Thoughts on getting the new taco undercoated

When they ziebarted my brothers trans am back in 77 they injected a coating that was a brownish/yellow sticky wax like substance that dried semi hard. To this day you won't find a spec of rust on the car.

 

I have done nothing to my frame, been through 6 winters and its fine. Down the road if it does rust I'm not worried about some aftermarket thing that Toyota can say is to blame for the rusty frame. I say go natural. Any problems Toyota will look after it.

 

Ziebart is black, near the same stuff used to recoat/seal asphalt parking lots. What your describing sounds more like cosmoline. Good stuff, military stores arms derenched in the stuff. Prevents rust and hard to clean off, hence a good undercoating.

 

@mullett757 as you can see, the hard rubberized undercoating on my frame is not the same stuff that’s in that YouTube video. There is some very light surface rust around some of the welds which just comes with the territory of upstate NY and salt. There’s no way to 100% eliminate it. The floor boards fuels lines and brake lines are 100% rust free.

the stuff used under the hood is clear, it’s almost like a sticky wax substance that they spray around the whole front clip and along the inside of the engine bay. They also drill holes in the doors and quarter panels and insert a wand that’s used to spray the same solution, it prevents it from rusting from the inside out. They then use small little plastic plugs to plug the holes, looks factory when it’s done.

This is only 2 winters but I’ve been under trucks that have been through 2 winters In the same area and not had any undercoating and I can tell you with 100% certainty that they have more surface rust than mine.

 

Kind of strange because he still has the ziebart warranty paper confirming they did it. Stuff is almost similar looking and texture to spectro chain wax used to lubricate o-ring bike chains.

 

Undercoated mine after a week of owning my tacoma and i live in central canada. I have a car i own for 14 yrs now, before winter season i go get it touched up, and its still looking good underneath. I also clean my vehicles once a week, just for something to do and to keep it look fresh. Just because u got protection underneath it still requires some maintenance.

 

@mullett757 heres a couple more pictures of the frame and UCA’s showing the hard rubberized undercoating. Like JayTRD88 said, washing is still needed, I was at least twice a week in the winter at a nice drive through place. If you do the undercoating when the truck is new, it’s the best way to prevent the rust. Waiting even a few months will introduce moisture and surface rust that will just be sealed in if sprayed over the top. That’s clearly what the owner did in that YouTube video.

 

I used Eastwood's Rubberized Rust Encapsulating undercoating and the results look similar to Redline870's photos he posted. You see minor rust popping through, especially on the leaf springs because they flex as you drive down the road. I bought a 12 pack of fluid film aerosol cans, and I am going to spray over the eastwood product. We will see how that fairs. If it rusts out anyways I guess I will roll with the punches.

 

When I bought my 2014 Tacoma I got it with the Ziebart package and got it maintained once a year until this year when I traded it in for my new Limited. That 2014 still looked, for the most part, like new underneath. No rust showing in the wheel wells, etc. just nice and black. After the deal was over for my new Limited, and I had already negotiated the Ziebart package for it, I asked the sales guy how much, if anything, the rust proofing added to the trade in/resale value of a Tacoma. He said it definitely did add anywhere between $1000-$1500 to a trade in. Much more desirable sitting on the lot for resale with a nice black underside.

So, take that for what it's worth... Just sales talk? I don't think so. I'd be much more inclined to buy a used truck that was rust proofed and had no rust on it than one that was not rust proofed and looked "dirty" on the underside.

YMMV,
Ted

 

My advice is to not use a hard undercoating. It will inevitably crack and let in moisture, and hold it there, and components/frames rot out even worse because they never dry. Use a wax type undercoating that self heals, like mavcoat. You’ll have to apply once (or twice) a year, but 1) it’s not a slippery build up of gunk, so when you get under your truck to work on it, it’s clean, dry, and not slimy or sticky 2) it doesn’t smell like a goat 3) you can weld through it, it doesn’t contaminate welds/needs no de-con


I don’t have any pics on my phone, but I’ll gladly go out to the garage yard and take pics of hardcoated undercarriages to show the damage that occurs.

this is my truck after 4 northeastern salty winters and a can of mavcoat.

 

I opted for the dealer applied undercoating. They use commodore coatings. They guarantee the frame for life so I guess it’s worth $600.

 

This video is a bit BS. Looks like they sprayed when the rust started forming already. If the frame is new and prepped properly, this stuff works. I have seen undercarriages that look like new after many years.

 

I just finished our taco.
https://www.cosmolinedirect.com/vehicle-undercoatings/

Not a bad vid on the subject.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXlhmbvdKBo

 

I agree. It supposed to look like a thin paint that you can barely notice. I have seen this youtube video on TW like a 100 times. I do not agree with it.

 

100% You can see what happens on sliders and armor when you scratch them. The paint peels and flakes around the scratch revealing rust that was hidden by bedliner/paint. I took wire wheel to my armor this spring and repainted it all to get rid of the hidden rust. Don't want that on my frame.

 

I use Fluid Film on my salt spreaders at work. It definitely helps and never completely washed off. As others mentioned it does attract dirt.

Does anyone have suggestions about what key areas Fluid Film should be applied under the truck?

 

I would think anything that gets sprayed by the tires in forward motion would be an area to focus on. Inside the frame rail, outside the frame rails while you’re at it. Any overlapping sheet metal body seams. The front clip (the radiator supports, headlight supports, and all the structural metal surrounding them). The inner fender area accessible from under the hood. Brake and fuel lines. A/C line unions. Basically every little nook & cranny you can put it. Fluid film may swell rubber, I’m not sure, so research that and if it does, keep it away from brake hoses, rad hoses, and anything else rubber.

The place I took it to drills small holes in the quarter panels, A-B-C pillars, and uses a sprayer wand with a 360degree head to coat the inside of the body and prevent internal rust. Then they cap all the holes with plastic plugs.

 

If you scratch your sliders chipping the paint and there’s rust underneath, then someone didn’t prep the sliders correctly before painting. That’s not the paints fault, that’s the PAINTERS fault. Painting is 90% preparation. Any fool with a paint gun can slap a coat on, a true professional spends most of their time on prep to assure rust is not hidden, but eliminated prior to painting.

 

Exactly what I said. It was CLEARLY applied well after the truck was already rusty. Look at the pictures I posted of my truck. It’s nearly 3 years old and there’s not a hint of rust under the coating. You can plainly tell by the photos I posted.

 

Just had this applied a few weeks ago on my new 2020. I live in MA and this is the 3rd new vehicle I've had it done to and always had great results.

https://nhoilundercoating.com/wax-oil-two-stage-rust-prevention/