Undercoat/Bed Liner/FF

Alright guys, I am torn between all of this under-car protection. I am reading thread after thread. Site after site and opinion after opinion and can't figure out what I want to do. They all conflict!

I have a brand new 2013 and the winter is coming, Fast!

I live in NY and they salt the crap out of our roads. This is what your average 10-15 year old car looks like from NY. Now you can only imagine the frame.




I want to prevent all rust on this new Tacoma and want to see what you all think. I am not too worried about body panels because they are well protected (fender flares and such) and anything else like hood chips gets taken care of immediately.



What side are you on? Choose above.

 

I just wanna be here to see the answer. Just bought a '13 myself because my 04 was not going to pass inspection from holes in the frame. Still wondering what to do myself. If I had to have an answer right now I would probably say Fluid Film.

 

idk what would be good to use. guess i could ask some family that is around buffalo..


also OP no mater what you do, it would be goo to wash the under side a lot thru out the winter, even if you just hose it off some. like wheel wells.(salt can get trapped between the body panels and fender flairs, so wash around those best you can.(and if though i think it,s kinda PITA, maybe take them off come spring and wash it all out good.) also i know some car washes have the under body wash, maybe do that once every other week or so.(or every week if you want)


I know some of my family wash there cars/trucks every few weeks thru out the winter to help keep the rust at bay.

 

I wash my vehicle constantly during the summer, and twice as constant during the winter. I keep the salt and everything off the best I can, but I still want the best protection for the frame, underside of the cab and all suspension components

 

i have heard of people spraying diesel/oil mixture on the underworkings before winter.

i personaly just wash it after the snow and salt is gone, and as spots creep up touch them up with primer/anti rust black paint.

one of my old cars was completely rust free and drove in the snow one time then parked for 6 months and it was horrid how much had grown (i was out of country) i had to do tons of cleaning and i used the undercoating spray. its nasty stuff but it seems to work well..

i think its semi rubbery finish is to keep it more durable than hard paint but i dont know for sure.

 

Toyota's frame coating sucks, and most of the welds will have spots of exposed metal. My 2013 has surface rust on every single frame weld. Luckily I don't live in a corrosive environment, but everyone with a Toyota BOF, that doesn't want their frame rusting out, should go over all of their frame welds with something like POR-15 or Rust Bullet.

My 2013's Frame frame at 2000 miles..



After that, maintenance with Fluid Film and regular washes should help.

 

Just adding my .02 cents. I have rhino lining or line x on my steel bumper and I can tell you that even though there is a nice thick coating on it....the bumper is rusting underneath. I can see it in some of the open spots (pin size). I guess that stuff gets sprayed on like foam and then hardens. I also happened to drill a hole on the lower section of it for access to the winch (.5 inch diameter) and it's just rusting like crazy underneath the lining below there. I think it acts as a moisture barrier in this case holding it in! lol I'll post pics soon. I'm guessing it would be somewhat similar on the frame and undercarriage.

 

This is my worry, keeping moisture and salt in making the frame rot from under the "coating" and into the metal.

Maybe I should just por15 it while it's brand new lol

 

This. .................

 

The scary thing about undercoating is that if there is any kind of corrosive material on the frame at all when you spray it, it's trapped under there and will do even more damage. I just take mine to a car wash and spray down the entire undercarriage regularly in the winter and my frame is in pretty good shape. If I did anything it would be a Fluid Film thing.

 

My truck was brand new at the time I asked this


I went with fluid film, that stuff is awesome!

 

Just curious, you say you spray under the truck.. Do you still recommend a combination of cleaner + warm water? I don't want to have a de-greaser ruin parts that shouldn't be devoid of grease (are there any on the under part of a truck?). Plus I'm totally new to the whole DIY fix/clean thing.

I have this basic pay n' spray power wash station I can get to. Aside from using fluid film for corrosion resistance is there a good cleaner I can get from a car parts store that is a good application for the underside?

Thanks in advance guys.

 

Here is a great thread where a guy tests fluid film and several other products. Check it out, it's pretty impressive.

http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f35/rust-protection-fluid-film-vs-xf7-vs-wd-40-a-38007/

 

wildcats, that is a very nice find..thanks for posting.

Newb here: I was still hoping to get some idea of what cleaner can be used on the undercarriage and where I can clean without destroying areas that need to have some grease on them (if any?).

 

Nevermind. I found something on another forum via Google.

My first search on google with "inurl:tacomaworld.com clean undercarriage" yeilded this below in our forum, but not much detail there.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/detailing/258282-undercarriage-cleaning.html

Removed the domain filter and voila, something on another foum:

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/showthread.php?94144-Best-way-to-clean-undercarriage

 

Fluid Film is a great DIY option. You can get it in a rattle can for quick spot protection or you can purchase it in gallon sizes, melt a candle into it to make it "stick" and run it through an air sprayer.

Personally, I am a fan of Ziebart and have mentioned this several times on here. THis shit just plain works. Its a petroleum based undercoating that is sprayed on after the frame is cleaned and acid washed to neutralize any rust...

This is my 2010 and I have not had a single rust issue with it.... oh and I am from Maine originally where we have all that salt and shit on the roads.