Rust Spray vs. Frequent Car Washes

I live in the northeast and was wondering if there is any benefit to getting my Taco undercoated with a rust prevention product vs. just signing up for an unlimited car wash pass and going for a high pressure wash every couple days throughout the winter.

Would they give similar results?

 

I have been wondering the same question, for my 2017. Maybe Fluid Film ?

 

Fluid film for sure.

 

Fluid film seems to be working well

 

I would definitely undercoat it so you have a protective layer directly over your undercarriage. Then every week or so you can lightly spray the underside to knock off debris that has accumulated.

 

Fluid film the shit out of it. Drive the shit out of it. In the Spring hose it down and repeat

 

Do you apply fluid film at home?

 

I do it in my pjs

 

No. Rust can start to form on bare metal within a few hours. Fluid film is much better than car washes.

Look, you have asked several questions on underbody rust prevention and that's good. If you really want to do your absolute best at preventing rust, you would pay someone to completely paint the underside of your vehicle (frame, suspension, etc) and then use some type of rust inhibitor like Fluid Film. This is expensive but best.
The other end of the spectrum (cheapest) is not doing anything. Personally, I take mine through a car wash once a week when temps get above freezing. That is fine... for me. I know the vehicle will be OK (based on previous vehicles) for several years doing this. It will rust some, but the truck will still be OK to drive.

The middle of the road cost wise is getting Fluid Film or something like that applied once or twice a year. Not overly expensive and will protect it really good for several years. The downside is the underside will be a big oily mess.

So pick your poison. I keep my vehicles around 3-4 years and that, for me, is around 100K miles. I then trade it.
If you are planning on keeping this vehicle for 40 years then spend the money, get it painted with a rust inhibitor paint, spray Fluid Film on it 2X a year and you will probably not have a lot of rust issues.

Here's the thing though: There are "pockets" on every vehicle that, no matter what you do, cannot be coated or protected from rust. These are areas that are created during manufacture. You can never coat them, but moisture can enter them. My point is, you could spend thousands on rust prevention and still get rusting in several years.

If you never, ever want rust, you need to move to the desert or never drive your vehicle.

 

Stay away from automatic car washes. They are horrible for your paint job, rubbers, and plastics.

You trade one issue for another

 

Fluid film and just move on. I park my truck over a sprinkler a few times a year to clean the underside and a good power washing before recoat with FF before winter

 

The automatic car washes around me spend very little time cleaning the underside of your vehicle. I always felt that the unlimited packages are a waste of money unless you live close by to one.

I use the self serve bays to spray off my truck whenever it is convenient. Do not use the filthy brush just the sprayer hose.

Do your best to spray the underside as well. On warmer winter days I use a garden hose to clean the underside the best I can.

When warm weather hits you need to do a very through cleaning underneath doing your best to remove as much salt as possible.

If you are that worried park your truck for the winter and buy a beater!!

 

I lived in western Pa most of my life and always undercoated my vehicles and in the winter, even if it was freezing out I would spray the salt off of the vehicles undercarriage if it was nasty but I also always had my vehicles in garages, plus every few years I would spray used oil all over the underneath and let it soak in...helped prevent salt, but its very messy..