I'm taking my Tacoma in to get rust proofed

So in the last 10 months, we have bought a new Tacoma and a new 4 Runner. And I want to get them rust proofed before the snow flies and the salt gets put on the roads. Ive researched on here about rust proofing both vehicles myself, I know I could save alot of money doing it myself but I gotta be honest. Ive come to the conclusion that Id rather just pay my local Ziebart to do it. I dont want to deal with the mess.
I figured I would ask for any recommendations on stuff to have them tape/mask off so they dont get coated. Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

 

Where are you located?

 

Ziebart is a BIG no no.
Use only Fluid Film, Wool Wax, Krown, Cosmoline or other oil products.
Rinse frame regularly and apply corrosion prevention every Spring and Fall.

 

Northwest Indiana, between South Bend and Chicago

 

Great

 

Don't use Zibart.
Use this, I have been using this stuff for decades.
Good luck with your truck.

 

Hey my friend, where are the Dirt King LCA's

 

Coal tar may be good for CA.
Stay far away from ANY hard undercoating.

 

Pretty clean job, did you take anything apart before you did it or did you just tape everything off? Is it hard to remove?

 

I'd stay away from any hard black appearing undercoating. Some of it is really crap. and will do more damage than if the truck had nothing. Imo, any cosmoline type product is best.

 

I encourage you not to do this. You risk having your frame rot underneath the coating...as it will trap moisture. In addition to that....it's the boxed sections near the cats that rot from the inside.

Skip coatings and go with a liquid film as others have mentioned. Flood the inside of those boxed areas.

I personally use Liquid Wrench rust inhibitor

 

Got uppers too, just need to install them.
Every since COVID-19 broke out, it's really been insane for me this year. Missed the Moab trip this year and have been on a emergency 24/7 callout since. Maybe next year I will get some time off. You take care and be safe out there Brother.

 

You as well my friend, might swing out your way next year myself.

 

It's just epoxy paint, but you do have to spray it on with a large tip. It's thick. I do it right in the driveway. I use it on bumpers, sidebars, skids, or when ever I do a suspension upgrade.

 

Thank you for your advice. Im gonna cancel our appts and look at doing it myself. I have the whole first week of November off. I will do a fluid film or possibly wool wax. I just know I want to keep these 2 for the next decade and want to do what I can to protect them. Its the first time we have bought new vehicles...

 

I borrowed my buddies borescope recently to check the condition of the boxed sections of my frame. They're perfect....nice and juicy from injecting them full of rust inhibitor every fall. I also coat the leaf springs and spray it down the inside bottom of open C-channel the whole length of the frame....both sides.

And every 5k miles at each oil change my intermediate steering shaft u-joint gets a healthy dose of the same Liquid Wrench rust inhibitor.

 

There are pluses and minuses to each type of coating.

Rubberized coatings can trap moisture rusting it from the inside out
Woolwax or fluid film can easily be washed off or wiped away

Ive been spraying fluid film for 2 years, Ive gone through about 10 cans (spray cans) and I have no rust. But, I also wash my truck every other day in the winter. The fluid film settles into the areas that dont get sprayed by the car wash under carriage sprayer, so it protects those areas really well.

Another thing that many people dont think of is that water causes rust, but ice does not. So if you park your truck in a garage in the winter, all that snow melts into water and creates salty water that sits all year long on your truck while its in the garage. Snow boogers fall off the mud flaps to the ground where they melt into salt water puddles, these evaporate into a salty air that lingers because there is no ventilation in the garage, it condenses on the trucks frame and slowly eats it away.


So in short, fluid film it, wash it all the time, and park outside.

 

It's also basically impossible to treat the inside of the boxed sections with rubberized undercoating

 

Fluid film or woolwax. Once in spring and once in fall.

Woolwax is said to be thicker less prone to washoff than fluid film. Also supposed to smell less. Its slightly cheaper to order direct from the manufacturer, and they even posted a discount code up on another offroad forum (try googling fluid film vs woolwax)

https://www.kellsportproducts.com/W...arts-PRO-GUN-with-2-Extension-wands_p_67.html

I found my local napa carries 5 gallon buckets of this stuff. The kit above was enough for me to do two heavy coats on my Tacoma with some to spare for next year.

 

Only issue using either of those two rust inhibitors is you'll be doing the entire process over again a year later, but at least your doing something to prevent rust from forming.