Application of Fluid Film

I bought fluid film from Lowes in the spray can. About $10.00 per can. This may have been mentioned before but note, if you spray it inside the door bottoms be prepared for the smell. It lasts for months and when its hot and humid .....
Works great on the frame internally from what I can see but it still smells for days in that application.

 

I'm a big fan of the fluid film. I use the gallon bucket with the air gun and my frame looks brand new. Spray it 1-2 times per year depending on what kind of winter we have.

 

i bought another rust proof product for inside my doors called Rust Proof Formula 3000 because of the smell.It was at canadian tire.Ive never heard of it before but it had a lot of amazing rust proofing claims on the can.lol.

 

Did some research but can't seem to find an answer... is there any contraindication for spraying fluid film over the black tar like undercoating (not sure exactly what it is, but it's black, but still fairly thick liquid, like roofing tar almost)? The dealership I bought my truck from coated the undercarriage in that stuff, but now its starting to come off in places and there are spots I would like to protect with fluid film. If I re-coat the whole truck in fluid film, will it cause any adverse reaction?

 

Curious too. I got frame coated with Toyota's CRC compound as part of the campaign last summer and as expected it is cracking in places allowing water to enter. Planning to coat with Fluid Film again, so that it can seep in all those small cracks and hopefully prevent or slow down rusting. Kind of a waste as it is not doing much where the coating is intact.

 

I applied a small area as a test patch to see if it has any reaction on the existing undercoating. Will let you know what happens.

 

Fluid Film oozes into every nook and cranny over time. I would suspect that if you sprayed it over an undercoating that has started peeling it would seep under it and cause it to peel more. Not a bad thing though since the FF would just protect the metal as it exposed it. I FF once a year and at the end of every year I spend all summer pressure washing the underside and inside the frame rails every week. Then I FF at the end of summer. Inside and out everywhere. After a year when I pressure wash the inside and outside of the frame once it dries I still see FF seeping out of the frame holes to the outside of the frame. It's pretty tenacious stuff. I only use soap for the first one or two washings and then just pure water for the rest of the summer.

I have very light surface rust on some places on the outside of the frame. Nothing serious and I'm going into my 3rd Wyoming winter.

 

I check my frame every fall.
I sand and spray rust converter then spray a top coat. Then I FF the undercarrage.
These truck frames actually flake the paint off. So sanding and prep is important. You know when you missed a spot the next year..
I never pressure wash the frame. If there is a buildup of dirt in spots I'll just hose the loose stuff off. Of course if you off-road and build up 1/2 inch of muck then of course you need to get it off.
I'll wait then spray right over the dust and light dirt. The frame has a slight buildup of "FF dust"
If I take my finger and rub the dirt off its clean black frame under. I have missed spots so it's going to be constant repaint and spray on all drivetrain and frame components. I wish we didn't have to do it but my gmc frame rotted out, my dodge frame rotted out.
I may sandblast a few spots on my rear diff next year as I have 2 spots that constantly need attention.
I just use 3 or 4 cans every year.

Oh I love the smell.
We have a FF spray party in the fall. We check each other's truck after for missed spots.

 

Sprayed the frame everywhere I could get to over Toyota's CRC compound. Used 3 cans of Fluid Film. I will order 360 wand for aerosol cans next and once it arrives here I will quickly go over the boxed sections and inside cross members and will touch up some spots that I may have missed.

During winter, do you guys ever spray the frame off from all the muck and salt or is it better to never touch it until spring to keep as much Fluid Film on as possible?

 

Do not spray it during the Winter you will wash most of it off

 

Makes sense. Couple of washes and I'm sure most of it will be gone.

 

Also if you spray it, you can force the salt into places it may not normally go.

 

I second this

 

I removed the old stuff from 2 seasons with por 51 degreaser and cleaner before spraying again thjs season. the por 51 worked great

 

The last two winters i have done an undercarriage wash at the car wash every week. It does remove the FF from the outside of the frame but I don't think it takes it off of the hard to reach areas where the FF really needs to be such as inside the frame. My undercarriage gets caked with inches of mud and road grime all winter long. I just can't stand it so I do the undercarriage washes. It also removes salt that splashes up into everything. I had two inches of mud in one of my front skid plates when I pulled them at the beginning of this summer. Just driving in heavy rain will pressure wash the outside of the frame and remove the FF so I figure undercarriage washes keep the salt off of the bare spots.

 

When I went to reapply fluid film to my truck this year, I found a very thick layer of dirt stuck to the fluid film around the wheels and along the outside of the frame rails. Kind of forced me to power wash it off. The center of the truck just had a very light dusting of dirt on the still wet looking fluid film.

I use a low pressure angled garden hose sprayer to rinse the undercarriage in the winter.

 

That is definitely one thing FF does. Attract dirt. However, if the dirt and salt is on top of the FF then it's not on the metal so I don't care. My frame right now is brown with all the dirt stuck to the FF. That's fine by me. I applied it about 3 months ago and haven't washed the underside yet. Hoping it will ooze into all the right places before winter really sets in. FF is pretty amazing since it continues the "creep" from where it was originally applied. As I have said in other posts. At the end of winter and after many undercarriage washes I'll see it creeping out of the inside of the frame after a high pressure wash from the holes in the frame. It creeps all year long.

 

If there are already some surface rust spots on the undercarriage, prior to applying the fluid film for the first time, is it better to clean off the rust spots and paint over them first? Or is it better to spray the fluid film right over the surface rusty spots?

