New 2021 TRD Off-Road, should I worry about rust yet?

Good afternoon Taco people!

I'm a new Toyota Tacoma owner (at last!) and my Taco is a 2021 TRD Off-Road that I got 6 days ago. Here in Central PA we had a fair amount of salt and ice on the roads and I've already put on 300 miles on the car haha. However, I'm quite concerned about the salt on the frame. I didn't undercoat it or anything at all. How worried should I be about rust? I was planning on washing the undercarriage after the roads are salt-free. Until then, should I be worried? Thanks!

 

Until better weather, just take it to a car wash that has and undercarriage water spray feature. That's unless there is somebody local in town that does frame undercoating as a service.

 

Wash it when you can (temps rise) & get it coated this spring as soon as you're able.

B/C of work opportunities I drove mine prior to having it done for a few months to a hurricane site, all around it & back (even more salt in the air than normal on the coast b/c of the surge & such) & it was clean when I got back home & got it coated. I probably had 5kish miles on it at the time.

It doesn't turn to **** quite that fast.

Also welcome to TW.

 

wash when temps are close to 32*F.

Fluid Film before every winter.

 

If there is an oil spraying service locally, get it done ASAP

 

Imo, as soon as the warm weather comes, pressure wash the under carriage well, and hit the frame with cosmoline rp-342 before any rust sets in. Its what i did last summer. Its been though several snow storms and a ton of salty roads already and still appears like i did it yesterday. I've used ff in the past on my 2001 tundra. Nothing wrong with fluid film, but it doesn't last more than a year before its got to be done completely over if you live in the rust belt. This cosmoline is the rats ass. I think i'll be good for years with only a few touchups.

 

Interesting, I've actually wanted to do Cosmoline RP-342 but I don't have my own garage. How many cans would I have to use? And can I do it at a parking lot or is the spray that hard to deal with? I'd rather prefer Cosmoline over FF because it doesn't require yearly application. Are there places that do Cosmoline undercoating? The closest place to me is like 80 miles away, sadly.

 

I bought 6 spray cans off eBay...used them all, but didn't hit some areas as the composite bed. I did mine in the driveway laying down a couple canvas tarps and driving the truck onto them. Jacked it up..removed all the wheels, and spare plus the engine shield, and had at it. Just suit up well with a mask and head cover. This stuff goes on well the hotter the day is. I did my when it was over 90f that day. Must of lost 5lbs or more in sweat that afternoon. As far as shops, I'm in connecticut and don't know anyone that uses this stuff. Seems any shop that rustproofs has their own stuff. FF seems the most popular where they can make money every year on repeat customers. Mercedes and bmws both use cosmoline before they send their new cars out, so it must be pretty good.

 

Wash it as often as you can until you get it fluid film, wool wax or some other oil based spray.

 

Welcome to TW and as a fellow member from Central PA.
You should just wash it after this weather is over. I did fluid film to mine in September. I'd use that, woolwax or some say Cosmoline.

If you don't want to do it yourself then there is a place that does Krown rust protection on Vogelsong Road in york pa.
820 VOGELSONG ROAD, SUITE #2
YORK, Pennsylvania
17404

717-430-2866

I believe they charge about $150 for the service they recommended anually.

Also see there is a Mechanicsburg location:
Krown Mechanicsburg and Line-X of Cumberland County
5253 EAST SIMPSON FERRY ROAD
MECHANICSBURG, Pennsylvania
17050

717-458-8404

 

@Cyberian Congrats on your OffRoad. I am in the same situation. I had just picked up my Taco OffRoad last Monday and the truck has seen its share of snow and salt as we speak. I live in the York area, so we have similar weather situation right now. Fortunately, I purchased ceramic coating, undercoating and fabric protection for my truck and is scheduled to be applied next Tuesday. Before the application is applied, they said it will undergo some detailed cleaning before the application. As mentioned, undercoating can be the best purchase you can get for your truck if you plan to keep it for a long time.

 

Welcome to TW

 

Welcome to Tacoma World, if you have a power washer I suggest buying one of these

$23 M MINGLE Pressure Washer Undercarriage Cleaner, Under Car Wash, 4000 PSI (13")

https://www.amazon.com/Mingle-Press...keywords=under+car+wash&qid=1613747684&sr=8-7
It'll help keep the bottom clean, Once it's nice and clean get it fluid filmed

 

I'm actually in the process of moving to PA from Bay Area, Ca. I hear nothing but crazy stories about salt damaging undercarriage of cars. So I started prepping....

 

With my last few vehicles that I owned for more than 5years I never had bad problems with rust holes and stuff. They never stayed perfect but looked better than some cars. You really have to be diligent with getting an undercarriage wash if you aren't going to get any other rust prevention done.
The Tacoma is the first I went and did anything like that to. It's also the only brand new vehicle and most expensive one for me so far. I feel like it's worth the extra prevention.
Getting a head start isn't a bad idea. Just stay away from rubberized undercoating.

 

buy 4 cans at Lowe's for now... do the bottoms of the doors, and the bottom of the tailgate, hood, and the rockers at least. use the drain access holes, and HOSE IT IN THERE. body wise those are the most prone to rust. get a good set of mudflaps too. Ski

 

Sweet. Thanks for the advice. I've been in Cali all my life (40+ yrs). East Coast will be a shocker. Thank god my wife is from Jersey so she already gave me a heads up lol.

 

That's definitely good advice too. Some of the rocker panel plugs were actually close and I was able to get the long 360° hose thing I got for my FF cans far enough it wasn't required to pull every one.