Vehicle Rust prevention/under coating suggestions?

I've been using fluid film for a few years now. I run my compressor hoses over to an area in my yard on a gravel driveway, and get up under anywhere I can except for exhaust. I don't get too crazy with getting inside every frame hole, I get what I can get. Anything is better than nothing here. This year I will drop my spare out of the way to get that entire mechanism too. The holder is quite rusty as I've skipped that part in the past. I also hit the back of my entire plow sector and all hinge points at the same time. Great lubrication and protection on the plow frame (stainless blade, but I hit all the metal behind it). I don't mind the smell either, reminds me that I've taken care of the vehicles and checked that off my list every fall. I wait until November or so.
 
I’ve found Krown in Leominster to be the best non-DIY service option. They get it in everywhere, including inside the body panels. I even found it inside the access door panel in my 4Runner when looking for the spare tire tool.

It holds up well with annual treatment (less often if not a daily driver). Owner knows I’m pretty OCD about car detailing stuff and is super careful. Even takes extra time to get into the panels without drilling the recommended access holes.

Best $150 I spend. Saves me a day of messy driveway work and my neighborhood smelling like a chemical factory for a few days.
 
Jconnor93 said:
my truck isn't a daily. Usually just weekends. I may just get it done in a shop first then buy the setup for subsequent years
Click to expand...

If you go with Waxoyl it's mostly one & done. You can touch up, probably isn't bad to, but they advertise you can while mostly its lifetime protection. The exterior part, 2nd stage, doesn't wash off under pressure. Also have aerosol cans of the same 2 products that can be used as an alternative or for quick touch ups (but like most things, a lot more $$ than gallon jugs of product).

But regardless what you choose, the time to invest is before you start paying someone else.

Undercoating is not a tough job on a truck. Clean the underside, remove skid plates, touch up the paint when it makes sense (a brand new vehicle may still have a few nicks on the frame from lifts, an older vehicle covered in rust nothing that you can touch up)..

4 ramps, put lots of cardboard down to make it real comfortable, respirator, a few harbor freight face shields, taking my sweet ass time I spent 12 hours starting with cleaning & setup, put the truck on ramps on a Friday night. Stage 1 Saturday, Stage 2 Sunday, cleaned off any overspray and washed/waxed the truck on Sunday night and was back on the road...

Actual application part is probably only 1.5 hours per stage - you spend most of your time setting up, playing with hoses lights and extension cords, cleaning the gun, changing clothes or tyvek suits, changing nozzles and cleaning or playing with the gun, drinking beers and surfing NES etc etc
 
Yotacrawler said:
Fluid film black. Pick up a cheap undercoating gun and a 5 gal bucket and do it yourself every year. It’s nice because it last about 2 seasons and if you need to work on something a good scrub with soapy water and a hose and it’s cleaned up unlike oil. I do all our trucks every year. Or go to Kellsport in Fall River and buy woolwax from them it’s the same thing as fluid film it just smells sheepy a week or two longer. Kellsport offers bundles with the gun etc.

FLUID FILM | Powerful Corrosion Protection & Lubrication

FLUID FILM® is Eureka’s own unique lanolin-based brand of corrosion preventive and lubricant, used worldwide in a multitude of industries and applications.
www.fluid-film.com www.fluid-film.com

Click to expand...

Hmmm. O'Handly's or whatever in Taunton does Woolwax. I might make an appt. Now I just need to find the time.
 
If you DIY, hard to describe but that body seam along the bottom outside edge of the car is really important. I didn't do my old Ford and it shows. I got it good with 2 other cars and it shows.
If I remember I'll try to take a pic of what I'm talking about.....
 
appraiser said:
I have used fluid film with good results too

But again the inside needs to be coated
Click to expand...
I bought a bundle with the long 360’ nozzles a few years back. I also used a encapsulator from Eastwood on the inside of my wife's 4runner frame before the first time I applied Fluid Film. The stuff I used dries a light green and makes it easy too see if you got the areas. It is slso a water like consistency that drips and runs into every crack and crevice inside the frame rails. It’s not cheap. Then I fluid film over that once it cured. Make sure you put a tarp down it runs out of any crack snd the driveway will be green spotted after. I think this was the one I used. The cans came with s long 360 spray nozzle to reach way into the frame.

www.eastwood.com

Eastwood Rust Encapsulator Plus Aerosol

New Advanced Formula with 1000 Hours of Salt Spray Testing
www.eastwood.com www.eastwood.com
 
Are these underbody coating services once a year worth it vs. just hosing down your underbelly after every snow storm? If the shop didn't do it right, isn't there a risk of trapping salt water under the film and make things infinitely worse?
 
I had one vehicle treated with NHOU and I wouldn't recommend it. It disappears too quickly.

I've thought about this topic a lot. I think cavity wax (or Cosmolene) for cavities, the frame and underside might well be the way to go. i.e. cavity wax for everything. Cavity wax dries semi-hard and is not easily washed off. It's also easier on mechanics than NHOU or lanolin-based coatings.
 
