2016 Chevy express 2500 seems to have excessive rust mainly where the welds are on the bottom of the frame and bolts. It guess these frames are covered in some kind of wax but it doesn't seem to do anything for rust protection. I am in Georgia so we don't get much road salt. I am not sure where the van lived before I owned it. My old 2000 express had no rust in comparison.

 

That's what we on the Wet Coast call a "tan" It would be weird not to have rust on the frame.

There's no amount of paint or coating that can withstand the harsh conditions the undercarriage gets, and I don't think the manufacturer seriously tries to rust-proof it, other than making it look nice on the dealer lot. They just engineer it to last a reasonable amount of time. The frame is made of really heavy gauge steel, and the body will rust out long before the frame does. The body is what you really need to worry about. If you don't like the cosmetics of surface rust, there are undercoating treatments they do at detail shops.

 

The frames can and do rot before the body. Watching auction results for the last 18 months or so up here I've noticed quite a few that will not pass NYS inspection for frame rust issues, that appeared very reasonable body-wise in the photos. Most seem to be 2003-2008 or so but a few 97-02s show rot. One example had a touch of rot below the passenger door in an area that had been covered by an aluminum shield of some sort which disintegrated at the mounts and fell off.

However in Georgia, away from the coast, I doubt you will ever have an issue with it actually rotting through. Cleaning the spots and some undercoating or bedliner over them should solve the issue.

 

Fluid film is pretty innocuous to seal it up. Brush off any areas of real concern, clean, let dry and seal it up. Of course you can use chems which will deal with the rust if you need to.

 

I'm not real concerned about the frame, I do however worry a little about corroded nuts and bolts, even where transmission lines connect to the radiator are a little corroded and the aluminum engine parts



. I guess it's just so new I don't expect it on a 3 year old vehicle in Georgia

 

I don't see anything out of the ordinary.

 

When the trans lines rot off plan to buy new fittings for them to plug into.

My 3500 decided to rot through both at the trans end in November and I was able to pick a used set to go on it. Thankfully I already knew from doing the oil lines to grab those fittings out of the trans end.

They will swell and weld themselves into place, about the only way to get them out is to drill through the tubing. I have one the remaining end is pulled halfway out and will rotate and that's as far as it will go.

The oil lines were more fun because the stamped nut that holds the oil cooler to the radiator tank rusted partially away. Had to get another one of those and remove the fitting without dumping too much coolant out of it. At least that happened in the summer.

 

Which engine do you have?

 

Could use some Naval Jelly on the steel, then paint it, but not on alloy or aluminum.

 

I have the 4.8