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Last ten years the Dad's '96 Dakota (now mine) has been garaged in Baja California Mexico as my daily driver. Before that, Dad purchased it new at a California dealership where it stayed for the first stage of its life. I can see now some pretty obvious rust bubbles all along the top of the windshield. Just wondering how other's 1st Generation Dakotas have been holding up after all this time? Thank you. Getting worse by the day.
Surface rust on the roof of these is extremely common. The paint fails and it starts to rust. However, yours looks like it may have originated from the windshield frame which would lead me to suspect it had an improperly replaced windshield in the past. Not saying it did...just a suspicion.
Now if you lived where they salt the roads, my answer would be...they rust everywhere. It's not particularly bad with Dakotas or anything, they rust like any other old truck and seeing as the oldest ones are now 35(!!) years old, it's the death knell for a good number. I saved mine using a southern-ish frame but everything is eventually dust...
My windshield was replaced about 15 years ago in Tijuana, Mexico. It's very possible it was not sealed properly at that time.
On my daily, a '05 Lexus, the windshield was replaced some time before i bought it and they did such a bad job that the inside of the a-pillar rusted through. And that's in a newer car with good corrosion protection. Unfortunately you do get what you pay for and sometimes you can't tell how bad it is for years down the line.
Not so much not sealed as not properly draining.
You can lift that lip of the rubber up. My clear coat and paint had deteriorated a lot. I used 2 inch painters tape and put it under that lip 6 to 10 inches at a time, and lifted it and taped it over to the glass, then covered the glass. I sanded and painted it. Mine was nothing like yours. You can fix it but you need to park it for a few days at least. Tape it as I described then sand off the rust as best you can to get rid of the loose stuff and anything that comes off easily. Then clean it with rubbing alcohol. Get some Ospho rust reformer and spray or paint it on.It will turn the rust it converts into a black substance and oxide of iron I can't think of the name of right now which is paint able. If it doesn't all convert just reapply. Ospho dries with a white film on concrete and other surfaces.The active ingredient is phosphoric acid.
On the topic of rust, I recently discovered that my floor pans were pretty much rusted out in the upper corners of the footwells. Keep in mind that this truck has pretty much been a southern car for most of it's life! Take this with a grain of salt (heh, get it? Cause we're talking about rust?), cause I'm somewhere around the 7th (give or take) owner of this particular truck, so I don't know it's full history as to where it's many homes have been.
The passenger side was pretty much done for so I gave it a sloppy patch job, something that would hold up until I can get it to my buddy up in PA to get some real floor pans welded in all the way around (during the warmer months). shaped up some 16 gauge steel plates, found out they were a bit thicker than the metal in the cab, welded in the plates anyway, shot paint on the bare metal, and pasted seam sealer over the welds. I tell myself that it'll hold. FOR NOW.
Has your truck been near the ocean? Salt sppray is almost as bad as salt on the roads and it's year round, nut just the winter. I've heard the L.A. fire department replaces their life guard Jeeps every few years because the frames rust out.
Has your truck been near the ocean? Salt sppray is almost as bad as salt on the roads and it's year round, nut just the winter. I've heard the L.A. fire department replaces their life guard Jeeps every few years because the frames rust out.
For mine? Nah the frame and the rest of the body has legit no rust (as far as I can tell). There doesn't even appear to be any major signs of body repair, other than the tailgate and MAYBE the bed being replaced. And possibly the hood. But other than that, no bondo to be seen, anywhere! But yea, no other major spots of rust on the entire truck
As far as mine being near the ocean, I live in La Paz, Mexico which is a port city. I done drive on the beach, but the vehicle is parked about 12 blocks from the water. I do notice anything not painted around here turns rusty after awhile (i.e. the top of a new one gallon paint can).
Is Your 1st Gen Dakota Rusting Anywhere?
