Rust On Disc Brakes

[bonjo]

My 2003 rav 4 (VVTI) has been in storage for a year now. Last time I inspected it, I noticed the wheels were stuck.

Anything I should do to stop the discs getting more rusty? I am not able to drive the car for some time to come yet

[anchorman]

Not easily. You can wrap them in newspaper and a poly bag. The bag will keep water out and the paper will absorb moisture. You can get proper grease impregnated paper but I don't know who stocks it.

[jedi134]

Or spray them with WD40........if left too long you will be replacing discs and pads, I know from experience.....Wd40 seems to be doing the trick so far on a car Ive had stood for a year now.

Its a lot easier to clean the wd off then the rust

[anchorman]

It is. I was going to say that WD40 prbably won't do much harm over long periods. Those that are not storing their car but get surface rust over night, just ignore it and for goodness sake - no WD40!!!

[bonjo]

Thanks for the feedback.

I thought about WD40 but was interested to see if anyone had similar opinion before spraying it on.

I will try to do this next time I visit the car. Unfortunately space is very tight and I cannot take the wheels of. So it is a crawl under the car.

Thank go the ground clearance is decent!

thanks again

[mystic]

I don't know what it is with my rav but the back disks just rust up so quickly, when i brought it the guy said 'looks like the back wheels where sitting in water', after a week left idle they are covered in surface rust.

[anchorman]

Its normal. The same goes for any exposed metal - look at a railway line after one hour it is rusty.

In the short term it does no harm. It is cleaned off by the first few brake applications.

[Jan&tone]

Its normal. The same goes for any exposed metal - look at a railway line after one hour it is rusty.

In the short term it does no harm. It is cleaned off by the first few brake applications.

Absolutely correct. In fact if you chuck a bucket of cold water over a clean disc you will see it start to discolour as it drys! It's that quick....

[three5]

Not easily. You can wrap them in newspaper and a poly bag. The bag will keep water out and the paper will absorb moisture. You can get proper grease impregnated paper but I don't know who stocks it.

Hi Anchorman,

the special paper is called VPI ( Vapour Phase Inhibitor ) paper and is available reasonably cheaply on the web. Guess you would need to remove the calipers to make a good job of fitting it. You COULD remove the discs and store them indoors. Would you need to fit spacers between the inboard and outboard pads to stop them becoming displaced?

[Jamesbelfast]

The vapour absorbent paper has a relatively short life span especially if its not in an enclosed space space such as a box etc. One other method may be to enclose the copmplete brake and/or hub assembly inside sealed plastic bags with a load of silicon gel absorbent packs enclosed. This would involve removing the wheels of course.

Long term storage of cars is actually quite difficult - the classic car entusiast invest loads of money in air-condtioned capsules which enclose the complete car.

Any decent solutiion is likely to cost more than a set of replacement discs.

[dervdave]

My 2003 rav 4 (VVTI) has been in storage for a year now. Last time I inspected it, I noticed the wheels were stuck.

Anything I should do to stop the discs getting more rusty? I am not able to drive the car for some time to come yet

Sell it ? :)

[bonjo]

The car came out of my garage after 18 months. It started without any problem & the engine runs as sweetly as before.

Here is what I did at the start:

• Connected a smart charger to the Battery (itself left connected)
  
• Put a dehumidifier in the garage on a timer
  
• Filled up the petrol tank & added fuel stabiliser
  
• Pumped up the tyre to 36
  

This is what happened:

• A tiny oil leak from the sump seal during the first (freezing) winter. This stopped by itself!
  
• The discs were stuck on; specially the rear ones. But they released after on reverse gear application
  
• The clutch was a bit sticky during the first day; now it is ok.
  
• The car came straight out of the garage, took it for a drive to clean the brake discs & then for an MOT test which it passed :)
  

The car is going back into hibernation. Potentially the brake discs will go through the same process.

A friend suggested with the help of a wooden stick to keep the clutch depressed & this should help avoid any issues with the clutch.

[igormus]

My 2003 rav 4 (VVTI) has been in storage for a year now. Last time I inspected it, I noticed the wheels were stuck.

Anything I should do to stop the discs getting more rusty? I am not able to drive the car for some time to come yet

it looks like a joke but : plastic bag + small bag with silica gel or even normal news paper would serve. for sure you can put some WD40 just on those surfaces other than friction with pads. regards

[Hoovie]

Sound a good idea with the clutch.

Maybe worth chocking up the wheels so the tyres are off the ground?

This will let you turn the wheels occasionally to help avoid binding and also help avoiding the tyres flat-spotting where they are resting.

[Big Kev]

Bonjo,

It is entirely your business why you are storing this car repeatedly, but I would be asking / insuring somebody to take it for a wee run regularly if you cannot do so yourself.....this will negate all worries re brakes binding, and plenty other future niggles too.

Please take my posting in the spirit it is meant.

Big Kev

[mystic]

My rear disks get so rusty and i use the car near everyday. no idea why but it sure looks ugly. Must be some kind of design flaw with Rav's

[Hoovie]

My rear disks get so rusty and i use the car near everyday. no idea why but it sure looks ugly. Must be some kind of design flaw with Rav's

and probably every other car with Disk Brakes? :D

[mystic]

I never had it before, the front stay nice and shiny clean while the backs look like they have been taken off the titanic.

[Hoovie]

the rears get a lot less use in relative terms so could be the reason? you sure your rear brakes are actually working?

I just went to have a look at mine and there is no difference between the front and the rear in terms of rust spotting (and very little rust on any of them)

[mystic]

There is signs of wear (ie i shiny areas around each pad) but everything else looks bad. I will grab a few snaps and post them up tomorrow, maybe there is a problem, never really thought about it.

[flyboyprowler]

It could be an area thing. Coastal cars in salt air, or whatever. But out here in Spain where its really dry, no problem with rusty brakes when the car is left for a period.

[bonjo]

Thanks guys. Acknowledge all sensible comments; unfortunately my new business means the car is stored in a tiny garage for up to 18 month with no one available to take it out for a spin or turn the wheels around!

I thought perhaps some of my finding may be of interest to those who are thinking of long term storage for their cars.

I was concerned about the fuel going off (ethanol) & the extent of surface rust due to humidity in the air. This time round I will set the dehumidifier to 60~5% & see the results in 10 months time maybe