Hello guy,s I want to get my truck undercoated this year and was wondering if anyone that lives in the rust belt has any special flavor they recommed.
What,s the best undercoating
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Being from the "rust belt" as well, I've tried commercial oil spray and the tar/rubber type undercoatings over the years. None of them ever held up well. Now I go without & just try to keep them as clean as possible & touch up with paint as needed.
G/luck
Joel
G/luck
Joel
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A fresh coat of cosmolene on the clean undercarriage works well. Steam-clean it off in the spring and re-apply in the fall.
Know of a couple folks who are very happy with the AMSOIL Heavy Duty MP. One says the best way to apply it is to put the car on a lift, then send a teenager with a face mask under to do the spraying.
It's been my understanding that undercoating is formulated for noise reduction as opposed to rust protection.
Best of luck.
Best of luck.
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Depends on the undercoating. Most cars have a soft rubber-like undercoating that dampens sound somewhat (think tiny pebbles constantly pelting the chassis) and that also keeps out road salt and moisture. In many countries additional underocating is applied once or twice a year. When I lived in Germany, we always had the old undercoating (cosmolene, paraffinated wax?) removed in the spring and replaced with fresh undercoating in the fall. If properly done, rust wasn't an issue.
Sorry guy,s I mean rust proofing ,around here we call it undercoating
Speaking of cosmoline does anyone know where you can buy it over the counter?
Kestas
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I can vouch for Texaco rustproofing compound as being the best. It doesn't harden, but needs to be reapplied every 2-5 years, depending on whether you're talking about a high-wash area or an inner door panel. Stay away from the rubberized or waxy coatings which can harden and delaminate and eventually trap wet corrosion in the gaps.
I base my recommendation on using this rustproofing compound for over 20 years here in the Rust Belt. I've never had a car rust where the product was applied. Plus, a Chrysler engineer who was an expert in corrosion issues recommended this product to me. The only corrosion I've seen on my cars is where it started on the outside 'class A' finish surfaces, or on odd areas I couldn't cover, like the inside of the A pillar.
Keval85, if you live near Detroit, I can get you contact information where you can buy a 5-gal pail of this stuff in Detroit. The only problem after that is finding a way to spray it on your car. They also sell in 1/4 barrel quantities.
I base my recommendation on using this rustproofing compound for over 20 years here in the Rust Belt. I've never had a car rust where the product was applied. Plus, a Chrysler engineer who was an expert in corrosion issues recommended this product to me. The only corrosion I've seen on my cars is where it started on the outside 'class A' finish surfaces, or on odd areas I couldn't cover, like the inside of the A pillar.
Keval85, if you live near Detroit, I can get you contact information where you can buy a 5-gal pail of this stuff in Detroit. The only problem after that is finding a way to spray it on your car. They also sell in 1/4 barrel quantities.
Talk to a local body shop. They will tell you not to use undercoating because it traps moisture causing more damage.
Well thanks for the offer KESTAS but I live in CANADA so by the time it crossed the border in Nov or dec 2008 it would cost me $400.00 in duty, GST(the great canadian take up the a$$ tax)and broker fees and envormental charges etc etc.So I am looking at a product we have here called KROWN you can check it out at www.krown.com and tell me what you think
Kestas
Staff member
I checked the link. Go for it. It looks good for a number of reasons.
1. Fair price.
2. There's no mention that it turns waxy. Most treatments advertise this as a plus, but technically this would be a bad thing for the car. Like c_rossman said, some treatments can trap moisture. I have a feeling this product doesn't. It's made of isoparaffinic hydrocarbons. Maybe somebody who has a better feel for this chemical can chime in on its properties.
http://www.krown.com/pdf/t40eng.pdf
3. They are honest about this product dripping and needing reapplication. These are the characteristics of a good rustproofing compound that will probably stay 'wet' and adherent to the car, just like the compound mentioned in my previous post.
The one downside may be the cost of the recommended reapplication every year. You may get by by doing it every 2-3 years like I do. It's best to pick a hot, dry day to have your car teated so the compound can flow into all the nooks and crannies, where corrosion is the worst.
Also, a lot of mechanics - especially body men - don't like to work on cars that are treated with this stuff because it's such a mess to work with.
