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undercoating your jeep

50K views 30 replies 20 participants last post by  terryh80 
#1 ·
Hi all. just a quick question. i'm from ny and i drive alot on the beach in the summers, plus i'm a snowboarder so i'll be hitting it up in vermont or upstate alot. i'm kept being told to get an undercoat done for rust protection and what not. honestly to say thats about all i know on undercoating besides the how to video's i've seen on youtube. as for that, i'll probably not do it on my and have it done professionally. for those of you in ny (mostly the boroughs and li) the only place i've found is coach auto body out n syosset, ny for $450.

so question is, is it worth getting the undercoat done? did some reading an apparently our of the factory theres supposed to be some good coating already so i shouldnt haven't do it. also read the con's for doing it and that it can actually promote more rust forming and what not.
 
#2 ·
Your Jeep already has several layers of rust prevention. You also have a rust through warranty from the factory. I was told by Chrysler that undercoating or aftermarket rustproofing can not only void the factory warranty but promote rust due to clogging drain holes designed to drain trapped water. Do what you want, by I would not.;)
 
#4 ·
Mmh, sure the manufacturer tells you not to take care of your car.... However, the argument with clogging drain holes is a reasonable one. But professionals would know this, be able to detect them and treat it right.

I do protect my underbody and caveats since I own cars (learned it from my father who is an antic car hobbiest). I borroscoped my Jeep and checked the underbody and there is nothing but paint, plus same few plastic panels. The paint will do the job but any hit with gravel will open it up and voila rust.

Be careful with the rust through warranty as it usually only applies when the rust goes from inside to the outside and not vice versa.

For my Jeep I used thin wax for the internal areas and brushed Fluid Film to the underbody. It's not a lifetime treatment as it is basically thick sticky grease but it lasts 5-8 years and does a great job. Check your underbody after the season to see areas of concern before any rust starts up.

Finally, rust prevention is like politics if applied you never know if that was the cause for the success.:D
 
#5 ·
I"ve had undercoating on trucks before and after a while it just peels off anyway. There isn't much prep to it (spray it down, let it dry a bit then spray the UC on). it gets all over, back-side of rims, exhaust, etc.

I stopped doing it about 5 years ago. and I lived on the Gulf Coast forever.
 
#6 ·
I have actually been doing some research on this today do to the fact it was brought up in a WK thread http://www.jeepgarage.org/f5/underneath-treatment-for-salty-environment-48135.html. in This thread is a link to another forum. A person in this thread did multiple experiments to figure out which undercoat protection is the best. After reading through the entire thread I came to the conclusion that i will be buying Amsoil and ask a body shop in MA to spray it on for me or ask my mechanic back in NY if he can put my car on the lift and let me spray it myself before the winter comes.

JFD 328
 
#8 ·
Undercoating, windshield treatments, are all just expensive snake oil. The dealers are just trying to maximize their profits while you are in a spending mood.

I believe 60 minutes or some show like that did a story on it years ago. They used to drill small holes to rustproof from the inside. It turned out the cars with the rustproofing rusted much earlier than those without because of the holes that were drilled.
 
#22 ·
Undercoating, windshield treatments, are all just expensive snake oil. The dealers are just trying to maximize their profits while you are in a spending mood.

I believe 60 minutes or some show like that did a story on it years ago. They used to drill small holes to rustproof from the inside. It turned out the cars with the rustproofing rusted much earlier than those without because of the holes that were drilled.
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.

I lived and grew up in Chicago, where roads were salted constantly all Winter long. "Undercoating", "Ziebart", "Rusty Jones", along with "Polyglycoat" were all dealer applied snake oil treatments that were supposed to protect your car. It all made no difference what so ever. In fact many of these type of "rust proofing" treatments made matters worse by trapping salt water in areas that would have drained had they not sprayed that crap everywhere, clogging up drain holes in the process.

Today's automobile manufactures use far more rust resistant materials in car construction that they did when all this type of crap was being sold by everyone and their brother. There is no way around the fact that if you live in the rust belt of the Midwest, and deal with road salt, your car will not last a fraction as long as if you live where road salt is not used. I live in the Phoenix Metro area. I purchased my new Jeep last April, and I have yet to get the tires wet. Except for the 2 times I've washed it since I bought it. In that type of weather, there is no treatment that will allow for a rust belt car to last anywhere near as long. Regardless of what you do to it, or apply on it.
 
#9 ·
I have a 2002 limited that has seen 11 years of Wisconsin winters and liquid salt. The truck still looks great. I don't even wash the darn thing anymore. I'm not worried about my 2011 because odds are it will last even longer than my 2002.
 
#11 ·
Sure the each what suits him best, that's the good thing on a forum. You get different opinions.

I used this product Fluid Film® | Corrosion Preventative, Lubricant and Rust Inhibitor

The more liquid is sprayed into the doors, frames etc the sticky ones is brushed on. We used within the Navy and my experience is from there it works very well. I used Waxoil before and that was great too, the FluidFilm is just a touch better and offers the different liquidity (is that the right term:confused:).

I fully agree that most of the dealers don't have a clue bout this, but there are several shops/chains especially in the rust belt who are pretty good and knowledgeable. They are specialized to this treatment though.

For factory rustproofing, Mercedes is replacing or repainting doors on one model for the manufacturing years 2007-2010 because of rust spots on the lower end.
 
#14 ·
Sure the each what suits him best, that's the good thing on a forum. You get different opinions.

I used this product Fluid Film® | Corrosion Preventative, Lubricant and Rust Inhibitor

The more liquid is sprayed into the doors, frames etc the sticky ones is brushed on. We used within the Navy and my experience is from there it works very well. I used Waxoil before and that was great too, the FluidFilm is just a touch better and offers the different liquidity (is that the right term:confused:).

