Best way to prevent rust in the rust belt

[bigz1983]

I live right in the prime of the good ol rust belt.
Michigan.
I have a 2020 Ram 1500 2wd V-6 4 door classic.
Right now it's not very rusty.
This is actually the first truck that I have ever owned that wasn't really rusty.
So I want to at least try to stop it from rusting so fast living here in the rust belt.
I called a shop that does rust proofing and they said it would cost $1,500
Any ideas that would be cheaper and effective.
I don't have a garage.
Right now I have made my it goal to go once a week to my local self serve car wash and do my best to power wash the salt/snow/ice mixture off the underside of my truck.
I use the high pressure wax mixture at the end of the wash.
Will this help?

 

[ExpressRules]

Best way is to not drive one in the rust belt. one thing I do, since I'm in the east coast rust belt by the Jersey shore is take to the self serve car wash bay and use the wand to wash road salt from the under carriage after every snow event. Worked very well.

 

[blue ghost]

Try some fluid film and do the rust coating your self. you have to do it every year but it works. Also you can look at Eastwood, very good company for rust issues, etc. I have used them for my vehicles and do not have rust issues and they overdo the salt here.

 

[Docwagon1776]

Woolwax and Fluid Film both have a good reputation and are pretty easy to apply yourself.

 

[BurtShaver]

If you can afford to, find a winter beater vehicle. Even if you don’t end up driving it in the winter, have it undercoated anyways. When I was doing some work on my 2016 Ram I had the inner wheel well fenders out ( whatever they are called, the plastic inner wheel wells) Anyways there was a good amount of leaf debris and organic material that had collected ted in there. If your serious about trying to stop the rust, I suggest taking them off, clean in there with pressure washer or a hose and spray some rust preventing fluid.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

See if you have a krown on either side of the border. They typically do a decent job and will wash the undercarriage, with their salt eliminator, then apply their rust coating which is woolwax or a fluid film like substance, they will get it in the panels, the frame every where but as discussed its an annual type deal.

I drive west to east coast a bunch and use a krown in ST Louis, to do mine on the way through. It takes about 2 hours an I schedule an appointment .

I think my last coating was $255. They know me as I been using them for several years and know I do not allow them to drill holes in the truck so they have to do it differently and they don't offer their warranty, since I don't allow them to drill holes

 

[Burla]

I live right in the prime of the good ol rust belt.
Michigan.
I have a 2020 Ram 1500 2wd V-6 4 door classic.
Right now it's not very rusty.
This is actually the first truck that I have ever owned that wasn't really rusty.
So I want to at least try to stop it from rusting so fast living here in the rust belt.
I called a shop that does rust proofing and they said it would cost $1,500
Any ideas that would be cheaper and effective.
I don't have a garage.
Right now I have made my it goal to go once a week to my local self serve car wash and do my best to power wash the salt/snow/ice mixture off the underside of my truck.
I use the high pressure wax mixture at the end of the wash.
Will this help?

RAM forum fluid film bible thread. You should read the entire thread, greats ways to save your truck with treating all the nukes and krannys, but also I think these guys changed their preferred product to wool wax. From what I have seen and read this stuff is literally a miracle, it can save any truck so long as you re-apply. I use it as well but I don't have any salt on my roads so I just use the spray can. I would invest in the gallon spray equipment and plan on doing it yearly for FF maybe every two years for wool wax depending on what @Hemi395 recommends...

Boss those car wash waxes wont help, you want one that sticks and crawls.

I would take it to the car wash and do it there put the truck on some rhino ramps, they are non toxic, at least fluid film is for sure and I think wool wax might be as well.

 

[Burla]

Get you a 6 pack fluid film or wool wax with a spray trigger helper. 1500 is ridiculous.. They also sell packages with the wand.

 

[Rlaf75]

I'm in New England and the crap they put down on the roads during the winter can reek havoc with vehicles. I ended up buying a monthly membership to a local car wash that allows me to go up to twice a day 7 days a week. I usually go through once a week in a normal week bit if it snows I'll several more times a week just to make sure the undercarriage gets cleaned. No problems with rust on my 21

 

[DILLIGAF]

I spray all my ****boxes with fluid film black

 

[Hemi395]

What exactly are they offering for $1500? If its anything "permanent" STAY AWAY. You will do more harm than good.