1. Fair price.
2. There's no mention that it turns waxy. Most treatments advertise this as a plus, but technically this would be a bad thing for the car. Like c_rossman said, some treatments can trap moisture. I have a feeling this product doesn't. It's made of isoparaffinic hydrocarbons. Maybe somebody who has a better feel for this chemical can chime in on its properties.
http://www.krown.com/pdf/t40eng.pdf
3. They are honest about this product dripping and needing reapplication. These are the characteristics of a good rustproofing compound that will probably stay 'wet' and adherent to the car, just like the compound mentioned in my previous post.
The one downside may be the cost of the recommended reapplication every year. You may get by by doing it every 2-3 years like I do. It's best to pick a hot, dry day to have your car teated so the compound can flow into all the nooks and crannies, where corrosion is the worst.
Also, a lot of mechanics - especially body men - don't like to work on cars that are treated with this stuff because it's such a mess to work with.
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That's good to know!
Like someone said, the rubberized undercoatings tend to crack and trap moisture, aggravating the rusting. Cosmoline doesn't crack, and if applied on a dry-as-a-bone undercarriage, it won't trap moisture.
Called a local shop that uses KROWN said I can buy a 5 gallon pail of it for $60.00,so took my truck to a friend that has a hoist and gave it a good pressure washing(and myself too)going to let her dry till saturday and spray it myself.I have had cars sprayed with motor oil before but it seems to disappear after a couple of months.Talked to a guy that gets his 86 ford F150 done with KROWN and the truck body is mint said he got it done every year at first ,but now he does it every 3 years as it holds up pretty well.
Kestas
Staff member
That's about the same price as the Texaco rustproof compound. It almost sounds like the same thing, but I know the Texaco stuff is essentially wool grease with 1-3% stearic acid. Wool grease is essentially lanolin and is environmentally friendly (it comes from sheep!)
I can't believe cosmoline can hold up with time... it's hard, and it chips easily.... my car has it, but only to protect it during shipping from overseas without having a greasy coating all over a new car. I can't imagine it's designed for long term use in the heavy salt here in the Rust Belt.
[ August 31, 2004, 03:00 PM: Message edited by: Kestas ]
I can't believe cosmoline can hold up with time... it's hard, and it chips easily.... my car has it, but only to protect it during shipping from overseas without having a greasy coating all over a new car. I can't imagine it's designed for long term use in the heavy salt here in the Rust Belt.
[ August 31, 2004, 03:00 PM: Message edited by: Kestas ]
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Cosmoline should hold up for one season. Anyway, it doesn't seem brittle to me. It's really more like a sticky wax. It does get harder with cold, but I've never seen it chip off. Maybe it doesn't work in extreme temperatures? I know that it gets a bit runny at high temps.
From what I can tell the Amsoil Heavy Duty Metal Protector is basically Cosmoline.. I've also used it to undercoat my car and truck. It forms a durable waxy coating that repels water and salt...
Amsoil HD Metal protector is very waxy, but not too sticky. Certainly never gets hard. It actually seems to last more than one season.
I have a test location under the left front wheel well where I scratched the original coating and paint down to bare steel when changing struts. I clean and coat this spot every two years or so, and no rust so far. The HD coating sort thins out with age but the actual scratch stays filled. I suppose you could use that as a guideline for other under body surfaces....flat exposed area will clear faster than wells, etc (makes sense)
I have a test location under the left front wheel well where I scratched the original coating and paint down to bare steel when changing struts. I clean and coat this spot every two years or so, and no rust so far. The HD coating sort thins out with age but the actual scratch stays filled. I suppose you could use that as a guideline for other under body surfaces....flat exposed area will clear faster than wells, etc (makes sense)
What do you guys think of taking an all purpose grease and smearing the under body with it by hand?
I did this on saturday after noticing the rust damage my truck is starting to suffer from. One tube of grease only covered the floor area of the cab on the outsides of the frame rails. I was carful not to get any near the exhaust or wires, but liberally applied it to the body seams and welds. Besides slowly melting off, dripping and generally being a mess, won't this work better than undercoating?
PS - I used the rubberized undercoating when it was new. Not a good idea. Rust formed underneath the coating, but it looked fine for a couple of years. I had to scrape some of it off to find that rust was spreading underneath!
I did this on saturday after noticing the rust damage my truck is starting to suffer from. One tube of grease only covered the floor area of the cab on the outsides of the frame rails. I was carful not to get any near the exhaust or wires, but liberally applied it to the body seams and welds. Besides slowly melting off, dripping and generally being a mess, won't this work better than undercoating?
PS - I used the rubberized undercoating when it was new. Not a good idea. Rust formed underneath the coating, but it looked fine for a couple of years. I had to scrape some of it off to find that rust was spreading underneath!
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