Undercoating - new to the salt belt

Since nobody else has asked. Are you willing to do it yourself or do you want to have it done by somebody else? I live smack dab in the heart of the rust belt, so I can offer sage advice, but I need to know these answers first.

 

OP, Do not block or close the weep holes. DO NOT block or close the weep holes.

Yes, I said it twice.
The weep holes are there by design to allow water to drain out. A yearly or every 6 months, the weep hole should be checked and cleared.

Keep the truck as clean and dry as possible.

 

yeah was wondering why you would coat the weep holes… you want them to weep….

 

I see that there's now a Fluid Film Black. Anyone used it?

https://www.fluid-film.com/products/fluid-film-black-aerosol-non-aerosol/

 

That's what I'll be using because I could get it cheaper. Supposedly it's the same formula with a black dye mixed in, so surface rust gets hidden. People also say something about the dye makes it smell less.

 

Ah. Thanks...

By the by, regular FF will become black with dirt. The FF rep told me "This is good." and to not wash it off as the dirt helps with the adhesion.

Took my Taco into a local shop for a full fluids change. Went to pick it up and the mechanic came over and said "Yeah, it was really greasy underneath for some reason. I tried to clean it up a bit."
I told him I'd prefer he didn't do that next time.

 

Woolwax straw color, heat up in tub of hot water, 100 psi on the compressor.

 

I usually warn anyone working on the truck that’s it’s messy under there because it’s coated with fluid film

 

If a new rust free truck, its a no brainer for cosmoline.

 

I was going to apply some FF to mine and even ordered the kit and spray gun.
Looking at the consistency of that stuff, the thought of crawling around underneath the vehicle, the amount of mess it would make on everything else...
I took it to Ming Auto and let them undercoat it for me. They pull it over a pit and have guys in wet suits that spray the underside with a power washer. Then after it completely dries, (the following day) a guy in a hazmat suit applies the goodie.
If the place called Ziebart was still in business I'd take it there. Ming is the next best thing.
Look for a Ziebart in your area. It will be the best $600.00 you ever spent.

 

600 dollars Holy crap! I don't charge enough then lol. Shop near me charges 150-250 and can go up if they need to descale or anything

 

$49.50 a gal for wool wax will last me 3 yrs. I use 1/3 of gal a yr. and it takes me about 45 min. because I remove the spare and heat up the wool wax.

 

I beg to differ - based on a ton of personal and professional experience. My 2014 Tacoma was Ziebart undercoated (for $800) and got every one of the "free annual resprays." That's the first (of many) Ziebart lies. You pay for those resprays up front, and when you come in for your respray, you get your arms (and legs) twisted off for additional services by extremely high pressure sales folks. No thank you.

Then there's the product. Understand, classic rubberized undercoating does not stop rust. At best, it helps prevent it. But it is not 100% effective. So why the annual resprays? So they can cover up the rust that's already started so you can't see it. Once covered, it continues to corrode unseen until it's too late. At least you get overspray all over the place every year in case they missed something. I had so much overspray on one wheel one year that I had to remove the globs to cure the wheel shake - and that's after I specifically told them to avoid the wheels!

Finally, there's the process. The product(s) are applied by minimum wage flunkies under pressure to do as many vehicles as possible in a day. Want to guess what that leads to? Results that are all over the place - kind of like the overspray. Car dirty when you bring it in? No worry, they'll (supposedly) power wash it - then undercoat right over the water. (Guess how I know that?) At least that allows the rust to start or keep growing. Get the inner body protection? Yea, right. You might want to pull a few door panels off to notice the pathetic amount of product haphazardly sprayed in one corner. (Guess how I know that?)

Nope. Ziebart might have been good years ago, but it's absolute junk these days.

 

@Too Stroked , I think what you mentioned, much of it has to do with the particular dealer possibly. The last time I purchased the Ziebart was in 2001. That was on a 2001 Tacoma and I never took it back for annual inspection. In 2011 when that truck was traded it had no rust and the frame was solid. Now granted we drove that truck almost straight to the Ziebart right after new purchase. At that time there was a charge for clean and undercoat every year, and also a requirement for whatever warranty they had. The guy that owned the shop had been in business a very long time and asked me if I was interested in purchasing the shop. I didn't have the means back then but think now it would have been a good opportunity.
I've seen good results on more than one vehicle with the stuff.

 

The beauty of wool wax is there’s is no over spray like with FF. I use to use FF and when I got through there was a wet layer on the drive. With wool wax nothing. It’s thicker and last longer. Ff is good for inside the rails and places where it doesn’t get blasted by road spray.

 

My personal and professional experience is with 4 Ziebart shops located within 45 minutes of my house. I also used to work at a Toyota dealership that used to use Ziebart for all of their rustproofing. (They no longer do.) You should have seen the junk work that came back to my detail bay to get fixed. I wouldn't send my worst enemy to them. Just my personal opinions though. You have the right to yours.