All,
I have owned a 2017 TLX for about 2 months now and noticed something strange and concerning behind the wheel drum on all 4 wheels. There is what appears to be severe rust issues on the strut assembly ( not even sure its called that). This was my first time cleaning the wheels since I bought the car and the car never got exposed to any elements besides few mid Atlantic area drizzles. Should I be concerned about it? Please see picture attached. Rust on a 2 month old Acura TLX behind the wheel

 

Pretty normal and not a concern.

 

That looks normal?? I don't think any of the past 5 Acura's I've owned rusted like that.

 

Don't know which cars you've had; if they have had cast aluminum alloy suspension components, you're correct, they won't rust. These components look to be cast iron, and like it or don't, they're going to rust; that said, it will be decades before the rust progresses to the point where it will threaten the integrity of the structure.

 

Unfinished cast iron will rust. You can always power wire brush the surface rust off & spray it with some high temp (barbecue) paint. Aluminium front end parts are becoming more common so you will not see rust there on a lot of cars. Just a case of different materials but nothing wrong.

 

Some cars have their suspension components coated, or painted, to inhibit rust.

But you bought an Acura, a budget luxury brand. You get what you pay for. Acura didn't care about that suspension bracket because unless you're underneath the car, you won't ever see it. In turn, they saved you a few hundred bucks off your purchase price.

building cars is a very give-and-take process. They give you some stuff like dual screens inside, and take away coating suspension pieces. You can't have it all. Well you can. But you have to pay for it. And in such a case, you likely wouldn't have ended up in an Acura, to begin with.

That rust will will never be a structural issue. It's just surface corrosion. I've seen way worse, getting flogged at the track under extreme conditions and they've never failed. In due time though, the nuts and bolts will become rusty and a pain to work on. That's about it.

 

Is it advisable to use water proof spray paints like Rustoleum clear transparent spray pain after cleaning it up with power brush? I was so disappointed for the first time when I saw this but Thanks to answers from wonderful Forum Enthusiasts.

 

Advisable? Probably not. Why? Doing so will not change the function of the part or benefit the overall car in any way. That said, if the rust really bugs you (similar to how rusty brake calipers bug many folks), then feel free to paint them.

 

Sure I would & have used Rustoleum paints on cast iron parts. One rugged paint that is good for parts exposed to the weather is Rustoleum Truck Bed Liner. I sprayed (rattle can) all the underside panels of my COBRA with it. Some non alloy & non powder coated suspension parts were also covered with it. Rugged, looks good & dings can just be s[prayed over.

 

Black on the flat panels Truck Bed Liner. Black on the space frame is powder coat.

 

This is bad, I mean FCA-bad. My brother's Jeep was like that and I found it horrible. I know that there is no consequence, but they should have done a better job.

 

Another quotable Saintor classic.

 

I wanna go fast, bear!

 

I am surprised to find my 2017 TLX has same rusted components behind the wheels after reading the post. I can't believe the manufacturer didn't do anything to prevent the corrosion as there are so many ways.

This might be fine functionally, but it looks really bad cosmetically.

 

I am surprised to find my 2017 TLX has same rusted components behind the wheels after reading the post. I can't believe the manufacturer didn't do anything to prevent the corrosion as there are so many ways.

This might be fine functionally, but it looks really bad cosmetically.

 

Meh, how much time do folks run around looking at suspension components behind the brake rotors? Much ado about nothing I say.

 

Brake calibers will do the same after about 2 years, and those do look horrible. Don't belong on a luxury car, pure cheapness

 

I don't know....I do my own work on my cars and that would drive me crazy every time that I was under the car. I would clean it up and paint.

 

one would have to argue if acura is luxury.
I believe acura is an entry-level premium brand.

 

Fast is what we do. Say Hi if you are ever in Carolina.

 

What is your little problem *today*.

 

Smart luxury, but ya I know what you mean. They have to change people's minds at one point though. In Canada, when the SH-AWD Aspec Elite hit over 53k + tax, it's luxury territory now.

 

i dont think price can quantify being "luxury."
now-a-days, new cars are $30k-45k...go into a truck and watch prices sky rocket into the $80k range

with acura pulling the stunts that they are pulling; not giving us what we want, ugly designs, and many more...it's hard to justify the brand as luxury.
it's exactly like Lincoln and i dont consider that luxury. even Buicks are getting nicer than Acura's.
these brands are all lumped together as a premium market over thier econo-counterparts

 

My '01 TL with 293K miles doesn't look anything like that!

 

Then most likely your TL doesn't have cast iron suspension components. That said, unless you painted your brake calipers, they probably have a similar rusty look.

 

Here's the thing- you can't just paint over the rust.

You can't just lightly sand it and then paint.

you need to scrape the rust off entirely, to bare shiny metal, if you want any hope of that paint lasting.

If you really can't stand the rust, turn it into a project. I'd go through the trouble to remove those pieces, get them sand blasted and powder coated, and then reinstall them and go for an alignment. Acurazine used to be a place where guys would show off their hard work and random projects. People seem too scared to do anything these days.