How to Fluid Film your truck

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U&A

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Harbor freight airless paint sprayer pictures as I promised. As you can see the 3/8” plastic hose has been bent so it will meet the bottom corner of the cup when the gun is pointing up in the air.

And the other two pictures first one is the passenger side second one is the driver side if I am laying under the truck looking towards the rear of the truck. (On my back looking towards my feet) You can see the two giant holes at the bottom of each side. Completely different design than yours.

One more note about the airless paint sprayer, I know fluid film says not to use them but I got to say i’m so impressed I might just skip the air Compressor from here on out. It’s not as fast but did the job very well. And it’s hard to beat a $19.99 spraygun and not having to run your big compressor.
 

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Hemi395

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Harbor freight airless paint sprayer pictures as I promised. As you can see the 3/8” plastic hose has been bent so it will meet the bottom corner of the cup when the gun is pointing up in the air.

And the other two pictures first one is the passenger side second one is the driver side if I am laying under the truck looking towards the rear of the truck. (On my back looking towards my feet) You can see the two giant holes at the bottom of each side. Completely different design than yours.

One more note about the airless paint sprayer, I know fluid film says not to use them but I got to say i’m so impressed I might just skip the air Compressor from here on out. It’s not as fast but did the job very well. And it’s hard to beat a $19.99 spraygun and not having to run your big compressor.

Yeah thats clearly drain holes in those mounts. Wow thats great you HD guys don't have to worry about them rotting out, just keep them coated. WTF were they thinking in the 1500s??

Might have to look into that for next year, that looks a lot less cumbersome than having a compressor and hose to worry about
 

U&A

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Yeah thats clearly drain holes in those mounts. Wow thats great you HD guys don't have to worry about them rotting out, just keep them coated. WTF were they thinking in the 1500s??

Might have to look into that for next year, that looks a lot less cumbersome than having a compressor and hose to worry about


You will be dealing with an extention cord. And a paint sprayer that could die on a wim. The one downfall of the airless sprayer is the “power” if the spray. Its not pushed out of the gun very hard so you have to get closer. It makes a good cloud though. But its not as precise of a spray. If you want to test it out just buy one, test it with vegetable oil and see what you think. If you dont like it then return it WITH THE receipt. I had the first one i got lock up on me when testing. Had to get another. Also had to accept that I may have to stop in the middle drive to Harbor freight to get a new one if it breaks again.


Unless you have a quality airless sprayer.
 

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Yeah there's actually a guy 5 miles from me that does this officially through Fluid Film but charges $160 for "large trucks". For $160 I got everything I need to do it many times myself. Plus no one is going to do a more thorough job than you. But I'm sure he makes some money doing it for people who wouldn't want to crawl under their vehicles and get greasy.

To make $160 detailing it is a lot of work, but this would be much less labor intensive or time consuming. I think initial costs would be finding a building that would support it if you want to do it right. There is so many laws in CA, I wonder what it would take to get permission from the commies.
 
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Hemi395

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To make $160 detailing it is a lot of work, but this would be much less labor intensive or time consuming. I think initial costs would be finding a building that would support it if you want to do it right. There is so many laws in CA, I wonder what it would take to get permission from the commies.
Yeah MA is no better. I drove by the guy's house and he has a good sized garage out back with a lift. **** I'd do this full time if I had that setup
 

U&A

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Yeah MA is no better. I drove by the guy's house and he has a good sized garage out back with a lift. **** I'd do this full time if I had that setup

In a full coverage suit and resporator id do it all day too. In the salt states it would be a killing over the $500 price tage on that Zbart garbage.
 

firebuff17

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What happens if you have a 3-4 year old truck in New England? I have not crawled under too do a really good look at anything. If there is some rust under there is it still worth doing this? Would it slow the rust process on parts that are already starting to rust?


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chrisbh17

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What happens if you have a 3-4 year old truck in New England? I have not crawled under too do a really good look at anything. If there is some rust under there is it still worth doing this? Would it slow the rust process on parts that are already starting to rust?


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They claim it does, yes.

Some products (Corrosion Free, NH Oil Undercoating) also claim they will help convert the rust a bit along with encapsulating it.

