Honest question to those who live in the rust belt

So every year we see a plethora of threads of people who either owned Tacomas that never treated their frames and let it rust to hell or of someone that says help I just bought this truck and it’s a rusted steaming pile of shite

now here is my ignorant question, I never lived in the rust belt and didn’t know of fluid film or woolwax until I joined Tacomaworld, I did know of Tacomas rusty frame issues though thru reputation and the internet

now for those who live there and grew up there I reckon it has to be common knowledge to treat your frame? Do people just don’t give a shite and cry victim when it happens? Even in the show the 70s show the dad Red owns a muffler shop and always said he got business because of road salt corroding away mufflers

I can see someone in SoCal buying a used rusted rig and getting suckered but I thought you east coast folks are known for your street smarts, so yes genuine question what gives?

 

Yes. Ignorance and lazyness

 

Having been here almost 50 years (unfortunately) and such, I can confirm that rust has been an issue in some ways all along. A lot of vehicles rusted badly around 10 years old, moreso the foreign versus domestic, but it happened.

Framewise, I had a Datsun as a teenager that rotted. I was young, dumb, and didn't look at it thoroughly. My 2010 Tacoma needed a new frame, but I'd already seen my wife's 1996 get bought back. Hers wasn't rusted on the panels etc FWIW.

I'd never heard of those treatments either before getting here.

Mufflers did go around here too but that just happens sometimes. Oddly I had mine replaced last month. 14 years on the original ain't so bad.

 

Yea do Coat the frame,my 2003 taco got a new frame. I didn’t own it from new. After the new frame I undercoated. The truck is still alive with no frame issues. My 2016 I bought in 2018, power washed , dried coated with crc. All good here. Not sure why Toyota won’t undercoat every truck. It must be cheaper than replacing thousands of frames.

 

Today's world is full of lazy people who cry victim. Anyone buying anything today without doing any research really has only one person to blame...

 

De-icing chemicals have gotten much more aggressive over the years.

In "the old days" we had rock salt, at temperatures below about 20 degrees salt isn't very effective - as a "benefit" it also isn't so effective at rusting vehicles either.

Modern chemicals are effective at much lower temperatures therefore they also continue to eat away at vehicles.

There are also more vehicles on the road and people drive more (and more poorly) than they did 50 years ago so road crews apply more de-icers more often.

Finally, many older vehicles going to northern states were factory undercoated with tough, high solvent based materials that have been discontinued due to environmental concerns.

 

Truth all around. The roads now around here are pre-treated the day or so before a storm with some kind of brine solution IIRC.

 

Just FF my 2011 yesterday have since new. I'm in Maine they use a lot of salt, my frame is jet black still. (I use a air gun to apply it) If I see little spot of rust on any thing it gets blasted, painted and hit with FF.

 

I think you are correct, more aggressive chemicals being used and much more often. 40 years ago, people just stayed home unless they were actually essential (before that label was even applied). Now everyone’s kid can’t miss pickle ball practice and their Botox appointment.
I’d also guess, factory treatments have been regulated a lot too.

 

I have no faith in undercoating or treating frames living here in NE Ohio. If they are going to rust then they will. Your hope is that the undercoating will protect the frame for awhile but it made little difference on my cars previously. I was using Cosmoline.
My 17 Tacoma has no rust issues anywhere going through 5 Ohio Winters and it was never rustproofed. How is that possible?
It is parked when I know they are getting ready to salt the roads and it doesn't come back out until the trees start to bud and the spring rains have washed the salt off the roads. My winter beast is a 13 Sienna.

 

FWIW: We do the same here. In order to prevent run off in our lakes and streams we have been cutting back on salt and using brines (mostly beet juice) instead. It seems to be working so I don’t see any going back. I believe the University of Kansas has been taking the lead on other brine concoctions to see what recipe works best.

someday we will replace rust vehicles with ones that smell like beet juice.

 

By the time it came out that my 2010 frame was in the program for Toyota to inspect/coat I'd had the truck about 5 years (2017). I got that inspection and coating applied, nothing more. Was hoping it would rot within the 12 year window, which it did and was replaced (note my sig).

That said, I've had it Woolwaxed every year since the new frame. Cheap insurance as I can't park it inside and I'm on my own now.

 

This will be the epithet on my tombstone.

 

To give my honest opinion, as someone who had frankly very average car knowledge for most of my life. People dont know what they dont know, and most will assume if its serious they'll be told. I had no idea about rust being a problem until I came on here. Also, most people want to put minimal time & effort into their vehicles for a number of reasons. I have a good amount of free time, and can happily spend a few hours scrambling under my truck figuring things out, rust proofing etc.

 

SEM makes a spray Rust Preventer and rust converter called Rust Mort.

Friend of mine owns a bodyshop, he's been using them on customers' cars and his own daily drivers and hotrods.

 

Most people just let their vehicles rot then pass them on to the new sucker and stack the old loan on top of the new loan.

I can tell you from my own ignorance of fluid film and results after discovering and using it that it works incredibly well at stopping rust and keeping old rust at bay. I have a 2000 S10 ZR2 that I've had since new and like everything else in Michigan it rusted out right to the ground. A friend of mine and I were both happily unemployed in the summer of 2019 and he suggested we rebuild the S10.

I jumped at the chance because he is a rock star when it comes to bodywork and restoration. Old rust got cut out and new metal welded in along with all the rust free body parts we could find. As the truck was going back together everything we could reach got hosed down with fluid film. I re apply around 5 cans of FF every fall.

5 winters later she is still holding back the rust, and I'm pretty much amazed. When the S10 dies and I'm forced to use my Tacoma in the winter it will get the same treatment.




.

 

I moved out of the trust belt last year but one thing I did is pay for a monthly unlimited car wash service and I washed my vehicles 2-3 times a week if not more when the treatments were down.

 

growing up, the only people i knew that ever used fluid film/kroil was always canadians far north. it was, and still is, mostly unheard of in the midwest.

this is the only forum i've ever been on that's so fixated with the stuff.

some of it, i suspect has to do with the domestic vehicle culture here. my grandfather rarely owned a car older than 3 years. he was absolutely convinced that no vehicle lasts beyond 100,000 miles. ever.

 

I'd consider myself above average in terms of general knowledge, not necessarily in terms of rolling up my sleeves and wrenching but at least knowing what and where to be looking. Having the Datsun I mentioned earlier was a lesson early on in my driving life, plus knowing my wife's 1996 had the rot issue. Back in the day the rust was obvious as in it was on the exterior, you didn't have to search for it.

That could be part of it re the culture. I've owned mostly older vehicles in my life until I was about 29 and would replace them fairly often so I had larger sample size than some do. This year I've had a few repairs on my Tacoma and commented to someone I'm at the point where the issues are more age versus mileage driven (such as sway bar links, intermediate steering shaft). Growing up my parents never bought newer vehicles, they would go a few years old (ideally with lower miles) but that they would buy outright and just drive forever as well so I had exposure to the older side of vehicles.

 

Another thing is people get flat out lied to by auto makers and dealers. We were told our second generation S10's were built of specialty galvanized steel and would not rust like previous GM vehicles.

Yeah, we see how well that went. Reason # 4,328 I will never again buy anything made by GM.



.