Tesla Cybertruck Rust? What It Really Is & How To Clean It.

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It has been almost 3 months since Tesla started delivering its most awaited electric pickup truck — the Cybertruck. To date, Tesla has delivered a few hundred units to its customers.

As the deliveries have started to grow, Tesla Cybertruck owners are experiencing issues and problems previously unknown to them. One such issue Cybertruck owners started reporting earlier this month was visible rust particles.

When looking closely at the Cybertruck body panels, small rust particles were observed by multiple owners. These rust spots gave the impression that the stainless steel body of the Cybertruck was getting rusted.

Mainstream media (MSM) picked up this issue and posted articles with rusty Cybertruck pictures and even fake catchy thumbnails. This resulted in a viral discussion creating doubts that the Cybertruck body is not truly rust proof.

This is what a Cybertruck looks like after sitting outside for 5 days when it rains. Stainless steel does in fact stain, and rust. Owners are just now discovering the exhausting maintenance they have to do to keep them clean, or pay $5000 to have them wrapped in clear vinyl. pic.twitter.com/ZqpPUV0eVy

— Alan! (o2bnobx on Threads) (@o2bnobx) February 17, 2024

The X post that added fuel to the fire of the Cybertruck rusting discussion. Why keep a Cybertruck outside for 5 days in the rain when it can easily fit inside a garage?

Cybertruck discussion forums were also swarming with posts where new owners did not have a clue of what actually these rust spots were and how to clean them cost-effectively.

How the Cybertruck Body Gets Rusted

As the heated debates started across the internet, Tesla’s Cybertruck Lead Engineer Wes Morrill took to X (Twitter) to explain the issue. According to Wes, these are just free iron particles that the Cybertruck’s stainless steel body catches and reacts with.

“Stainless is reactive and free iron that sits on it will rust. It’s surface contamination only and can be cleaned off easily,” Wes posted.

“Bar Keeper’s Friend used here works well, citrisurf77 can also loosen the deposit and simply wipe it off. If anything stubborn use a blue non-scratch Scotch Brite pad as it won’t leave any marks on the metal,” he added to provide tips on removing the rust spots from the Cybertruck body in his X post.

Free iron/steel particles can be present in an environment like a metal workshop or car body shop where metal is cut or smoothed out using a grinder. Another source of iron particles is the wheels of a train. When a vehicle is transported by train, the iron particles coming from the friction of its wheels and the rail can accumulate on its body. When these particles are exposed to water or moisture, they can easily oxidate on the Cybertruck body.

CarWash.com explains rail dust as:

Rail dust is exactly that, when cars are transported by train (rail) from the factory to a city, the metal wheels of the train cars running on metal rails create small particles of metal that fly into the air and land on the horizontal surfaces of the car.

They are hot and will adhere to the paint. Then when they get wet from rain; snow or just dew they rust and create tiny little rust spots which are quite visible on white, yellow, beige or light colored cars.

A lot of MSM coverage about rust. None show actual photos, usually a good indicator to question the accuracy. Side by side with a painted vehicle, this is surface contamination.

Tesla SS actually has a PREN value (resistance to pitting corrosion) higher than 316L “marine grade” pic.twitter.com/sxZNl8wfzL

— Wes (@wmorrill3) February 20, 2024

Cybertruck lead engineer Wes Morrill shares a video of a side-by-side comparison of a Cybertruck stainless steel body with a painted car body with both having the rust iron particles caught from the environment.

How to Fix Cybertruck Body Rust

YouTuber Bearded Tesla Guy (BTG) experimented with a few different cleaner sprays in his Cybertruck rust video (watch below). No product worked except for the Bark Keepers Friend – Soft Cleanser for stainless steel.

BTG put a small quantity of Bar Keepers Friend cutting agent on a microfiber towel and dabbed it onto the Cybertruck body panel in a few places. Then he rubbed it with the same microfiber cloth in circles. The thing to remember is to not apply too much pressure while rubbing the cleaning liquid to avoid creating any patterns on the stainless steel panels of the Tesla Cybertruck.

Let’s watch how to clean the rusted metal particles off of the Cybertruck body in the following video:

Note that the Tesla Cybertruck has a 12-year body rust limited warranty which comes with some conditions that the automaker has explained in the truck’s warranty document.

Article first published on Tesla Oracle.

Featured photo courtesy of Matt Pressman | Florida Tennis Magazine