Rust on Crashbar

[SrsBsns]

I'm planning a detail day for the FiST. I want to do some paint correction and then a ceramic coating as soon as it stops raining.

I was looking at the car to try to assess how much work I'm in for when I noticed that my crash bar has some surface rust. How much of an issue is this and how quickly does it need to be addressed?

I'm thinking I can just get a stripper attachment for my drill to clean it off after pulling the bumper and then mask things off and hit it with some protectant/sealant and black paint.

I'm surprised this is happening since I'm in San Diego and I'm not exposed to salt or a lot of wet weather. Anyone else deal with this?

 

[ronniec687]

This has yet to happen to me and I live in the northeast. If I was you I'd try to ignore that for now and save up money to replace that stock crash bar with a nice lighter stronger and painted tb performance crash bar. I mean if your going to take the front bumper off why not upgrade?

 

[esp_martin]

I'm planning a detail day for the FiST. I want to do some paint correction and then a ceramic coating as soon as it stops raining.

I was looking at the car to try to assess how much work I'm in for when I noticed that my crash bar has some surface rust. How much of an issue is this and how quickly does it need to be addressed?

I'm thinking I can just get a stripper attachment for my drill to clean it off after pulling the bumper and then mask things off and hit it with some protectant/sealant and black paint.

I'm surprised this is happening since I'm in San Diego and I'm not exposed to salt or a lot of wet weather. Anyone else deal with this?

View attachment 54075

i can't think of the members who repainted their crash bars (it was on their build threads) but i know one did a great job; i think they took the front and back crash bars off, sanded them and then hit them with spray paint and maybe then clearcoat? can't remember if the last part is true but they turned out great. if you're going through the trouble i would recommend taking the crash bar completely off the car and then sanding/painting.

i agree with @ronniec687 but something to keep in mind is the TB crash bars are expensive and they're not designed to dissipate energy like the stock crash bar does. from what little i remember from my civil engineering classes, you can tell that the OEM crash bar is designed to absorb a lot of energy before the unibody starts absorbing energy. the TB crash bar is a thicccc boi and all that energy is going straight into the unibody because that crash bar ain't giving an inch.

that might be a good/negligible thing, might be a horrible thing. i'm not sure which way it goes. most people get them because of how much weight it saves past the front wheels and it allows for easier intercooler mounting and just looks better.

 

[ronniec687]

i can't think of the members who repainted their crash bars (it was on their build threads) but i know one did a great job; i think they took the front and back crash bars off, sanded them and then hit them with spray paint and maybe then clearcoat? can't remember if the last part is true but they turned out great. if you're going through the trouble i would recommend taking the crash bar completely off the car and then sanding/painting.

i agree with @ronniec687 but something to keep in mind is the crash bars are expensive and they're not designed to dissipate energy like the stock crash bar does. from what little i remember from my civil engineering classes, you can tell that the OEM crash bar is designed to absorb a lot of energy before the unibody starts absorbing energy. the TB crash is a thick bad boy and all that energy is going straight into the unibody because that crash bar ain't giving an inch.

that might be a good/negligible thing, might be a horrible thing. i'm not sure which way it goes.

I hope that I never have to give you an answer from experience on that subject but I'd have to agree with you. I have the tb bar and comparing it to the stock one your 100 percent correct. You can definitely tell the stock bar will absorb some impact as the tb will definitely not. It's a night and day difference.

 

[Jabbit]

If you had a stock/non-shaved grill you wouldn't have noticed that. But yeah they aren't painted well and that rust is common.

 

[SrsBsns]

This has yet to happen to me and I live in the northeast. If I was you I'd try to ignore that for now and save up money to replace that stock crash bar with a nice lighter stronger and painted tb performance crash bar. I mean if your going to take the front bumper off why not upgrade?

Yeah, I was really surprised to see it forming. I just did an oil change and always look at everything under the car and there's nothing like this there. Only on the crash bar.

I wouldn't mind upgrading to a different crash bar, but they're pretty expensive... cheapest I can find is $400ish... and I don't really see the value there for the benefits of upgrading. I don't plan on running a bigger FMIC, so I don't really need any additional clearance and the weight savings isn't really a big deal. Are there any other benefits to a different crash bar?

 

[ronniec687]

Yeah, I was really surprised to see it forming. I just did an oil change and always look at everything under the car and there's nothing like this there. Only on the crash bar.

