Krown rust proofing opinions wanted

Years ago (decades, actually) I used professionally applied Krown religiously, as did my parents. For me this was on a 90 Integra. It kept it rust free. As the years climbed, I'd have mechanics come out of the back of the shop to tell me how easy it was to work on etc... Then a big rust blister popped out from behind the windshield trim on the roof - a place that Krown couldn't protect. That was annoying.

Back then I was a starving and inexperienced student for some of the period in question, and my time and location for DIY was very limited. There were things I did NOT like about Krown, which may or may not be specific to Krown.

For starters it seems that it affects rubber - different materials are affected differently. Some door and hood seals expanded, suddenly drooping from their attachment points. Some got sticky. Any wipers that touched the stuff at all wouldn't wipe properly afterwards. Some materials seemed unaffected.

The practice of professional application often ends up drilling holes in the body of the car to access certain cavities. This depends greatly on the quality of the person and their level of laziness. "Better a hole with a plug than a rusted out panel". Well, maybe. I wouldn't want Timmy drilling extra holes in any of my recent cars...

I found that the stuff would migrate around inside the body panels, and would be found oozing out of the car until the next June or July. Everything you touched was oily. It would gather in the spare tire well area in pools. "Today me" would be driven nuts. Of course today me would have cleaned it up every season.

But, it worked, except where it couldn't.

These days I use a variety of rattle can products DIY, most sparingly, and it depends on the scenario. I don't like products that stay gooey and accumulate dirt and salt and hold them against the area trying to be protected. I think most cavities should have a cavity wax, which is like a light cosmoline. I really like what I see when something like Wurth Body Cavity Protection Spray is used - moisture beads and runs away, salt and dirt don't accumulate. I think that cavities with seams at the bottom (think - doors, hoods, trunk lids) can also benefit from a little bit of something goopy that creeps - I've used KBS Cavity spray, or a little Krown or Fluid film sometimes - SPARINGLY. KBS creeps and then sets, Krown and FF are gooey forever. In wheel well arches and underbody I'll use a combination of cosmoline and FF and will specifically clean the area in the spring. Cosmoline is welcome to stay but FF and all of the dirt stuck to it needs to go before it gets warm.

It's also worth noting that my personal vehicles moved to galvanized, seam sealed construction and, in some cases, aluminum panels but the family fleet has Hondas and Toyotas.

What I have learned is that spring cleanup is more important than winter protection. In the temperatures experienced for most of the winter there isn't much corrosive action but come spring and summer it can kick in to high gear. Add to that the fact that road salt and other deicing compounds are hygroscopic, attracting humidity out of the air to keep salty mud build up wet and corroding it can be a nightmare. Ever notice in the winter when the road says wet all day, but the sidewalks and driveways are dry? Except where tires have tracked brine onto the driveway and the tire tracks also stay wet all day? That is what the hygroscopic property does. This is what really rots cars.

I also see lots of folks around here say they avoid any kind of undercarriage wash during the winter. I do the opposite, when I saw the positive effects of it on an ~8 year old Sienna. Without ever having been rust sprayed and barely ever washed, the underside was in clean, pristine condition except for where the spare tire blocked the spray of the touchless car wash undercarriage spray - there the seams were rusting and things were looking rough. Once I started DIYing on that vehicle, I cosmolined all the seam areas and touched it up annually.
 
Krown has the best reputation in my area, I've never actually had it done every year, but usually I do once or twice when I first get the car, and then touch up the areas it washes off with can.
Before used cars got expensive I don't know if it was worth doing it every year, as an old car with high mileage, even in solid shape was always under $2k. But now with them doubled in price, keeping your old car solid for longer is worth it.
Like others have said, getting it Krown'd isn't a guarantee of no rust, but usually keeps the car solid enough for the mechanicals to wear out if you want to go that far.
 
I’m sure this has been posted before. He doesn’t test everything, but many of the big ones.

 
I do lots of DIY, but for some reason I would rather just pay for Krown vs. diy.

For those in SE Michigan, I'll share my 10 year experience; I started out in Windsor Ontario with my current car. I moved to Monroe, MI with satisfactory experience for numerous years. I then tried Flint - it was o.k., but he reduced to one day/week and I'm not sure if he is still in business. I currently go to Rochester Hills, Mi and that facility is superb (so far), You can talk personally with the owner and lead applicator - they are VERY customer service oriented. I imagine they would customize your application if desired (i.e., no drill holes?).

I agree with Craig in Canada about Krown pros/cons. It is very messy to work under the car. There is a NH Oil dealer in Michigan now.......hmmmm.
 