I fully agree that most of the dealers don't have a clue bout this, but there are several shops/chains especially in the rust belt who are pretty good and knowledgeable. They are specialized to this treatment though.

For factory rustproofing, Mercedes is replacing or repainting doors on one model for the manufacturing years 2007-2010 because of rust spots on the lower end.
I believe you were describing Viscosity
 
#15 ·
i called up the place in long island and they said for the job its 450. but got no idea what they'll be doing to it. after reading up on you guys saying about the drainage holes, i think i might just buy a couple of cans and just spray it down myself before every winter. if not i'll just wash the car weekly or something. the thought of the chances of rusting from the inside out is just ... don't wanna think about that.

Vehicle Undercoating (Nassau & Suffolk County) - COACH AUTO BODY REPAIRS - Syosset, Long Island, NY this is the site for that shop. said its a full day of work doing it and supposed to last forever. but i'm a little iffy on the forever part
 
#16 ·
Consider how long you plan on owning the vehicle. If you plan on owning it 10 years and the shop will spray it for $1000, then that's a $100 /year investment. You don't have to change oil in your vehicle either, but sooner or later that will catch up with you
also if you neglect it. I spray the underside of my vehicles every summer. It not so much how much does it help as it is that it doesn't hurt. It's part of maintaining the vehicle. Some owners do a good job and some people don't put a dime in their vehicle in the form of preventive maintenance.
 
#18 ·
Paint all my cars with Eastwoods rust encapsulator paint, brushable seam seal, top coat with chasis black epoxy paint ,then spray bomb with their heavy duty antirust coating. lastly use fluid with wand to flood all inner doors, hatch, rockers, subframes, rear wheel wells.
 

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#19 ·
I've got a lot of fluid film on hand, but I haven't figured out a good way to apply it evenly to the underbody without access to a lift.

I may have to bite the bullet and get a compressor and the 360 degree nozzle, my undercarriage is full of rust already after a year (chicago).
 
#20 ·
Since this is an old thread, "brought back to life', and I'm a relatively new member here, I'll add my $0.02 worth.....


As somebody mentioned, "rustproofing is so 1980s". Yes, because many people lease their cars, these days, so as long as the car last 4 years, that's all they're concerned about. Leasing took off in the 80s.....


I used to rustproof cars, for "pocket money" back in the 80s-90s. For inside the doors, tailgates, inside the hood and front fenders, I used (and still do) a product called 'LPS 3'. It's a somewhat thick liquid, that coats the metal, but doesn't harden. Good stuff.
 
#21 ·
Don't do it, please. That crap does more harm than good.

Best way to keep your Jeep from rusting is to keep it clean. After my last ski trip to Whiteface NY I got home, raised the vehicle high on it's air suspension and rolled underneath it, armed with rain gear and a garden hose. I rinsed out about a cubic yard of New York State.
 
#23 ·
Another thing you have to be careful of in corrosive Winter climates, are these "quarter car washes". Many of them use reclaimed, filtered water. Several years back I had one by me that was enclosed in the freezing weather. Allowing you to pull in, wash off the road salt. Do a quick wipe dry, and leave. I tasted the "rinse water" once, and it has so much dissolved road salt in it, that it was saltier than the ocean!
 
#30 · (Edited)
Absolutely true. Here's the real corroding "agent" for us rust/salt belt folks. Even if you get a good layer of salt off at a car wash whatever is still on (plus the trip home :) ) will be turned into active corroding salt brine not long after you park it in your warm garage. The melting ice and snow moistens the air in the garage and around your undercarriage to a nice salt corrosion moisture/temp combo all the while you sleep. In regards to salt corrosion it is technically better to let your vehicle stay outside the garage and be colder and more frozen to keep the salt inactive (or much less so).

We encourage salt corrosion by parking in a garage.

Best real solution is wash, wash, wash that undercarriage (at the very, very least 1/week in winter). I also do the low ph shampoo and Corrosion X spray to entire underside just because I hate cake rust, a petina always happens.
 
#26 ·
I did a search on "LPS3 rust prevent" and found a good review of that and similar products.

Test of Corrosion Inhibitor Sprays - The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum

He names three products that performed well on bare steel, with CRC Heavy Duty getting the nod for value.

The author also says that nothing is better than a good coat of paint. So I think the best approach is to periodically clean underneath, inspect for damage then spot treat with CRC or similar.
 
#27 ·
Your better off cleaning the underside and painting it.

use the LPS3 or Fluid Film inside the interior panels like doors, rockers etc I have a flexible wand with a brass tipp which spray 360 degree pattern

Spraying these things on the underside,with these oily type fluids just makes a mess and it will have to be reapplied yearly.

Eastwoods has some some Hevy Duty Anti Rust, Mopar has something similar, both a waxy film you can spray. I painted the floors and wheel wells and suspension and then top coated with the HD Anti rust.

Bottom line is to do it right you really need to pull all the fender liners and get inside the wheel arches, remove the rear 1/4 trim and spray fluid film from the inside, flood the hatch, rockers, doors ,etc with the FluidFilm and paint everything else.
 
#29 ·
Look at ACF-50 anti corrosive lubricant. I've used it now through a few Michigan winters and it does a nice job. I can do my wife's Sequoia with a few cans, a Wrangler Unlimited with two, I lay down some construction paper on the garage floor then go to town on the under carriage and under hood areas. Then let it drip off overnight. I go overboard but I hate rust.


Sent from my iPad using JeepGarage
 
#31 ·
I've had aftermarket undercoating that didn't really seem to help. What I do now is once or twice a year when I'm servicing it is just roll around on a creeper and look for anything underneath that has had the paint chipped or scrapped and use a rust converter spray on it. Has worked for me so far.
 
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