Undercarriage Care FOR trucks

[RwShine2]

So, I am getting a 3/4 ton diesel. With the money it costs, I will plan on having it for over 20 years. Keeping the up side clean and protected is simple.

 

The question.

 

Does anyone have any knowledge of what to do for the undercarriage. I would like to find a wash and wax (per-say) or a spray, which I can spay under the entire undercarriage, frame. shocks, etc, which will coat everything, like sealant does to paint, to inhibit future rust, since I do live in northern Ohio.

 

Any and all suggestions or experiences. I do not care to rhino-line-esk the entire bottom or anything, just something like a sealant.

 

Thanks.

.

 

 

[TheWolf]

Use Amsoil Heavy Duty Metal Protector on everything under the truck that is metal. Make sure and mask everything so you don't get overspray, as it is hard to clean off.

 

Check out this post from when I did my truck:

 

http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f195/amsoil-mphd-heavy-duty-metal-protector-amh-17731/index7.html#post627136

 

If you can, do the undercoating when the truck is brand new, before it gets dirty.

[LFairbanks]

I have one as well and it is now 5 years old and the underside looks perfect.  I use a product called Fluid Film and coat it every fall.  It works really well.  I have bought the rattle cans by the case off of Amazon, however this year I will be buying a kit with a sprayer and a 1 gallon pail that I will hook to my air compressor, now that I have enough CFM.

 

http://www.fluid-film.com/automotive-applications/

 

 

 

 

You can see in the two pictures I posted where it has been sprayed.  I just took the picture to show a side by side comparison to the what was treated and what wasn't.  The rust on the rear diff and what not has been there since day one and still looks the same.  

 

 

[SumBeach35]

Interested to see the response for this thread. I am hoping to buy a truck before next winter and being in the rust belt this is definitely needed.

[RwShine2]

Oh wow, that is impressive stuff, to both of the response. How long did it last for you, for the Amsoil? And to the other, is it a must to re-apply every year? Did it do any harm to any rubber or plastic parts under the truck?

Edited May 11, 2017 by RwShine2

[TheWolf]

Oh wow, that is impressive stuff, to both of the response. How long did it last for you, for the Amsoil? And to the other, is it a must to re-apply every year? Did it do any harm to any rubber or plastic parts under the truck?

The Amsoil HDMP does not need to be reapplied each year. I have had it on my truck for 3 years (winters with lots of deicer on the roads), and it is still holding up. I had originally applied it in Feb, so I decided to do a second coat that fall. It does not really need two coats, but I wanted to make sure that I did not miss any areas.

 

The HDMP is fine to get on the plastics and rubber under the truck. I only masked off the exterior, visible areas.

[LT1xL82]

I no longer use "undercoating", or old school "rustproofing" as in the apply once, thick, sometimes almost tar-like under vehicle protectant. I found it to be marginally effective at best, and at times harmful if it separates from the surface being protected and becomes a trap for foreign material (water, ice melt, sand...)

 

For the last 10 plus years I have been having Krown Rustproofing applied yearly...at about $135 each year for a large SUV. It has helped preserve the prone to rust areas IMMENSELY!. In 9 years of rustbelt winters, not a spec of rust on the folded sheet metal at the bottom of the doors, lower edges of fenders... (Holes are drilled and the fluid is sprayed into the vehicle.)  On the down side, underside exposed surfaces such as axle housings, driveshafts...that are sprayed are preserved well, but not to the extent of the body panels...  Basically, the sprayed material is getting washed off the exposed surfaces.

 

It appears Fluid Film is similar to Krown being a relatively this fluid that is applied yearly. From the looks of LFairbanks' pictures, the Fluid Film may be doing a better job on the exposed surfaces. Tough to say.

 

With Krown, the vehicle will be dripping for weeks! One year not long after application, I brought the vehicle for state inspection. Next thing I know 2 techs have the car high up on a lift inspecting with flashlights. Turned out they were looking for oil leaks!

[BrianT]

The truck is going to rust from the inside out! Look at any 3rd gen Ram, the rear wheel wells get rusty from the inside. I had an 03 Cummins Ram, 189,000 miles and I could start to see the rust bubbles starting to form. Everything underneath was coated, topside was perfect, but the rust came from the inside.

[Last_cast]

+1 for fluid film.

Smells not too great but it does work.

[TheWolf]

Whichever product you use, you are better off applying it yourself. The key is to get it into the nooks and crannies, where the moisture is going to collect and start rust, especially in the back-sides of body seams, which are only spot welded together.

 

If you take your truck to a shop to have it applied, you are likely going to get the "eye-candy" application, where the person sprays the easy-to-reach and easy-to-see areas, and skips the most important areas.

 

The HDMP cans come with a spray straw, which can be used to get into frame holes, crevices, and up on top of surfaces that can't be sprayed directly from underneath. It is these areas that are going to be the source of the damaging rust. The surface rust on diff's and drivelines is mainly cosmetic, those parts are not typically going to rust through like body panels will (ie wheel wells and rockers). I even coated some areas that were hard to get sprayed by rubbing the product on with my gloved hands.

 

Prior to getting my truck, I read too many posts about people having their rockers rust, from the inside out. This was one area I concentrated on, spraying in each little body hole along the rockers.

 

The nice thing with the HDMP, and with a product like Fluid Film, is you can soak the heck out of all the surfaces, spraying full, dripping coats, without having to worry about a nice, even application. Just use drop cloths on the garage floor to keep the mess contained.

 

The HDMP dries overnight to a waxy film, and does not drip after that. The smell is somewhat offensive, and when parts like the exhaust get hot for the first week or so, it smells like overheated fryer oil.

 

At the end of this post, there are some more pics from when I did the Explorer:

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/27009-adamized-the-raptor/?p=503061

[LT1xL82]

... The key is to get it into the nooks and crannies, where the moisture is going to collect and start rust, especially in the back-sides of body seams, which are only spot welded together. ...

 

This times 1000!

[RwShine2]

Only other question, How much did it cost you in total to use the Amsoil?

[TheWolf]

Only other question, How much did it cost you in total to use the Amsoil?

 

I used 4.5 cans for my truck, and it has a 5.5' bed, so you might need more for your bigger truck.  The Explorer took 4 cans.

 

I bought directly from the Amsoil website, it is about $12 per can, and the shipping was about $8.  If you order more than $100, you get free shipping.

[galaxy]

Dude...Dan...that's awesome! Why haven't I thought of this one??? I'm a huge Amsoil guy (a dealer too;) and have been using HDMP as my one and only chain lube on bikes. Great stuff, but this one never occurred to me.

 

So you don't have a problem with normal gook, road grime, and crap sticking to it and building up making a bigger mess??

 

I know it'll stay on cause on a bike chain, you have to use some type of solvent to clean it off. Chains still get build up dirty, but they're operating in a different environment.

Edited May 13, 2017 by galaxy

[LT1xL82]

Krown tends to be a dirt magnet in areas where there is minimal to no water intrusion to wash away the film...but I've never seen such an area rust! 

[TheWolf]

Dude...Dan...that's awesome! Why haven't I thought of this one??? I'm a huge Amsoil guy (a dealer too;) and have been using HDMP as my one and only chain lube on bikes. Great stuff, but this one never occurred to me.

 

So you don't have a problem with normal gook, road grime, and crap sticking to it and building up making a bigger mess??

 

I know it'll stay on cause on a bike chain, you have to use some type of solvent to clean it off. Chains still get build up dirty, but they're operating in a different environment.

 

Once the MPHD is dried, it does not collect dirt any more than an untreated area.

 

I just pressure wash the undercarriage a couple times during the winter, and it looks fine.