The finest sacrificial anode protection for steel is cadmium plating. Now that the save the planet guys are trying to ban it the next best is zinc nickel plating. With highly stressed steel parts it’s vital to conduct a de-embrittlement heat treat to drive of surface hydrogen. Both provide excellent area protection to the substrate even if it’s locally exposed. Cad or ZnNi plating should be painted to prevent coating abrasion.

Another steel sacrificial coating which can be applied like a paint is MCAC such as Alochrome