What I Regret Not Doing Since Day One...
- Thread starter HammerDown
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david85
Full Access Member
I've used a few different types of products over the years.
Rubberized undercoating by the gallon is good for a new vehicle that doesn't have any rust underneath because it can absorb impacts from rocks and also rounds off sharp sheet metal edges. I found that areas directly behind the wheels of the vehicle tend to wear through and need to be touched up every spring. My truck had a good quality job done before I bought it and it has added years to the life of the truck by preventing premature cab rot.
Parafin wax undercoating is an interesting product because it never fully cures and will be absorbed by surface rust or even dust on the surface of the sheet metal. You can buy it in pure wax (clear amber color) form or mixed with some petroleum solids (black). The clear amber version isn't very durable bit can saturate rust pitting and displace moisture inside the walls or other places not exposed directly to the road blast. The black stuff works well for exposed areas that are starting to get surface rust.
Another product is fluid film. You can buy it in a spray can or by the gallon. Its found everywhere here in canada, not sure about the states. Its a silicone based spray lube product. This is what I used to shoot inside drain holes to get to places I can't see. It works, and it works well. It will creep across a clean or pitted surface, uphill or downhill. I try to spray this in our vehicles at least once a year to prevent rust from ever starting. Works very well for wheel arches and lower door edges. I even sprayed the inside of the roofline and found it seeping out the seam joint a few days later. Its still seeps out a few years later.
One experiment I tried was to mix some used engine oil with that ashphalt enhanced parafin wax undercoating. I used this to completely coat the inside of a new aftermarket door on the driver's side of my truck. The idea was to pour it into the crimp seams and seal them off for all of eternaty, then spray the rest for good measure. That door is a little heavier now
One word of caution on spray can undercoatings. They are usually prone to drying out and cracking like the dried up mud of a river bed. This provides a strait shot for the road salt to get right to the metal. Use only OEM quality undercoating that usually is bought by the gallon and applied with a special spray gun. To cover the whole truck you will need that much anyway. Generally it costs me around $50 for one gallon of the stuff but I think its well worth it.
Rubberized undercoating by the gallon is good for a new vehicle that doesn't have any rust underneath because it can absorb impacts from rocks and also rounds off sharp sheet metal edges. I found that areas directly behind the wheels of the vehicle tend to wear through and need to be touched up every spring. My truck had a good quality job done before I bought it and it has added years to the life of the truck by preventing premature cab rot.
Parafin wax undercoating is an interesting product because it never fully cures and will be absorbed by surface rust or even dust on the surface of the sheet metal. You can buy it in pure wax (clear amber color) form or mixed with some petroleum solids (black). The clear amber version isn't very durable bit can saturate rust pitting and displace moisture inside the walls or other places not exposed directly to the road blast. The black stuff works well for exposed areas that are starting to get surface rust.
Another product is fluid film. You can buy it in a spray can or by the gallon. Its found everywhere here in canada, not sure about the states. Its a silicone based spray lube product. This is what I used to shoot inside drain holes to get to places I can't see. It works, and it works well. It will creep across a clean or pitted surface, uphill or downhill. I try to spray this in our vehicles at least once a year to prevent rust from ever starting. Works very well for wheel arches and lower door edges. I even sprayed the inside of the roofline and found it seeping out the seam joint a few days later. Its still seeps out a few years later.
One experiment I tried was to mix some used engine oil with that ashphalt enhanced parafin wax undercoating. I used this to completely coat the inside of a new aftermarket door on the driver's side of my truck. The idea was to pour it into the crimp seams and seal them off for all of eternaty, then spray the rest for good measure. That door is a little heavier now
One word of caution on spray can undercoatings. They are usually prone to drying out and cracking like the dried up mud of a river bed. This provides a strait shot for the road salt to get right to the metal. Use only OEM quality undercoating that usually is bought by the gallon and applied with a special spray gun. To cover the whole truck you will need that much anyway. Generally it costs me around $50 for one gallon of the stuff but I think its well worth it.
Chevyboy_0
Mr.SunnyDisposition
X2 if your going to undercoat the truck use something a little higher up on the food chain
http://semproducts.com/cms/Truckbed+Liner/142.html
We used this stuff on the underside of the Bel Air to fight corrosion and so far it looks and works awesome
oldmisterbill
Grumpy Old Man
There was a guy in Keene NH that sold that very same service - he did several coats & several drives down a dusty road. I had the pleasure of working on a car that belonged to a regular yearly customer. It works but nasty to work on.
After a snow storm was over I would lift the 1/2 ton chevys from the back trailer hitch with my tractor loader presuer wash them then after they dried I would spray them with used hydraulic oil (its cleaner then Used motor oil & soaks in better). It helped a lot.(my plows only ran when it snowed and of course there would be heavy salt then-they would rust like the devel,especially if not washed well when they were put up for the summer.
I have seen the results of the thick greasy non hardening waxy stuff. AWSOME if done at least every fall.
When I repaired my floors I would use POR15 then mix tar and oil (so it wouldn't completly harden & crack)then stick a laayer of heavy plastic film to the tar,then put mats in it.It would keep the snow & salt from your boots away from the interior of the floor pans.A lot of rust is started from the inside. Think how much salt and water melt off your boots when you get in during a storm!
