2 large black metal arms that appear joined in the middle and go outwards to the wheels, the suspension springs sit in them - sorry, don't know the technical name!

They are painted black.

On the top edge of both the black paint is peeling off and the arms rusting underneath.

Is yours like this?

Is this what you'd expect on a 14 month old car?

Cheers /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif
 
After the wheel hubs have started to corrode on mine after about a month - yes it is what i would expect from Audi..
 
I rotated the wheels to improve tyre wear (fronts to back, and vice-versa) last week, and found both the front and rear suspension components with surface rust. My Sportback will be two years old this October.

I'm not thrilled about it, especially on such an expensive premium car, but it is a harsh world in there - water, dirt, winter road salt and stones/dust are constantly battering the components, so it's to be expected. I had the same with my two previous cars (a Focus and Puma) which I also owned from brand new.

There's not a lot you can do about it, unless yours have corroded very badly (unlikely). Although I suppose if you really were annoyed about it, and were mechanically-minded, you could strip the suspension and repaint the components!
 
funny - I agree, its a harsh environment out there - but the bonnet, doors, boot etc don't rust and they are exposed to as much abuse -
 
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funny - I agree, its a harsh environment out there - but the bonnet, doors, boot etc don't rust and they are exposed to as much abuse -

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As much as the underside of your car? Don't think so fella. That being said, why don't they use a slightly more resilient (bitumen?) paint.
 
why not? What does the underside get exposed to that the rest of the car doesn't?

Bear in mine that rush doesnt generally appear for say 5-10 years on cars, 18months of roadgrime on the underside of your car would be equivelant to this sort of time frame,

sorry - think its pretty poor myself
 
Plus you wash your car every week. How often do you wash the underside of your car /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
If it can be seen,you probably do have a case.

I owned a Nissan Primera years ago (I know,but I was young and grateful for any company car..) and the back box,which you could obviously see,was coated in black 'stuff'
It didn't take long for the black coating to start flaking off,making the back of the car look tatty (as if Primeras need any help in looking rank).

The Nissan dealer replaced the back box several times,without any complaint.

I don't think there's any excuse for being able to see rust of any kind. Visible parts should be amply protected to avoid rust

If it spoils your enjoyment of the car,or you feel it devalues the car in any way,then you should do something about it.
 
Just checked mine,and I have the same rust as Wilko's picture.

However,it's not on the visible surface that could be seen by drivers behind,so I'm not that bothered.

If it were on the visible surface,and people following could go "look at that rust",I'd straight into the dealer with it.

Time will tell if it spreads.
 
Spot on Wilko, nice pic!

It is indeed the big black arm going into the wheel which the spring sits in and your rust is indeed in the same place, along the top edge. The paint just seems to fall off if you touch it!

As Bowfer says, it is not visible unless you bend down under the car, but my worry is how long before the corrosion does enough damage for them to need replacing if they are corroding after only 14 months?

Almost tempted to apply some Hammerite.

Was quite alarmed by the amount of rust on the pipe that goes into the back box too. Anyone checked theirs out?
 
It's unlikely that a paint could ever adequately protect the steel on a moving part. And I wouldn't want a bitumen based product on my hubs or suspension parts.The only thing you could do is change the base material - i.e. have (expensive) galvanised or aluminium tie-arms. The paint build and finish on the underside components is inferior to the visible panels as that makes it all cheaper to produce. Those are hefty rear arms, so it'll take a long time before light surface rusting becomes a structural integrity issue, besides rust always looks worse than it really is. Won't be covered by the paint waranty, so you'd have to wait for the rust to get so bad you can claim of the 10 year anti-perforation one (maybe?).

Wire brush and hammerite would be your best bet.


Chris

(currently responsible for re-painting all Shell's UK oil rigs, bah)
 
Sorry ChrisS3,I'm no engineer,but I still need you to explain how these arms are a "moving part".

Yes,they go up and down,but the surfaces that are rusting are not in contact with any other part.

If I take a piece of painted metal,and shake it up and down,should I expect the paint to come off ?

Wouldn't have thought so.

Surely this paint is coming off because it is evidently unable to cope with the blasting it receives from rain/grit,and it is a bit of a 'trap for crap'.
 
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Plus you wash your car every week. How often do you wash the underside of your car /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

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Some people don't wash the outside of their cars folks!
 
