Just sanded and fluid filmed my frame

Just spent 3 hours under my truck. I panicked a bit because a few flakes the size of a toonie came off in a few places exposing orange rust on the frame. Good news is it sanded down to bare metal real quick. All in all I think my frame looks good. Three cans of fluid film and she is done until mid summer. I will probably sand it again before winter and then reapply fluid film.

 

Is there a reason you don't want to paint THEN fluid film? I wouldn't leave the metal exposed like that - fluid film or not.

I bet only 30-40% of people on here even know what a toonie is. Lol

 

Good call. I was thinking about it. I will wait until summer and then spot sand it down again and paint it.

 

Hey, what's a toonie?

 

A two dollar coin about twice the size of a quarter. Funny.

 

You're going to have a hard time getting paint to stick to it now that it's been oiled up. Make sure you clean it really well and good luck!

 

Yeah I was thinking that too. Well I only sanded the two or three spots and a couple of the welds so If I decided to paint it it would be easy. That being said I think I am just going to leave it and continue with the twice a year fluid film treatments. Like I said I think my frame seems really good when compared to what others have posted on these forums. Those three spots were sanded down to bare metal in 60 seconds each and I just have minor rusting on some of the welds.

Sometimes I worry about covering up the problem because then you can tell what going on.

 

A toonie--fascinating--learn something new everyday

 

I put mine up on ramps last night and even though I only have 1500 miles I could already see little rust spots starting out all over the place. I soaked the entire undercarriage with soap (generic auto wash for pressure washer stuff), then pressure washed it for about an hour to get every trace of road salt off. I went all out and got a new air compressor, a hot plate, a 1 gallon fluid film kit w/ pro spray gun, and 2 giant canvas drop cloths. From what I've read it sprays just fine at room temp but I figure a little hot water presoak will make everything mix, pour, and spray that much easier. Tonight I'll put it back up on the ramps and coat absolutely everything. I figure one treatment right now, another this fall, and then after that I'll just rinse it real good each spring and respray it each fall. I lost my first pickup to frame rust but that's not happening to this one!

 

I will be treating mine in the spring and in the fall. Rust is normal but I intend to do what I can to control and slow down the rate at which mine rusts. On a seperate note. The Fluid Film was still clearly visible and thick in places where I was not able to pressure wash over the winter. So that means it lasted 6 months of Canadian winters and was still sticking to the frame. Good stuff.

 

Just got done, it probably took about 3-4 hrs. The 1 gal can of fluid film is way thicker than the aerosol stuff. About the same consistency as peanut butter if you warm it up in the microwave, yet it sprays pretty good. Getting a few aerosol cans will definitely be quicker, cheaper, and easier but I doubt it will stick as good as the heavy stuff.

I have this air compressor:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-4...l-Twin-Stack-Air-Compressor-MAC2400/202713485

It got the the job done, but it's not quite up to the task. It probably takes about a half hour to fill up from empty, and I had to stop 3 times and wait 15-20 mins for it to catch up. The pro sprayer from Kellsport works at any PSI above 5 or 10 or so, but it makes a really nice spray at 60. To help my compressor keep up, I set my regulator at 20psi so I wouldn't have to stop as much. It didn't vaporize as well but the droplets still covered well and they were small so I figure they'll spread out over the next few weeks and cover the entire surface.

The extension wand doesn't work at all at lower PSI but did just fine when I cranked it back up to 60. Extremely useful for getting into places you can't really see, or enclosed portions of frame. I'd recommend starting with this and then switching to the main nozzle after you're done. I would have saved a lot of time I spent trying to hit hard-to-reach places the first time around.

For clearance, I drove up on top of 4 of the 8" rhino ramps. It was a little tight in some places but I was able to get the entire undercarriage.

Going forward, I'm not going to use any soap down there anymore. My pressure washer is pretty weak so I think if I hit it real thoroughly every spring after the salt trucks are put away, it will clean the salt out without removing all the fluid film. Then I'll respray fluid film in the fall before it gets cold out and I think it will get 100% coverage down there over the years. Next project is to figure out how to get some of it inside my door and rocker panels.

 

Toonie: Too-nee; a canadian coin meaning (two) dollars, originated from the coin loonie (one dollar)

That's what it's all aboot eh

 

Am I the only one who had to google "fluid film"? Had never heard of it..

 

Yes

 

If you're in Canada then I would go with Krown, applied yearly just before the first snowfall.

Also, just so everyone else is tracking, the one dollar coin is called a 'Loonie' because there is a bird called a Loon on one side of it.

 

No

 

Those weird wacky Canadians.

 

Fluid film is awesome.

 

Glad we don't deal with this down here.