Just got a used Yakima LoadWarrior

[gatornek]

OfferUp can sometimes be frustrating. You are dealing with sellers who can sometimes be unreliable; and there is also a lot of 'con-game' on OfferUp that you gotta be careful with. But OfferUp can also be serendipitous as it turned out this time. Sometimes, you find a seller who has exactly what you are looking for, and they are very keen on offloading it due to the mere fact that they have no space for it. Having "no space for it" is the real lure you wanna look for on OfferUp. That's when the seller is highly motivated to get rid of it. So I found the meetup with him very easy and when I saw his location (he was essentially an 'overlander' living out of a townhouse), I could see he was motivated. So with a little charisma and hitting it off, his used Yakima roof basket was mine for $121. Why $121? Because that's all I had in my pocket.

Looks okay from far away.

But if you get up close, you can tell this guy avidly used it, as it has a tinge of corrosion and is plenty dirty.

So here's what I was PLANNING on doing, but I wanted to throw this thread out here to the great minds on this forum also.

1) Soak rag in PB Blaster, and generously wipe down the entire rack.
2) Brush some Naval Jelly on any areas the PB Blaster couldn't eliminate the corrosion entirely (which just might be a few small dotted areas)
3) Reseal with some Black Krylon type enamel.


Anyone got better products or steps than those to try to freshen this thing up?

 

[SWUKU]

I've never tried any of these but have been thinking about a similar project.
What about the stuff they paint on truck beds, like Rhino Lining?
Would PlastiDip work? Or would that scrape off when you loaded/unloaded gear?
I think Powder Coating would work well, but have heard it is expensive.

 

[gatornek]

I've never tried any of these but have been thinking about a similar project.
What about the stuff they paint on truck beds, like Rhino Lining?
Would PlastiDip work? Or would that scrape off when you loaded/unloaded gear?
I think Powder Coating would work well, but have heard it is expensive.

My buddy told me to use some truck bed liner spray also. I'm not going to powder coat it again. I don't necessarily need this to 'look good'. I only plan on having it on for trips. I just want to take some time now, so that it can last me as long as possible, mostly sitting in my outdoor shed.

 

[Jmuns]

Looks in pretty good shape if the pics are the worst areas. That should clean up quickly and easily. I bought my rack from a guy who had one and didn't want to store it anymore either. I thought it was going to be harder to clean, but some WD-40 cleaned it all up quickly.

 

[Mark S.]

Eastwood sells a “rust encapsulator” meant to paint directly over corrosion. It covers, seals, and prevents further corrosion. I would apply a coat or two, then reapply as needed in future.

 

[gatornek]

Looks in pretty good shape if the pics are the worst areas. That should clean up quickly and easily. I bought my rack from a guy who had one and didn't want to store it anymore either. I thought it was going to be harder to clean, but some WD-40 cleaned it all up quickly.

It's pretty much uniform like that across the entire basket. But you're probably right. It will probably look much different after a PB blaster wipe down.

 

[gatornek]

Eastwood sells a “rust encapsulator” meant to paint directly over corrosion. It covers, seals, and prevents further corrosion. I would apply a coat or two, then reapply as needed in future.

Thank you. This looks like a good product.

 

[Colonel Angus]

Krylon is the best rattle can paint. Stay away from "Rust more leum".

 

[gatornek]

As suspected, it cleaned up REALLY NICE with a generous rub down of PB Blaster. The only bad spots were where the ends of the basket merge together (in order to expand it with another piece if necessary). There was obvious water introduction as it was actually still just sitting inside the tubes. When I unmated it, a little bit of brown liquid poured out. So I sprayed some WD40 in there to get any remaining water out and let it sit out in the sun for a bit. Cleaned it up further with some more PB blaster, and then I thought I had some Naval Jelly, but couldn't find it, so just used one of my daughters paint brushes and some anti-seize and just generously coated the mating areas where there was some still residual oxidation showing. Coated the mating screws, and the mating threads and then cleaned up the wind fascia and removed the sticker he had on. I tried some Goo Gone on the Yakima sticker/paint/not-sure-what but to little avail. Will probably just leave it or get somehting to stick over it.

Decided against any 'last step' sealing coat. The powder coat still showed itself to be excellent outside of the aforementioned mating areas.


All in all, super happy to finally have alleviated much of the storage concerns I had with this vehicle.

 

[The_Jimmer]

Just be prepared to see your mpg drop into the low twenties. Drive 80 on the highway and maybe into the teens.

 

[gatornek]

Just be prepared to see your mpg drop into the low twenties. Drive 80 on the highway and maybe into the teens.

Understood. It’s why I only plan on putting it on for trips.

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