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Some people don't wash the outside of their cars folks!

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Some people shouldn't complain of the underseal coming off or surface rust then /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
LOL!!!

I hope you can see the point though - just because its underside the car doesnt mean it has the ultimate get out clause...
 

The underside of the car get get more abuse though than the visable surfaces. You can hear the stones and grit bouncing of the under side of the car. No excuse for peeling underseal though!

J.
 
The rusty hubs on my motor are starting to hack me off a bit as well,actually.

Anyone made it the dealer's problem ?
 
Not yet... was thinking that maybe I should meantion it but then it might be easierto get some hamerite and sort it myself.
 
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Sorry ChrisS3,I'm no engineer,but I still need you to explain how these arms are a "moving part".

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Pivot points either end.
 
I did and I put it in writing to Audi UK - it is designed for when the car is standing only and will come off with use and wear. I will hammerite mine in the summer when I do the calipers. Try your dealer Bowfer - I did take mine to 'Spit' Gilders Sheffield and they are well known for being w*nk /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
 
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I did and I put it in writing to Audi UK - it is designed for when the car is standing only and will come off with use and wear. I will hammerite mine in the summer when I do the calipers.

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Which is designed to come off - the paint on the hubs or the suspension?
 
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Sorry ChrisS3,I'm no engineer,but I still need you to explain how these arms are a "moving part".

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Pivot points either end.

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I still don't get it.

This thing is no more of a moving part than,say,a door.

A door moves in exactly the same manner as this arm,albeit in a different plane.

So,should we expect paint to come off a door ?

As far as I can see,there are very little,or no,forces acting upon the painted surface here.

The only 'stress' it is under is from water and grit.

So they just need to improve the coating.

Put it this way.
Think of a swinging arm on a bike.
V
ery similar thing,yeah ?

Can't say I've ever had the paint come off a swing arm just because it goes up and down. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/noidea.gif
 
In my sunny day classic (an MG Midget) I do less than 5000mls a year. I have rebuilt the suspension a couple of times now and have meticulously cleaned and painted all of the parts, hubs, arms etc. using etchcoat & hammerite each time.
Without exception, the paint starts to deteriorate because of chips and cracks which allow the rust to get under the paint. I fully expect to have to strip and re-treat all the suspension parts every 2 years or so if I want to keep them looking perfect.
A good treatment with sandblast & powdercoat might keep the corrosion at bay a bit longer but ultimately it will still need attention after a while.
As said above, if you periodically soak the components in salty water and throw stones at them at speed, what can you expect?
I'm sure the bodywork would end up the same if you treated it the same way.
 
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As said above, if you periodically soak the components in salty water and throw stones at them at speed, what can you expect?


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If it were surfaces open to the blasting and chipping effects you describe that were rusting,then fair enough,but the top edge of the arm surely isn't,unless there's something highly peculiar about the trajectory of stones under an A3.

The 'cosmetic' surfaces of the arms,on my car at least,seem to be holding up fine,which makes the rust on the top side even more strange.
 
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I did and I put it in writing to Audi UK - it is designed for when the car is standing only and will come off with use and wear. I will hammerite mine in the summer when I do the calipers.

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Which is designed to come off - the paint on the hubs or the suspension?

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hubs
 
I think you'll find that the paint on the edges of the components will be thinner than anywhere else due to edge filming thickness of the paint, which is prob why the corrosion starts here. The paint could have been put on more efficiently but it is a factory process which would involve more cost to apply the paint more methodically.

I still don't think you can blame VAG or any other motor manufacturer for that matter. Unless you do some very special treatment to the components this will always happen on any car. Problem is, if Audi spent another £1,000 painting/proofing all of the underside of the car and added it to the price would anyone buy an Audi? They have to remain competitive so any extra money spent has to go on something the driver/owner can see, hear or feel!

If it bothers you it can be put right with a little bit of work and a tin of paint - you'd be very lucky to get it sorted under warranty.
 
Looks like the arms are conventionally painted, where as the body is E coat, conventional paint gives about 200 to 250 hours salt spray, e.coat around 1000 hours. If they had been done with e coat they would still be OK.
 
After washing the wife's car over the weekend, the suspension arms are showing no signs of rust, car is 12 months old - seems toyota know how to protect these impossible to protect area's
 
and thats of course totally acceptable /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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