$1500 for a lanolin or oil based coating is way overpriced so regardless I would find another place. You can go to Woolwax or Fluid Films website and look up their applicators in your area.

For the first coating and seeing as its already winter, I would go with Fluid Film because it creeps faster. Woolwax does creep, but it takes months to do so. However, Woolwax resists washout off better than Fluid Film.

Bottom line is you want something thats NOT permanent, thats creeps well, and is self healing. Fluid Film, Woolwax, Platinum Rust Protection, Surface Shield are all good choices and all have applicators all over the country.

My 2013 is rust free on the cosst of New England where we get salt air year round and road salt in the winter. I use a combo of FF and WW and didnt start until 2015. Stuff really works.

 

[BenchTest]

You will never PREVENT rust, only delay it. How long you can delay it is based on 1) WHAT you apply, 2) HOW you apply, 3) How OFTEN is it applied. Undercoating as a whole isn't a great idea unless you start with a fresh/virgin vehicle. Vehicles that already have a percentage of rust will not undercoat well. You end up trapping moisture under a traditional undercoat which will accelerate rust. You'll inevitably get penetrations to said undercoat where salt/moisture will make their way in and continue to rust, but you won't see it until it's too late. Products that are re-applied every 1-3 years are the best approach. Most of these products are "self healing" meaning that if a rock from the road or some such debris penetrates the protective layer, the product will heal that penetration (within reason) and prevent further intrusion. Regular/traditional undercoats dry firm/hard and won't offer that protection. As previously mentioned, Woolwax, Fluid Film, and others are good options at slowing down the decay. I use LPS3 in the same capacity. It doesn't stink nearly as bad as the others IMO. It's a messy chore, needs to be done about every 2 years, but maybe sooner based on miles driven as all of these products wash away with road spray, over time.

The only long-term solution is to apply U-Haul to your vehicle. You'll load said truck onto a U-Haul and head to a state out west that doesn't experience salt/snow like the midwest. This is the land of 3 year old trucks with rotted out fenders. It's shameful how many low mileage or new trucks have the rust that they do in this area. $80k for a new truck and they can't even do basic rust retardation/prevention.

In closing, you can slow it down, but you'll never stop it.

 

[bigz1983]

Best way is to not drive one in the rust belt. one thing I do, since I'm in the east coast rust belt by the Jersey shore is take to the self serve car wash bay and use the wand to wash road salt from the under carriage after every snow event. Worked very well.

Yeah that's basically what I have been trying to do too.

 

[bigz1983]

See if you have a krown on either side of the border. They typically do a decent job and will wash the undercarriage, with their salt eliminator, then apply their rust coating which is woolwax or a fluid film like substance, they will get it in the panels, the frame every where but as discussed its an annual type deal.

I drive west to east coast a bunch and use a krown in ST Louis, to do mine on the way through. It takes about 2 hours an I schedule an appointment .

I think my last coating was $255. They know me as I been using them for several years and know I do not allow them to drill holes in the truck so they have to do it differently and they don't offer their warranty, since I don't allow them to drill holes

Thanks for the suggestion.
I looked up Krown Rust Proofing online and there is Krown Rustproofing shop about 15 miles from me.
I'll give them a call and ask for an estimate.

 

[bigz1983]

You will never PREVENT rust, only delay it. How long you can delay it is based on 1) WHAT you apply, 2) HOW you apply, 3) How OFTEN is it applied. Undercoating as a whole isn't a great idea unless you start with a fresh/virgin vehicle. Vehicles that already have a percentage of rust will not undercoat well. You end up trapping moisture under a traditional undercoat which will accelerate rust. You'll inevitably get penetrations to said undercoat where salt/moisture will make their way in and continue to rust, but you won't see it until it's too late. Products that are re-applied every 1-3 years are the best approach. Most of these products are "self healing" meaning that if a rock from the road or some such debris penetrates the protective layer, the product will heal that penetration (within reason) and prevent further intrusion. Regular/traditional undercoats dry firm/hard and won't offer that protection. As previously mentioned, Woolwax, Fluid Film, and others are good options at slowing down the decay. I use LPS3 in the same capacity. It doesn't stink nearly as bad as the others IMO. It's a messy chore, needs to be done about every 2 years, but maybe sooner based on miles driven as all of these products wash away with road spray, over time.

