New 2021 Tacoma - Need Rust Prevention Advice

This year I switched from Fluid Film aver to CRC SP-400. The SP-400 leaves a cosmoline like layer that looks like it will be long lasting. I bought an extra long spray can straw that is like a typical WD40 straw but it is several feet long. I was able to get into the frame rails, cross members and suspension arms really well with the narrow long straw.

It does start out with a strong odor that then goes away.

 

When I get my Tacoma I will use fluid film. I've watched alot of videos online and looks like fluid film is the product for me. Some YouTubers do yearly updates on vehicles they coated, and it looks to do a fine job as long as you are religious about doing it every year. It might take some time but it's worth it to protect the truck.

First year update:
https://youtu.be/mbXBax-Kh9E

Second year update:
Https://youtu.be/4TIWZ6gDjl8

Of course it's impossible to stop all rust in states that use salts during winter, but it's better to slow it down. To me it's worth buying a dedicated setup, the spray gun, air compressor, and fluid film in order to protect the truck. From my research, it appears it works best when applied every year, and even applying a touch up mid winter to areas within the wheel well where alot of water spray is.

 

I too am going down this route in the next few days. I bought a large kit from Woolwax and me and a buddy will be doing both our trucks this weekend. I ended up going with woolwax over Fluid Film since it seems to be thicker, (hopefully longer lasting) and doesnt have the apparent smell that Fluid Film has. We shall see. Found out my local autozone carries Fluid Film gallons so I might pick one up for doing the snow plow, bottom of ATV's, Trailers, Mower deck etc. Since Ill have the nice applicator gun and the FF gallons are less that 40$ it doesnt hurt to try it out as well. Kinda curious to see the difference in person.

 

It was $429 to have the underside cleaned, prepped, and coated. Granted, I have a brand new truck (less than 700 miles) so I don't believe there was much cleaning or prepping that had to be done.

 

I cant imagine how tedious it must be to ceramic coat the underside of a vehicle, they would essentially be wiping down every surface under there, lots of nooks and crannies. I almost think a spray application like FF, or Krown or Woolwax would probably be better for all those hard to reach areas, with the ceramic on all the easy to get to places.

 

So an update, over the weekend we ended up Wool Waxing my Tacoma, and a 2017 Silverado, and we Fluid Filmed a Jeep Wagoneer. I bought the Pro Spray gun from Woolwax and it worked awesome. We underestimated how long it would take to do the job. We cleaned the underside of all three vehicles, powerwashing, wire brushing off any surface rust. The old wagoneer got much more done, heavier rust, so we POR-15'd the entire bottom side and then rattle canned after prepping it. We put the vehicles up on 12 ton massive jackstands I picked up so we would have the most clearance. we removed the tires and fender liners. Getting the vehicles ready for spray took about an hour or 2 of prep work per vehicle. then the spraying took about 2-3 hours per vehicle. We used a gallon of woolwax each on both the Taco and Silverado. We also used pretty much used the whole gallon of Fluid Film on the Wagoneer. At 40-50 bucks a gallon, we felt we were doing a good thorough job on each vehicle but no overdoing it spraying the whole gal on the car. Biggest thing was just the time it took, definitely took everybit of the two day weekend to get 3 done doing a good thorough job.

 

Also should add on the topic of Fluid Film VS Woolwax. They smell almost exactly the same and I wouldnt call it a bad smell. The color and consistency is almost the same, although the woolwax definitely was a little more viscous and poured into the applicator jugs much easier. The fluid film seemed thicker and kind of "glugged" into the spay gun jugs a bit. The fluid film was a little tricker to get the 360deg spray nozzle working right, i think its because it was thicker. We did use a bucket of hot water to rest the application jugs and warm them up before spraying. I can see how Fluid Film would be easier to spray the hotter it was, Woolwax wasnt as picky. We also noticed the fluid film atomized better when spraying it, which resulted in a much finer mist. Which seems contradictory to the thicker consistency, but it definitely was mistier when spraying. Overall, I think both products are practically the same and looks like they are going to do a great job. Next year when we do our touchups, I think we are going to go with the black colored Woolwax.

now that its been a few days, the clear/yellow color of the woolwax has toned down a little, more towards clear. The fluid film has turned very clear and looks like a slick gloss was applied to everything.

 

Awesome license plate haha!

How high up was the clearance, currently looking into buying 4 heavy duty jack stands, with higher clearance. Would you see a problem using for example 4 ton jack stands in the front, and 3 ton in the rear? I am scouring for a good deal and I found 2 different people on Craigslist selling jack stands for cheap, the only problem is one guy has a pair that is 4 ton, the other 3 ton.