A few shops that apply Krown have popped up in the Buffalo NY area over the past 5yrs or so. When I owned my 2017 Ram 1500, I had one local shop do a Krown application this was in 2018. I wasn't thrilled with it. Within a week or so it didn't seem like there was anything under there. The next year I started doing my own fluid film and woolwax applications.

If you don't care to do this type of work yourself, I would definitely stick with yearly krown applications. Like any of these oil type products, it gets better and built up more under the vehicle after every application.

My father-in-law got suckered into having his 2017 Nissan Frontier treated by Ziebart. They used that black latex-like tar product. He gets it top coated every year solely because it's "free". Search for the south main auto channel ziebart video. That's how this truck is going to turn out.
 
Every vehicle 🚘🚖🚔 that I have owned since the early 70’s, that had the tar-like undercoating on it(e.g. Rusty Jones, Ziebart or dealer applied product), rusted away as if it wasn’t even there. Even warranty applications from the company didn’t seem to prevent the vehicle from falling apart.

I’ve owned newer vehicles 🚙 🚗🚕🚐 with todays better protected metals, that had no undercoating of any type and they’ve lasted as long or similarly. I have been DIYing Fluid Film on the Altima in my signature so we will see how this lasts if I don’t get rid of the car first.
 
Yikes! The old Ziebart stuff that was more like a wax coating was OK, but the new stuff is horrible.
That's the thing. Ziebart offers an oil coating and a wax-like coating, yet they still sell the roofing tar crap with free yearly touch ups provided you don't go beyond the 12 months per visit. The visits are all about trying to up sell you any/all of their other products and services and when you don't go for it like my FIL never does, you could imagine the "touch up" they do for nothing.
 
Every vehicle 🚘🚖🚔 that I have owned since the early 70’s, that had the tar-like undercoating on it(e.g. Rusty Jones, Ziebart or dealer applied product), rusted away as if it wasn’t even there. Even warranty applications from the company didn’t seem to prevent the vehicle from falling apart.

I’ve owned newer vehicles 🚙 🚗🚕🚐 with todays better protected metals, that had no undercoating of any type and they’ve lasted as long or similarly. I have been DIYing Fluid Film on the Altima in my signature so we will see how this lasts if I don’t get rid of the car first.
I appraise cars everyday in my job.
Had two trucks come in recently, both 2014s, one a Ram and one an F150. Both showed up within an hour of each other. Both had similar mileage.
The Ford was rusted badly on every panel, edges where Krown would work with the creep.
The Ram was pristine, Krowned every year.
Offered $14000 on the Ram
Offered $4000 on the Ford
 
I've got some personal experience with Ziebart rust proofing
When my dad ordered his '83 Grand Prix, they kinda talked him into it
It was garage kept until about a decade ago, so some of the experiment has been lost, but with only 58k on it, it's mostly solid
I can say for darn sure, if he daily drove in the salt/rain it'd have been gone decades ago
I must take some good pictures one of these days, there's a dozen or so little yellow plugs with the Ziebart logo on them in the door pillars, probably where they drilled

I've gotta find something in a can I can use to keep the two mostly non rusty Fusion/Milan I have nice and rust free

They aren't perfect, but they have rockers, most in the northeast don't anymore

That Wurth product looks good, but I can get a case of Krown at a more reasonable price per can
 
Everything I own gets Krown. 2 good examples, 2006 GM Sierra with 330,000 miles, rust free. 2009 Chevy cutaway chassis, 645,000 miles, rust free. It's a little messy but as mentioned earlier, nothing seizes, makes working on them easy. The ability of the product to creep and actually get under and lift moisture is what sold me years ago. Stuff gets professionally sprayed (vehicles get drilled 1st time)....not sure if it, or anything else works as well as it could if you're trying to do it with aerosol cans, better than nothing tho.
 
I use a product called Lanogaurd in the UK which I believe is very similar to fluid film.

I apply in Spring & Autumn. I thoroughly clean the underside of our cars in Spring, removing as much trim as possible, using stronger cleaners, brushing, scrubbing etc. Then apply a heavy coat of Lanogaurd. Then in Autumn I just snowfoam and pressure wash the underside and 'top-up' the earlier spring coat.

I apply using a Sealey SG18 and use the long lances to spray within cavities.

I've not had a chance to drive treat my brand new Dacia Duster yet which I'm not too pleased about as there's salt on the ground. :cry:
 
I'm no Krown fanatic - it has its pros/cons, i.e some claim weatherstrip degradation, drill holes, etc..

Here's a pic I posted earlier this year. Look at the creep from a tiny bead applied at the seam. Krown claims that in spite of wash-off appearance, there is a microscopic layer still present. This pic might support that - no visible layer, but you can see the metal difference. I sometimes wonder if the intuitive idea of a heavy visible layer is incorrect.

Outdoor HVAC cover:
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