New truck tray rusting away after 4 months? Quality issue?
New truck tray rusting away after 4 months? Quality issue?
(OP)
Good day people,
I have a question for the learned regarding a steel truck tray. The truck and tray were purchased brand new two years ago. After 4 months the tray had started to scale / rust quite badly in the bottom of the tray where the paint was scratched. The tray has been used to carry trees and landscaping supplies, no acids or nasty chemicals. The supplier of the tray claims that some chemical must have damaged the tray and caused it to rust. As such the owner and the tray supplier are now in arbitration (it is now 2 years since the tray was purchased). The rust is now so bad that large pieces of steel are flaking off and in some places the tray is almost holed through.
My question is can this possibly be the fault of the owner, or is it more likely the material / manufacturing of the tray has led to the excessively short time it took for the tray to rust this badly? What could cause the tray to rust so quickly? Is there a standard for the material and / or manufacturing process that covers this area? I am in Australia.
Thanks!
I have a question for the learned regarding a steel truck tray. The truck and tray were purchased brand new two years ago. After 4 months the tray had started to scale / rust quite badly in the bottom of the tray where the paint was scratched. The tray has been used to carry trees and landscaping supplies, no acids or nasty chemicals. The supplier of the tray claims that some chemical must have damaged the tray and caused it to rust. As such the owner and the tray supplier are now in arbitration (it is now 2 years since the tray was purchased). The rust is now so bad that large pieces of steel are flaking off and in some places the tray is almost holed through.
My question is can this possibly be the fault of the owner, or is it more likely the material / manufacturing of the tray has led to the excessively short time it took for the tray to rust this badly? What could cause the tray to rust so quickly? Is there a standard for the material and / or manufacturing process that covers this area? I am in Australia.
Thanks!





RE: New truck tray rusting away after 4 months? Quality issue?
RE: New truck tray rusting away after 4 months? Quality issue?
RE: New truck tray rusting away after 4 months? Quality issue?
If a user stores wet grass/dirt, etc. for long periods in his truck, he will soon find that the worst corr. is under the thickest areas--assuming no differences in dirt composition. The corr. is driven by oxygen, and while it seems backwards, the worst corr. takes place where the O is lowest.
I suspect the owner didn't wash his truck bed frequently to clean off deposits and possible chemicals which can greatly accelerate corr--esp. nitrates. He also should allow it to dry well after he cleans it.
RE: New truck tray rusting away after 4 months? Quality issue?
Bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted but the owner would have been wise to tilt the tray at wash down, if he ever bothered to do that.
RE: New truck tray rusting away after 4 months? Quality issue?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Corrosion never sleeps, but it can be managed.
http://www.trenttube.com/Trent/tech_form.htm
RE: New truck tray rusting away after 4 months? Quality issue?
After talking to the truck owner and explaining teh above points to him I have some additional information that makes things a little less clear. Seems after 4 months he had the worst section of rust cut out of the tray, and a new piece of steel welded in (approx 400 x 400mm section). The interesting thing is now, 2 years later, the rest of the original tray is still badly rusting as described in my first post, but the new section of steel that was welded in has not rusted anywhere near as badly.
The second piece of information that he told me is he owns 6 trucsks, all in exactly the same service, all used to carry the same fertilizers, soil, garden waste, etc. The other 5 trays have not rusted anything at all like the truck in question, and they are all older. Only the new truck is being rapidly eaten away. The other trays came from differnt suppliers, hence his concern that a somehow "inferior" grade of steel was used in the new tray that is making it more suceptable to rusting away?
Can anyone suggest if there are any tests we coudl have done on the material to identify if this is the case, or companies in Australia that do such testing?
RE: New truck tray rusting away after 4 months? Quality issue?
Frankly I doubt it is worth pursuing.
The fabricator would have purchased his steel from the steel supplier in good faith and constructed the truck
tray in good faith.
The steel supplier in turn would have purchased the steel from the manufacturer in good faith with a requirement the steel would meet his minimum specifications.
As I see it, it is well known carbon steel rusts so the actual rusting is not an issue. Therefore unless there is a clause in the purchase contract that specifically covered the corrosion issue, another clause that covered the actual grade and/or manufacturer of the steel and sheeted that to the responsibility of the fabricator then with the lack of any other evidence to the contrary it will fall back the responsibility of the owner. Caveat Emptor.