Also, at this time in the year (July), would it be better to wait until November to get the first FF application? I live in the Northeast; the only exposure to salt in the summertime might come from a couple trips to the beach.

 

Fluid Film states that it will stop rust. However, on the outside of the frame and other areas you can see it's just going to get washed off eventually from rain, salt, sand blasting from sand/salt on the roads. The outside of you're frame really isn't the problem. It's the inside and all the other areas you can't see that are.

What I do all summer long is go to the do-it-yourself-carwash, get out the wand and spray the underside of my Taco as well as the inside of the frame. I really should get a wet suit, mask and a creeper so I can really get down and dirty. Maybe some day. Use the high pressure sprayer in all the areas spray from the road never hits. It wouldn't even hurt to get under there and use five bottles of Simple Green and then go to the do it yourself car wash. I go every couple of weeks or so and get the automated undercarriage wash and then on top of that blast the underside with the wand as well whenever I have the time and money. A car wash with an undercarriage wash is a godsend for keeping "most" of the crap from accumulating on the underside of the vehicle. Especially during the winter. It's not cheap though.

Once you're undercarriage is as clean as you can get it spray Fluid Film in EVERY nook and cranny you can find. Drench the underside with it. Especially inside the frame rails. That's what I do and so far, so good. Yes, I have surface rust on my frame as well as surface rust on my rear diff and many other places. Surface rust isn't the problem. Rust that eats the metal away is. Taco frames rust from the inside out. Dump some Dawn in each frame rail and then stick the high pressure wand in the from every conceivable direction and hose it out until the water runs clear. Once you have it as clean as you can possible get it let it dry out for a few days.

After letting everything dry out for a few days or even a week hose every nook and cranny down with FF. It works. After the first major cleaning all you have to do is get the undercarriage clean and re-apply FF every year. I've probably got so much inside my frame rails I really don't even have to do it anymore but I'd rather have FF caked up inside there with all the dirt stuck to it than take the chance of rust. After an entire hard core winter I wash my undercarriage and there are still "wet spots" of FF seeping out from around every hole in my frame. FF creeps into areas you never even sprayed it into. It hasn't shown any signs of damaging any of my rubber components underneath the truck after 3+ years of using it.

Everything sticks to FF so once you're done and have a "brown frame" after a few days just live with it. Brown is good. Red is bad. I love my "brown frame". Do it BEFORE it starts getting cold. FF creeps big time and when it's warm it creeps into all those areas where you really need it. The areas where rust develops that you can't even see. Not so much once the temp drops.

 

Howdy, all! Just took delivery of my 2018 Taco SR (Barcelona Red) and since it's clean as a whistle from the Dealership, on we go to FF this new baby! I got the "whole enchilada" from Kellsport--gun, wands, whole 9 yards. I figured it's cheap insurance against all the road salt, liquid brine, calcium and other nasties they DUMP here on Ohio's roads. BTW, I'm in my 7th decade of life and I've never seen such irresponsible winter road crews like I have of late.

Holy smokes--a few flakes come down, and golly gee--the local army of plows with full loads of the NaCl come out like a police flying squad, laying down inches of salt! I don't get it--do they have a deal with Morton Salt to cover the roads here an inch or two deep at the slightest snowflake? Back when I was young, we used sand or even ashes on the road, if at all; of course, no one drove 55 mph--you'd be ticketed in a heartbeat (but I digress.)


Waited for a clear, hot day and commenced my FF job in two stages:

Stage #1--Cheap pig bristle chip brushes (Harbor Freight's best) to apply gobs of FF on all exposed bolt heads and screws. Why? Tell you why-- I have a 21 y/o Silverado and the road salt/brine has done a number on the undercarriages' bolts and nuts--actually rounded the hex heads off! You can't get fasteners off! (THAT'S another story. Ask me how I do brake jobs with bolts you can't remove on this ancient Chevy and I'll clue you in.)

All nuts and bolts that I see get slathered with a GENEROUS helping of freind, FF. Took about 1/2 gallon for all.

Step #2--Drive my Taco up on some sturdy ramps and proceed to spray the frame, undercarriage, wheel wells, everywhere I can get. Take down the spare and get it and all the metal above it. Take off the tailgate cover and spray within.

Remove and "uncork" all the factory's rubber 1/2 plugs, and plunge that extension wand in and spray away!

Even in direct sunlight, sometimes it's hard to see waay up in those cracks, crevices, and creases. Again, HF to the rescue--I use their tiny hand-held 588 lumen pocket flashlight ($10) on "flood" and spot everything there and spray it!

Pay special attention to those lower rocker panels--slather THAT SEAM very well!

Gents--the price paid for FF and your efforts are GOLD, seeing as how the road salt and brine quite literally RUINS your Tacoma. Think on that. That chemical rust action is going on 24/7/365--stop it cold with FF.

BTW--I let out my pack of Beagles after I was done with my FF project, and I had a rag I was using to wipe off any excess FF. Those rascally creatures first sniffed the FF soaked rage--AND THEN PROCEEDED TO ROLL ON IT! Must be pretty good to them. If you know anything about Beagles, if they can't CHASE it, EAT it, PIDDLE on it, or have SEX with it--they want no part of it. My guys are re-writing the Beagle chronicles--using FF as "after shave" or cologne!

CHEERS from the salty wastes of No. Ohio!