I wouldn't mind upgrading to a different crash bar, but they're pretty expensive... cheapest I can find is $400ish... and I don't really see the value there for the benefits of upgrading. I don't plan on running a bigger FMIC, so I don't really need any additional clearance and the weight savings isn't really a big deal. Are there any other benefits to a different crash bar?

To be honest with you in my opinion other then being able to get one with a tow strap or tow hook welded to and it also being smaller in height allowing more air to pass by it absolutely not other then what you've already mentioned.

 

[SrsBsns]

To be honest with you in my opinion other then being able to get one with a tow strap or tow hook welded to and it also being smaller in height allowing more air to pass by it absolutely not other then what you've already mentioned.

Thanks. I do like the idea of adding a tow strap but it's not a huge deal as I don't have any immediate plans to get to the track.

 

[ronniec687]

There are members who have had a stud welded to the stock crash bar and even a threaded post welded to it to attach a tow hook to it so even if you keep the stock crash bar and decide you want a tow hook or strap you can still have one. You just may need to get a little creative😊

 

[esp_martin]

there's a small argument that maybe you won't need to upgrade the radiator if you have a TB crash bar and open up the grill; a lot more of the radiator's surface area is getting hit with air for the single pass setup.

coincidentally the people who would get the crash bar are probably those who have already upgraded their radiator so i'm not sure there are numbers posted to back that theory (it might be complete bullsh**, FYI)

 

[SrsBsns]

there's a small argument that maybe you won't need to upgrade the radiator if you have a TB crash bar and open up the grill; a lot more of the radiator's surface area is getting hit with air for the single pass setup.

coincidentally the people who would get the crash bar are probably those who have already upgraded their radiator so i'm not sure there are numbers posted to back that theory (it might be complete bullsh**, FYI)

Went with the Mountune rad a few years ago and love it. I wouldn't mind having a little bit of additional airflow to see if it makes a difference in temps, but really, with the new radiator, it's already fantastic.

 

[ronniec687]

there's a small argument that maybe you won't need to upgrade the radiator if you have a TB crash bar and open up the grill; a lot more of the radiator's surface area is getting hit with air for the single pass setup.

coincidentally the people who would get the crash bar are probably those who have already upgraded their radiator so i'm not sure there are numbers posted to back that theory (it might be complete bullsh**, FYI)

Yea I don't know the answer to that but I can tell you that I decided to do all of that(well I have the parts and am in the process of install). I shaved the grille, have a tb crash bar ready to go in, and also have a mishimoto radiator also ready to be installed and will be putting either the 180 degree or 160 degree thermostat in(I have both not sure which one I'm going to use yet). I figure the cooler you can keep everything the better.

 

[M-Sport fan]

there's a small argument that maybe you won't need to upgrade the radiator if you have a TB crash bar and open up the grill; a lot more of the radiator's surface area is getting hit with air for the single pass setup.

coincidentally the people who would get the crash bar are probably those who have already upgraded their radiator so i'm not sure there are numbers posted to back that theory (it might be complete bullsh**, FYI)

Yes, as if I am already having to remove the bumper anyway for a radiator install (or paying someone to do this in my case/scenario), I would rather put that ~$400.00 the aftermarket crash bar runs towards a Mountune or Kyorad radiator, since I never plan to go bigger than a CP-E/Whoosh/etc. front mount IC anyway.

The more open space does NOT help the factory radiator shed heat/prevent overheating while sitting in parking lot type stopped traffic, it ONLY helps when the car is moving forward, at speed.

 

[esp_martin]

Yes, as if I am already having to remove the bumper anyway for a radiator install (or paying someone to do this in my case/scenario), I would rather put that ~$400.00 the aftermarket crash bar runs towards a Mountune or Kyorad radiator, since I never plan to go bigger than a CP-E/Whoosh/etc. front mount IC anyway.

The more open space does NOT help the factory radiator shed heat/prevent overheating while sitting in parking lot type stopped traffic, it ONLY helps when the car is moving forward, at speed.

lol, 100%. i'm waiting to pull the trigger on a whoosh double pass radiator myself (anyone know when those will, if ever, be back in stock??)

sorry to derail this thread so much; back on topic.

to answer your original question @SrsBsns a decent amount of tuners here have seen rust on their crash bars. from what i read and as others have pointed out, it's a roll of the dice on whether your Fiesta got a good paint job on the hidden parts. it's not really a matter of environment unless you only drive/store your car in the desert. if the bars weren't properly coated, they're most likely gonna rust after 3-4 years. if your front crash bar is rusted, chances are your rear crash bar may have the same rust issue.