I have a 1 year old travel trailer that already has some frame rust.  In reccomendations  for the best way to treat that?  It seems the worst on the bottom of the frame's I-beams where the plastic sheeting (belly enclosure) is screwed to the frame members.

Thanks!

RV manufacturers seem to have something against putting much paint on their frames.I have seen high dollar units with surface rust on them. When we bought ours I just went to Walmart and bought the cheapest black paint I could find and spent a day covering as much as I could.Probably over kill but made me feel better.

I try to inspect the bottom of my trailer periodicly and brush off rust and repaint the surfaces. It is much easier to keep it maintained than to let it continue to rust and then try to remove it once it has started eating away at the steel.

I noticed some surface rust after about a year or so, but never got around to doing anything about it. Just lazy I guess. I have to say that it hasn't seemed to have become any worse after 4 years of being in the elements 24/7. I had a 10 year old car that the underside was rusty, but still OK. I think it's more appearance than a structural problem.

If you're concerned about the rust, how about going to your friendly hardware store and buying some of that black rust-stop paint that they sell. You can get either the spray on or brush on type. Follow the instructions on the can and it should help stop it.

If it was me, I don't think I'd worry about some surface rust.

Jim

Fred and Jim make excellent points about surface rust, look at the under carriage on your tow vehicle some time.I painted mine more for looks than any thing else.

The best solution for surface and deeper rust is to apply a rust converter. Here's an example http://www.gemplers.com/tech/rust-stories.htm It's easy to use, just a quick wire brush to remove loose rust, apply the converter, let it dry 24 hours and then apply a rust preventative paint. (or primer and then paint for even better results) It works great and lasts a lot longer than just using just rust preventative paint. I've used rust converters on body parts, bicycles, frames, engines and metal trim around the house.