PaulR said:
If you DIY, hard to describe but that body seam along the bottom outside edge of the car is really important. I didn't do my old Ford and it shows. I got it good with 2 other cars and it shows.
If I remember I'll try to take a pic of what I'm talking about.....
Click to expand...
I think I know what you're talking about. Right where the body panel ends and then opens up to the axels, drive shaft etc
 
G4Y4HK said:
Are these underbody coating services once a year worth it vs. just hosing down your underbelly after every snow storm? If the shop didn't do it right, isn't there a risk of trapping salt water under the film and make things infinitely worse?
Click to expand...

I've seen the results on another forum. Best thing you can do is rinse your undercarriage after each storm, when the roads dry up, and every couple weeks otherwise in the winter. Park in a garage or at least on pavement or concrete. Regular undercarriage washing, vehicles look nearly new 5+ years later.

But undercoating doesn't hurt. The trouble is the goo style versions, woolwax, fluid film, etc, they rinse off pretty quickly. The (much better) actual wax coatings are not affected by undercarriage wash.
 
teamRR said:
an older vehicle covered in rust nothing that you can touch up)..
Click to expand...
On an older Toyota I had some rust underneath (shocking, I know). I brushed off the loose stuff with a wire brush, and then hit it with some of the Rustoleum Rust Reformer paint. Then some spray grease over that when it was dry. YMMV.
 
Boiled Linseed oil, pressure sprayer and a smidge of mineral spirits to lower viscosity and you got the best method.

Gotta let it dry out and yes it will smell for a bit.

Many of the oil undercoats smell is an issue and companies formulate with oils like mineral oil to reduce smell and avoid any environmental legalities.
 
Qwikdraw45 said:
On an older Toyota I had some rust underneath (shocking, I know). I brushed off the loose stuff with a wire brush, and then hit it with some of the Rustoleum Rust Reformer paint. Then some spray grease over that when it was dry. YMMV.
Click to expand...
We have had a bunch of old Toyota's I would smear axle grease into rusty spots to stop the rust until I could get to it. The fluid film was actually invented for the navy to slap on rust they found at sea do they could stop the rust and fix it later in port. Fluid film makes a heavy grease which I smear inside door seams and that stuff with a brush.
 
Toe Knee said:

View: https://youtu.be/NKVztXLyUDQ?si=73cjslSNSRCKeCW5
Click to expand...


I sing that song way too often.

Helloowrustyjones
Goooodbyyyyeruuuuusttyyyycarrrrrrrrr


(Didn't they get sued into bankruptcy b/c it didn't work?)

Yotacrawler said:
I bought a bundle with the long 360’ nozzles a few years back. I also used a encapsulator from Eastwood on the inside of my wife's 4runner frame before the first time I applied Fluid Film. The stuff I used dries a light green and makes it easy too see if you got the areas. It is slso a water like consistency that drips and runs into every crack and crevice inside the frame rails. It’s not cheap. Then I fluid film over that once it cured. Make sure you put a tarp down it runs out of any crack snd the driveway will be green spotted after. I think this was the one I used. The cans came with s long 360 spray nozzle to reach way into the frame.

www.eastwood.com

Eastwood Rust Encapsulator Plus Aerosol

New Advanced Formula with 1000 Hours of Salt Spray Testing
www.eastwood.com www.eastwood.com
Click to expand...

If that doesn't work, try GM (or is it Chrysler) Turbo Encabulator.
 
Pyromancer said:
Still doing undercarriage wash WITH undercoating applied?
Click to expand...

I do and with a good one, Waxoyl, you can. Which is much better, as you are not just protecting the metal but also removing what helps corrode it. The goo type products actually hold stuff, and don't hold up to much pressure washing.

That dull black here is the "hardwax" product, which goes on exposed parts, the 2nd step after you fog a softer product into the frame & cavities. Being wax, not a grease type substance, not a rubber over coating, it self heals and won't chip but also won't hold water. The underside of this truck has probably had 20 underside power washes and truck has 45k with the coating on.

20241003_102959.jpg
 
teamRR said:
I do and with a good one, Waxoyl, you can. Which is much better, as you are not just protecting the metal but also removing what helps corrode it. The goo type products actually hold stuff, and don't hold up to much pressure washing.

That dull black here is the "hardwax" product, which goes on exposed parts, the 2nd step after you fog a softer product into the frame & cavities. Being wax, not a grease type substance, not a rubber over coating, it self heals and won't chip but also won't hold water. The underside of this truck has probably had 20 underside power washes and truck has 45k with the coating on.

View attachment 923500
Click to expand...
Do you send your car off to a mechanic or diy?
 
AC Auto in Wakefield specializes in undercoating. They power wash with saltsgone and then coat with a combination of waxoyl, woolwax and fluidfilm depending on the area. Working on your car/truck sucks but it does a good job of protecting it.

www.facebook.com

AC Auto | Wakefield MA

AC Auto, Wakefield, Massachusetts. 7,415 likes · 6,442 talking about this · 677 were here. AC Auto is a full service undercoat and service shop.
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