The only long-term solution is to apply U-Haul to your vehicle. You'll load said truck onto a U-Haul and head to a state out west that doesn't experience salt/snow like the midwest. This is the land of 3 year old trucks with rotted out fenders. It's shameful how many low mileage or new trucks have the rust that they do in this area. $80k for a new truck and they can't even do basic rust retardation/prevention.

In closing, you can slow it down, but you'll never stop it.

Thanks for the advice

 

[bigz1983]

What exactly are they offering for $1500? If its anything "permanent" STAY AWAY. You will do more harm than good.

$1500 for a lanolin or oil based coating is way overpriced so regardless I would find another place. You can go to Woolwax or Fluid Films website and look up their applicators in your area.

For the first coating and seeing as its already winter, I would go with Fluid Film because it creeps faster. Woolwax does creep, but it takes months to do so. However, Woolwax resists washout off better than Fluid Film.

Bottom line is you want something thats NOT permanent, thats creeps well, and is self healing. Fluid Film, Woolwax, Platinum Rust Protection, Surface Shield are all good choices and all have applicators all over the country.

My 2013 is rust free on the cosst of New England where we get salt air year round and road salt in the winter. I use a combo of FF and WW and didnt start until 2015. Stuff really works.

It wasn't permanent they just said it was wax based rustproofing.

 

[bigz1983]

See if you have a krown on either side of the border. They typically do a decent job and will wash the undercarriage, with their salt eliminator, then apply their rust coating which is woolwax or a fluid film like substance, they will get it in the panels, the frame every where but as discussed its an annual type deal.

I drive west to east coast a bunch and use a krown in ST Louis, to do mine on the way through. It takes about 2 hours an I schedule an appointment .

I think my last coating was $255. They know me as I been using them for several years and know I do not allow them to drill holes in the truck so they have to do it differently and they don't offer their warranty, since I don't allow them to drill holes

I called the Krown Rust Proofing shop near me and made an appointment to get rustproofing on Monday the 29th.
They said with taxes the total will be about $180.
Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

I called the Krown Rust Proofing shop near me and made an appointment to get rustproofing on Monday the 29th.
They said with taxes the total will be about $180.
Thanks for the suggestion.

Remember it's an annual type of thing, you also need to decide if you want them to drill small holes in your truck for them to access some difficult to reach areas. The decision is important as it affects any potential warranty concerns if it's a new truck.

 

[Grams]

In the early ‘70’s I was a Toyota “technician”…and the factory training included a course on undercoating. It was considered a BAD IDEA to use rubberized or plasticized undercoat sprays …for a number of reasons.

1- It can increase interior noise levels. (It’s a long story, but …One Example: imagine a brake line filled with brake-fluid mounted to the rear axle transmitting normal rear axle gear-noises via that liquid all the way to the front firewall / master-cyl mounting which becomes a sound-box amplifying noise. Undercoating on that brake-line retains noise within the line until it reaches the firewall.)

2- It seals any existing corrosive-producing materials to the vehicle.

3-It prevents drying-out of any captured or penetrating corrosives.

4-It makes electrical trouble-shooting (especially “Grounds”) more difficult.

The best treatment promoted at that time was an LPS-2 type product (interweb-quote): “heavy-duty, multi-purpose lubricant and penetrant that displaces moisture, reduces friction, loosens rusted parts, and provides corrosion protection for up to a year, safe on plastics, paints, and rubbers, used widely on tools and equipment.It leaves a light, oily film and meets military standards (MIL-C-16173E, MIL-C-81309E).

Here’s a product I use in conjunction with my pressure-washer to treat / clean the underbelly /wheel-wells / fuselage of airplanes : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0878QXTX7?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_4&th=1

 

[Dean2]

I use Rust Check, which is an oil based film that they renew every couple of years. I have a local place that does the applications. Pickup was $450 first time, then about $200 per respray. I had them drill the holes and spray the hard to reach places. They seal them with Rubber plugs so it looks OEM. Had them do my new 2021 as well. Krown is very similar and just as good. Alberta has a lot of salt and 6 months of bad weather.

This is my 1996 2500 and the picture was taken this summer. Original factory paint, no rust anywhere on the body. Undercarriage is pretty good too, but you can't completely eliminate rust. Was kept Rust Checked and washed at the wand wash at least weekly, sometimes more, because I hate driving a dirty vehicle.