Just bought my RAM earlier this month, but there was some basic surface rust in common places like the axle tubes, etc. Didnt touch the rust by hand, sprayed Corrosion Free directly on it and it seems to have converted or somehow cleaned it away as the tubes are now just black with a clear oil film on them.

3 or 4 year old truck up here in New England? I would do my best to clean the undercarriage (pressure washer, maybe one of the coin-op car washes that have an undercarriage wash, or even pay for a car wash with an undercarriage wash), then hit it with any one of the oil-type undercoatings (NOT rubberized stuff that cures).

Im in CT and ANYTHING is better than nothing when it comes to keeping corrosion away. FF works for sure, I can see it on my old Frontier.
 

firebuff17

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Thanks chrisbh17.
I am also in CT. I do spray the undercarriage every week or so during the winter months. I built a sprayer that attaches to my garden hose.
Will have to put this on the list of things to do to the truck.


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misuracaf10

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How many rocker plugs/ plugs do you need to buy to do all of this ?


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chrisbh17

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How many rocker plugs/ plugs do you need to buy to do all of this ?


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None?

My 2017 has a rubber plug in the lower left hand corner of the rear door frame and under the rockers themselves are 6 or 8 plugs already.

For the rockers I pulled out every other one, inserted the wand and sprayed while turning the wand around in the hole.

For the door frame I just pulled the plug and sprayed all around the best I could. The door frame plug is a little harder to get out but it does come out and go back in without issue.
 
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Hemi395

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The only place you're going to need to cover some holes is on the back side of the rocker next to the frame. Remember there's two compartments inside the rocker panels an inner and an outer. You could just cover the holes with tape but it doesn't stick well when its covered with Fluid Film. That's why I got those plugs I posted the link to in the 1st post.
 
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Hemi395

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LOL. Finished fluid filming the truck yesterday and they put salt on the roads this morning first time this year.
Damn man that seems kind of early for salt ??
 

chrisbh17

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The only place you're going to need to cover some holes is on the back side of the rocker next to the frame. Remember there's two compartments inside the rocker panels an inner and an outer. You could just cover the holes with tape but it doesn't stick well when its covered with Fluid Film. That's why I got those plugs I posted the link to in the 1st post.

So the lower plugs that were already in the truck...is that the inner or outer?

And should I remove the tape thats already on the holes and shoot in there too?

I didnt realize they were separate "chambers" in the rockers.
 
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Hemi395

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So the lower plugs that were already in the truck...is that the inner or outer?

And should I remove the tape thats already on the holes and shoot in there too?

I didnt realize they were separate "chambers" in the rockers.

Yeah if you look at post 2 it shows the 2 separate chambers. The plugs on the bottom only give access to the outer chamber. For the inner chamber you have to peel the tape off the back side of the rocker panel to gain access. Unfortunately that leaves a big hole for sand and salt to get in so it should be covered with something. I've spent a lot of time trying to find plugs that fit the hole and the best thing I've found are these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7W7I0C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8Ih-zb5NTD5CH

They don't fit perfectly but it's better than trying to use tape
 

U&A

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Damn man that seems kind of early for salt ??

Don’t know what the **** they were thinking it was 40° out . Just a small amount of sleet coming down
 
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Hemi395

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Don’t know what the **** they were thinking it was 40° out . Just a small amount of sleet coming down
Ha sounds just like here. If there's a flurry in the air they throw 10 tons of salt down "just in case it gets slippery"
 

U&A

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Ha sounds just like here. If there's a flurry in the air they throw 10 tons of salt down "just in case it gets slippery"

I hate salt so I’m going to like your post and then unlike it because that’s the only way I can unlike it

LOL
 

chrisbh17

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Yeah if you look at post 2 it shows the 2 separate chambers. The plugs on the bottom only give access to the outer chamber. For the inner chamber you have to peel the tape off the back side of the rocker panel to gain access. Unfortunately that leaves a big hole for sand and salt to get in so it should be covered with something. I've spent a lot of time trying to find plugs that fit the hole and the best thing I've found are these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7W7I0C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8Ih-zb5NTD5CH

They don't fit perfectly but it's better than trying to use tape

Thanks!

Ill grab a few spray cans of FF and go to town on these spots and what else I missed (inside tailgate, etc)
 
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