Trying to avoid harbor freight ones too since they had that massive recall, where did you find the 12 ton jack stands and how much did all 4 cost?

 

So I found the 12ton at Menards for 99$ a pair (with an 11% mail in rebate). So $200 all in, but these things are beast and gave me lots of room to work. The way my truck sits right now, I dont know if a normal 3-4ton jack stand would really hold it higher than the tires do. You could probably find stats on the minimum and maximum height of a given jack stand and then measure your frame to ground clearance and see how they would do. I have a 3 inch lift and 32in tires so its a little higher than stock. Its all about how much you are willing to spend vs ease of the job. For me, I knew I would use these jack stands for various vehicles and projects so the investment was worth it. They also made spraying much easier as I had ample room to roll around on a floor creeper.

https://www.menards.com/main/tools/...ck-stands-2-pack/t412002c/p-1555569041977.htm

 

I just finished woolwaxing my underbody using resources on this forum. Used a 6-gal 175 PSI Fortress compressor from Harbour Freight and the pro-sprayer from Kellsport. About 3/4 of a gal of Woolway black layer, No issues. Only thing I’d change is a larger air tank on the compressor. No jack stands needed on the tundra, so a lifted taco would be around the same. I used the crawler about 25% of the time but that brought the eye protection and respirator a bit close to the differential. Other than that, just slid on under.

 

Can you apply cosmoline with a sprayer? I’ve only ever experienced it on surplus AKs and the stuff seems thicker than woolwax. But I assume it’s dried.

 

Where did you get your ceramic applied? I had mine under coated at the Ziebart in Greenwood, but I’ve been looking into ceramic too.

 

+1 for Fluid Film. With needle nose pliers you just pull out the rubber grommets and spray inside the doors/rocker panels etc, no need to drill.

 

Krown has my vote.

Had it applied on my 19 last December, took it through the car wash a couple times a month throughout the winter and it was still there.

I think the reason people complain that it washes off is it seems like it needs time to sort of set up and soak in.
I carpooled to work the first week after it was applied so I didn't have to drive my truck and it's been great. My brother had his Ranger done and, not thinking, took it through a car wash with underspray a day later. Now his frame is noticeably dry in places, and dirt doesn't wipe off as easily as it does on my truck. This stuff is really thin in order to creep into all the hard to reach places, and definitely holds up better once it's sort of soaked in/set up/cured however you want to say it.

It's also pretty cheap to recoat yourself. I recoated in August after I got the truck CAKED in some real nasty, almost cement like, mud. Spent a good 8 hours thoroughly pressure washing and wiping down the frame and cross members(just a tad paranoid about rust on my new truck lol). But only took 4-5 cans at $10 each to do the frame, cross members, drive shafts, control arms, and leaf springs.

I know it's a little early for me to speak to the rustproofing capability of it, but I can say that mud definitely came off easier because of the krown, no doubt.

 

Krown here also. 6 1/2 years of owning my truck with 6 yearly applications of Krown so far and no rust. Bought a cheap endoscope thing from Amazon ($13) to check the insides of the boxed part of the frame and no rust. No rust on the frame at all and I live in one of the states (PA) where they salt/brine the crap out of the roads.

 

I went to Premiere Autosports in Indianapolis. Jon and his detailing/Ceramic Pro installer team are awesome. Highly recommended!

 

Good to hear! Any issues with gaskets swelling and deforming after 6 years? I've heard that is a problem for some vehicles. I saw one guy say it's not a problem for newer Toyotas, but there was no evidence or explanation behind that. Here's some examples on a 2000 Land Cruiser LX470 which had 5-7 applications over 13 years from a "Krown rustproofing : collateral damage" thread.

 

I made the 2 hour drive from Indy to Kanagy Krown in Ft. Wayne(it was the closest Krown dealer) this afternoon. Rufus(the owner) did an AWESOME job on my 3 month-old Tacoma! He let me watch and ask any questions I had about the process.

I couldn't have waited any longer as I encountered the first snow my new truck has experienced on the way back. Krown comes with a warranty if you start the process within 6 months of new purchase and maintain it yearly. I highly recommend
Krown!!!

 

OP: if you don’t wanna be chained to having to apply something yearly, I’d highly suggest Cosmoline. Lots of different ways you can get it, from aerosol can to bulk pales you spray with a FF/wool wax gun.

Can always combine it with a more liquid (creeping) product to be used in door panels and what not.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rust-veto-342-cosmoline-undercoating.651180/#post-22805213