Undercoating confusion

Hello all,
I’m brand new to the site and Tacomas. I just bought a ‘21 and am wondering what people are doing about undercoating. My dealership in Maine did not offer it in house and said Toyota did necessarily recommend any. With so many products out there, who knows what to do!
Thanks much in advance.

 

Use something like Fluid Film, Cosmoline or NHOU... Do it yourself or have a pro apply it for you.
Toyota has still not resolved the frame rust issues even in the 3rd Gen. So they will rust and you will have to own the problem. Toyota won't really help you.

 

Wondering how often this needs to be reapplied and does that matter if you pay a "pro" to do it? Does it interfere with installing armor or sliders, as in, not allow bolts to fully tighten, etc?

 

Most of the Corrosion Inhibitor type coatings will not interfere with fasteners or clearances, they are like a thin grease or thick oil or waxy shell depending what product. The rubberized undercoating stuff is not an inhibitor, it it intended the seal off the surface. Both have pros and cons. The thinner stuff like fluidfilm will require more reapplication than the thicker/waxy stuff like cosmoline or CRCs Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor, how much so depends on conditions and things like rain/water on road, speed, etc. Some of the versions stay wet/oily so they can attract dust/dirty and accumulate, especially on vehicles that are lots of off road/dirt road miles. I would avoid penetrating corrosion inhibitors like ACF50 and Corrosion X. They are great for stopping galvanic cells and getting between sheet metal seams but they can also get into bolted or riveted joints and allow them to loosen up.

 

For what it's worth after a TON of research I settled on cosmoline.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rp-342-cosmoline.687112/

There's also a good comparison video within this thread. Check that out too.

 

Once a year at a minimum.... if you live in a winter salt on the roads zone...

 

With the CRC Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor, which seems very similar to cosmoline but might dry to a little harder shell, I have only had to do spot touchup once a year and it's usually where I've been working on things. Even the layer on the front of the LCAs were intact after a Michigan winter. The one downside to me is that it requires a solvent to remove it quickly and completely. Toluene or acetone works very well, and MEK does pretty good, too. Alcohol works, but requires more time and elbow grease.

 

Thanks for all the advice. Cosmoline it is.

 

I'm a big fan of the CRC as well. Amazing how wet it is, until it dries, it's surprisingly thick. I wish I could find toluene, no one around me sells it.

 

In the 80s, BMW coated their engine bays with cosmoline, the dealers were to remove it during the pre-delivery inspections. Many dealers did not remove that stuff. Now 30 years and 256k miles later, my 1991 BMW convertible still has cosmoline on the engine and all over the engine bay. That stuff does not come off.

 

Yep, toyota claimed they have meet their responsibility for manufacturing the truck and indicated its now my responsibility to maintain it including keeping the chassis washed periodically, especially during the winter if in the rust belt. Imo, cosmoline is the way to go on a clean new frame, unless you prefer to do it every year with products like fluid film. Both will work fine preventing rust.

 

Bmw, and mercedes still use cosmoline today from what i've been told.

 

After a number of years, and the baking on the engines, that shit doesnt not come off either

 

Geez, you'd think they'd have enough brain's to coat the chassis first before installing the engine.

 

Oh god no, they just pop the hood and hose that shit down. Look at any bmw e30 and you will see most of them have yellow engines.

 

fluid film and woolwax, are very popular around here. I use both. Ski

 

Xylene is much easier to find and is a suitable substitute as long as the base material is ok with it. It's harmful to some plastics/rubbers and some one part paints (even after they cure), and may dull a polished paint/clear coat. It's safe on cured polyurethane paints. A google search for "Xylene compatibility" should get a list of materials it will damage.

Edit:
You can read a little more about toluene and xylene here. Just before halfway down.

https://thefinishingstore.com/blogs/news/127174467-understanding-solvents-part-i

 

I thought it was there for shipping overseas; not necessarily a long term treatment. Don't they coat all painted exterior panels as well?

 

I wonder if xylene will thin shoe-goo. I wanna use shoe-goo for custom strain reliefs and label maker protectors.

 

Is that the clear contact cement stuff? If so, it might not. I don't think it works great on synthetic adhesives. Worth a try if you have some, though.