Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

I love Woolwax and I'll shill for them all the time because it's a great product, but unless you have reasons not to paint your bare steel then I would 100% paint it.

 

Woolwax sells a product called "hard on" that is a one and done application. Fluid film or any other topical coating will wear off and the steel will rust quickly.

Eastwood also sells a black chassis paint that gets good reviews.

A third but pricey option is Steel-It. It's an aluminized spray or roll on paint that, once cured, can be welded on without the need to remove it. I've used this on my 80 series front bumper and it's bomb proof stuff, really excels at abrasion resistance once cured.

 

Your posts, tonight, keep raising more questions on my end.
I'm not real concerned about underbody sealing as this trucks frame will last longer than I plan to keep it.
What is this 'curing',? ....let it dry for 20 min or does it require a process?

 

Having done body and paint work most of my life, I want no part of cleaning that mess up and painting it. I would have it blasted, not sanded. Then I would just powder coat it. But I am on a budget with this project and I just blew it on lights. I also do not expect this to be treated nicely-I want offroad adventures and I don't mall crawl, so it will take a beating. Rattle can and touch up is good enough for me. Underneath I would like to seal it as much as possible from Wisconsin salt... That is the why.

Bed liner as I understand it cost nearly as much as powder coating AND you can't as easily change your mind and just clean it off and start welding again. I know that my ideas evolve and change. That stuff sticks and is very thick and my past experience with it and repairs is not a happy one. Everything I have made for this rig has evolved and changed many many times. As such I want to be able to make changes easy and without fuss, because I know they are coming. Bed liner is tough, but not sure about long term with the salt here... if it (rust) gets started the bedliner hides it until its too late...

Thanks for letting me talk it through...

 

I'm just going to throw out there, I drove my 1st gen for 15yrs with no frame protection. All was good.
A few extra washes in the winter and all is good.
I feel there's a slight overreaction to protecting these underbodies?

 

More so addressing @pearing on what he should do for a coating to protect his custom bed from rusting out.

For Steel-It, it's not your average paint. It's dry to the touch within two hours, but fully hardens (or "cures") in 5-10 days, depending on ambient conditions.

 

Given how much you change things up, weld on new stuff, repair tree-damaged stuff, then yeah powdercoating or bedliner might be a pain in the arse. Just at least do some rattle can paint on that bare steel. We are all going to cry if you just let it rust lol.

PS - Woolwax black is available in aerosol cans, not sure anyone replied to that earlier. Out of stock for the moment but back soon according to their site. Still more expensive than buying gallon pails and the spray gun to use with a compressor though. Tell your wife that buying the kit is the smart economical choice, then buy a couple gallons and do all the cars in your fleet.

https://www.woolwaxusa.com/Woolwax®-12-ozAerosol-Spray-Can-BLACK-1195-ea-when-you-buy-12_p_62.html

I never understood everyone's love for Steel-It until I bought a can this past summer. Stuff is super expensive but now I get it. Pretty awesome stuff if you can afford it. Would seem ideal for Pat if it didn't cost $420/gallon.

People in the Toyota crowd may be slightly more averse to frame rust than most because of all the frame rust issues in the past. I wouldn't say it's an overreaction given how much these trucks cost and how long they last. For some of us, it's an investment of sorts.

Personally I do all my own wrenching - always have and always will. I've had vehicles that look like they came from the bottom of the ocean with the Titanic. This is one of the first I've had where there is zero rust - and I mean zero because it came from Texas. This will be it's 4th winter in Wisconsin and if I wipe away those 3 layers of Woolwax I can still eat my dinner off the factory paint beneath. Not something everyone cares about but I do because I intend to keep this thing as long as possible.

 

Do you believe that if you don't fluid film the underbody that one day you will accelerate right off the frame?
Fall off your tires?. Maybe trying to get max dollar on a future trade in?
Not worth the time and money.
There's better investments

 

Thanks for sharing. I'll stick with what I do. Feel free to do what you think is best for your truck.

 

I used POR 15 on my sliders and skids. Has held up much better than paint did. It kinda bonds to the metal creating an impervious, rock hard coating. Metal prep is the key. You must paint over the POR if it will be exposed to UV rays or it will chalk.
https://youtu.be/8_ckBJxW6mU

 

Ya. I forget people are on different scenarios. My apologies.
I'm with @pearing on thee uh "drive it until you can't no more.'

 

The 1st gen frames regularly rotted apart. Maybe you got a good one. Some second gen frames also had severe rust issues. Nothing wrong with a little preventative maintenance.

 

It's an epoxy, so it is really hard, really. And for clarification, it has stainless flake in it, not aluminum. Seems to have held up well on my sliders.

 

I know. I get it.
My point is the human body can handle much more than most can anticipate and so can these trucks.

They aren't made of fruity pebbles and unicorn dust.

 

You're right, appreciate the clarification. I was seriously impressed with how it held up on your sliders, Rich!

 

My 3rd gen has 100k on the clock and there is very little rust on the frame. I have, since new, gone through the car wash at least weekly once the salt flies every year. Same for my 2nd gen, which passed inspection for the frame recall at somewhere around 160k.

I don't think there is anything wrong with a little extra precaution. In the long run, it really doesn't cost that much.

 

Nothing wrong at all.
I'm weighing my options by every post you all put up.
The severity of NOT fluid filming isn't as extreme as I feel it's portrayed, not only on this thread but across the entire TW site.
It's personal preference as is life.

 

Both my 1st and 2nd gen had frame replacements from doing nothing. Since discovering fluid film / woolwax I’ve been applying every year in the fall at minimum.

seems well worth the few minutes and couple bucks it takes each year to keep things nice. Also makes it a lot easier working on not having to deal with everything being rusted.

 

My human body is defective and there's never been a factory recall to correct it. If I accidentally ingest a bite or two of poultry I'll probably die if there isn't an epipen nearby. On the other hand, I have put this meat sack through a lot of trials and it's not too broken down yet.

I'll take this opportunity to remind everyone that Thursday is Thanksgiving and not "turkey day." I'll be enjoying a delicious pork roast swimming in gravy.

 

Well, I don't think Toyota bought back old trucks and replaced frames on others just for fun. And, it seems like the problem never gets solved. Maybe a few extra washes will make it last. Maybe it won't.

What's weird is that it seemed like the bodies would rust out on the older pickups as opposed to the frames.