TRD Pro Undercarriage Condition After 40 Months in Boston, MA

Sprinkler is easy and cheap to rinse undercarriage. Fluid film twice a year or at least every autumn. You don't need to scrape or sand existing rust spots with fluid film, it kinda dissolve it over time. POR15 is amazing but a ton of work and money, like my worth it but I just do the fluid film, I got a sprayer kit for air compressor and buy gallon containers for fairly cheap. Warm it up before applying makes it go on easier and you can spray it on pretty much anything safely.

 

How long have you had your Tundra in Wisconsin? If you ever get a chance to post a few pics of your undercarriage it would help many in determining what route to go with preventative maintenance to include me

 

Thanks for the info. Could you potentially provide pics to help myself and others see how effective your method is?

 

I've had the truck just under a year, so first winter. Once the ground warms up I could take a few pictures.

 

Did the undercarriage of my 94 Yota with POR 15....actually had a place sandblast then apply it. NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE. When time and money allows, I’ll probably do my Tundra since I’ll have it for a long while.

 

I'll try to get some pics for you in a few days. I live in CT and have my truck has been in CT for 4 years and 36k miles.

 

Yes! Perfect. Definitely will helps others on here as well!

 

One of my hobbies is vintage VW’s.

The old VWs are built on a chassis with solid pans of steel that is very prone to rust, and every builder has to decide what finish/coating to use. POR 15 is very popular, but there is a constant warning buzz about how carefully you have to prep. Guys who half assed the prep work had POR 15 coming off in sheets like black tissue.

Here is a very long but cool thread about a long term test on rust inhibitors where the tester subjected the treated steel to murderous extremes to see how the different products would hold up through an extended timeframe. Grab a beer (or 2) and enjoy....

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=131753

 

Krown for me ! Just got a reapplication on my 15 Taco. bought it new, Krown every year. Looked at it while was up on the hoist, looks like it came from the dealer. A lot of salt in Mi

 

I have a 2015 Tundra Crew max with Borla (TRD exhaust) and live in Minneapolis, MN metro area (tons of salt). Was just under the truck this last weekend installing Bilsteins and TRD sway bar. My truck looked similar to yours. Most of the front suspension bolts were frozen /rusted, even after I soaked them down for a week prior. For whatever reason, my exhaust looks better than yours. I laugh at all these posts about changing shocks, etc from folks in non-rust belt areas. Everything takes twice as long just dealing with corrosion - LOL

 

My '16 Massachusetts-driven Tundra looks about the same too. Exhaust bolts look pretty bad, doubt that they would come off without shearing. I'm going to do a fluid film spray this fall.

 

I also have a 2016 from Western MA I bought recently. The frame is getting rust on the welds and the front lower control arms. Everything else looks ok so far. I am painting a product similar to POR15, Chassis Saver, on all the spots rust is present and then going over those spots and the rest of the frame and suspension with Rustoleum. Not putting the Chassis Saver on the non rusty frame because it won’t stick. Then I’ll probably do annual applications of fluid film or something similar before each winter. I’ve done similar to this before with good results. It’s a lot of work and I don’t have a lift but I’m optimistic it will be worth it.
I’m getting runs and drips, it’s not the prettiest paint job but looks better than the alternative.

 

Maybe I will try the Chassie Saver...had some serious health issues for a couple years and it prevented me from getting under the truck to do my annual Rustoleum paint job. Gonna give it a few weeks then try the Chassie Saver combo with Rustoleum.
I use to buy Automotive grade paint up in Salem when I worked on the N Shore..it worked great on mo 02 and. 07 Tundras

 

Yeah, proper prep of por15 is key. If I recal, you actually use water to wash it and then air dry it. It’s a pretty long list of how to prep it lol. Especially if applied on clean metal.

 

I’ve done some serious rust prevention on my 97 4runner. With a full boxed frame. I pressure washed it from the front towards the back. Let it air dry for a day. Then used Eastwood internal frame coating. After, I used Eastwood heavy duty grease with extended nozzle to coat the inside of the frame along with body cavities. This stuff is STICKY!!! And it’s great. Because it repels water and salt. Then around the frame and under body, I got a gallon of fluid film from Amazon. And just used a cheap paint brush to cover everything. Let me tell you, the frame Is CLEAN.

 

A little info here for you.... I grew up in Wolfeboro NH so I am no stranger to salt. I moved and live in Boone NC now. This is 3333 feet above sea level and right in the middle of the Appalachian mountains. They use this crap called BRYNE on the roads, it is way way way worse than salt, it is a synthetic solution that is water activated. It is sprayed as a liquid, but can dry and turns into a nice dust. It sticks to everything and guess what, it activates after it rains, or when the snow melts and the roads are wet, etc..... It kills any metal that is not treated in 3 to 5 years. I use FLUID FILM on everything, it works beautifully.

I had a 2013 4 Runner that I undercoated with 14 bottles of a undercoating we sell at our dealership. The under coating is a pretty good product, just not for Bryne. 6 bottles is recommended for a midsize SUV. After 2 years the Bryne had eaten through a large area of the undercoating in multiple places.

Now here is the kicker that most people do not think about during winter times. Car washes have to recycle some of the water being used (I know this because my friend owns a car wash where I live), they can not use fresh water the entire time. So in winter time you are washing/spraying salt off your car/truck. It then mixes with the water, the water gets recycled and gets re-used on the up coming vehicles. When you use the under body wash, water gets sprayed up into areas that just normal driving would not get to. So just be careful how much you use it. Yes the salt is diluted pretty good, but we have seen cars and trucks that get a regular wash in the winter still rust out.

I am an ASM at a car dealership, so I get to see the effects of this all day long.

 

So I applied some Rustoleum Rust Dissolver (Home Depet) on the undercarriage. I used a Scotch-Brite Scouring pads to rough/apply it by hand in most places I saw rust. I mostly focused on the exhaust pipes but I also hit any rust I noticed near suspension. Anyways, it only took about an hour and I didnt have to lift it or anything as the truck sits high enough. (TRD Pro lift) Im pretty happy with the results of the first application. I figure I do a second application soon and then look into a convenient Fluid Film application at a local shop. I dont mind doing one application of FF a year. Not so expensive or time consuming as some of the other options that could only end up costing you more in the long run as they can mask rust.

In any case let me know what you guys think. I took these pictures after 2 hours of applying the Rustoleum. Compared to my original pictures this seems a lot better. Did I miss any other major areas?

 

Did you remove any of the surface rust before hand with wire brush ?
I'm going to do that first, then use the product you used, THEN spray on Rust Reformer, and finally paint with Rustoleum...

I have had pretty good success with that...

 

No I didnt use a wire brush. Would that scrape away some of the existing black paint on the chassis and expose bare metal? I guess it would be no issue using wire brush on the exhaust pipe and bare bolts as those don't have any paint. I used one of those green Scotch-Brite Scouring pads. I planned on doing this at least twice. Pretty much until I can get most if not all rust off. It will definitely take longer than a wiring brush though.

 

Im gonna do my exhaust too... sandpaper them spray it with High Heat engine paint...
My thinking is if there is rust there it has already worked its way down to the bare metal so... no harm...
I have a wire wheel to attach to drill to help move it along...

I have done it this way for several years with good results.

Also lightly paint over nuts and bolts..... easier to break paint than rust

 

Good point! I will give that a try. I saw some high heat matte black spray paint for grills which should work great after I bust that rust off. Thanks