Undercoating ?

Has anyone had their 3rd gen Tundra undercoated yet? If so, which type did you go with and did they do everything under the vehicle? They salt the crap out of the roads here and I do not want this thing to rust out.

 

I'd use Woolwax, can be applied yourself and works very well. I've used it every year for 5-6 years before winter time.

 

I’d recommend,either krown, or rustcheck. If your near Edmonton go,see sublime surfacing for his dry ice blasting and undercoat

 

Doing it yourself isnt that big of a deal. In the past I used Fluid Film on my Tacoma. Frame on that never had a rust issue living in the salt belt. (Toyota had recalls on it)
Fluid Film is stupid easy to apply. (I used rattle cans) Spray everything metal. Used two or three cans. Only dislike was it smells for a few days.

On Tundra I bought Corrosion Free Rust Cure Formula 3000 and a spray undercoating gun. Went on easy, may have sprayed a bit much here and there since it was dripping for days. Oops.
Supposed to last up to 18 months. Supposedly this stuff is better than fluidfilm. Guess time will tell.

 

Corrosion Free user here.

It's an easy DIY project with a compressor and gun.

 

I'll be picking up my tundra this weekend. Scheduled appointment at NHOC for the boss wax application. Said to be semi-permanent, heavy-duty rust protectant. Takes them 6+hrs to apply as they mask off to protect cable/exhaust etc. Have to leave it over night. Time will tell if worth it.

 

I had the linex guys do their rubberized coating for my vehicle. I have a 5 year warranty on it. The owner (he is a vet as well) told me he would do free touch ups as well.

 

I keep hearing different things regarding pros / cons of lineX for under coating. I was about to pull the trigger a couple year back when I read many recommendations against it, suggesting that water can sometimes get trapped inside (ie through a crack that isn’t seen) or if there are small amounts of existing rust, it will “look” nice on the exterior but you risk the frame rotting on the inside. I asked the lineX shop and he said he’s been doing this for a very long time and that isn’t true. ‍♂️

 

I live in New Mexico

.. but if I lived where I thought it prudent to undercoat my choice would be Fluid Film - cheap, inert and easy to reapply. Skip the spray cans, get a 5 gallon bucket and a cheap spray gun and maintain the whole fleet.

Pockets of trapped moisture could be a concern with plastic coatings - not like there have been any rusted and replaced Toyota frames out there

 

Mine got the Waxoil treatment when it arrived at the dealer from the factory,after a year they want it back for inspection and touch ups if needed, I'll tell you this though, if you have to do anything and I mean anything under your truck ya better wear a Tyvek suit cause that shit sucks to off get off it gets EVERY WHERE!
I can appreciate for what it does but man swapping out my exhaust sucked I was covered in that shit.

 

Fluid Flim here. Lay a blanket of that stuff on everything steel and you’ll keep the rust away. Definitely get a spray gun if you have the compressor to support it.

 

GO CANADA .

We have Poutine AND Corrosion Free!

 

Rust is just the iron that has been burned by oxygen. If there's already rust and you completely seal/encapsulate it, the metal will stop burning. Rust doesn't spread when it's completely sealed off from O2. So, he was right about that not happening (granted, everything is perfectly sealed).
I don't like things like rubberized or plastic coatings because they dry, shrink, crack and even have pits and spots missed. If water/O2 makes it's way into those little compromised spots, then yes, the metal will oxidize underneath the coating, it will spread and you won't see it happening.
Of course, someone selling a product will always say that it works well and all the bad things are myths.
Rubber coating, plastic coating, linex, etc will work to prevent rust, given that everything is perfectly covered and sealed, it never chips, shrinks, cracks, pulls away from the surface, etc. But that will never happen. Unless the metal is already galvanized and painted (but then you don't really need the protection).
It's better to use a wax or oil based product, do a good job covering everything and reapplying it when needed.
Just my opinion. But based on living in snow/road salt land for 50 yrs.

 

When contemplating using a rubberized undercoating, this Vid needs to be posted/watched beforehand.

https://youtu.be/nXvl9nt57Kg

 

Exactly. It just doesn't work,.....and makes the problem worse.

 

.

 

The CRC marine corrosion inhibitor is $24 p/10oz can at the local marine shop here.
I looked on Amazon and found it for $10 p/can. So I ordered a bunch.
I'll update on how it is to apply and how it holds up over winter.

 

ValuGard Undercoat is not the traditional rubberized undercoat. Its more like cosmoline and while a pain in the ass to remove it will protect anything that it gets put on.

https://5thgenrams.com/community/threads/my-experience-with-valuguard-on-a-2021-limited.34490/

 

That's on a 2021. I'll come back and check in 2026.

I'd be hesitant with any type of undercoating that lasts multiple years.

 

Oil,spray type coatings have to be applied every year.

I will be trying “Honeyseal” which is a cosmoline type coating. It has a yellow tint to it so you can see if and when it needs to be re applied.

the nice thing about the place I’m going to is they dry ice blast before they coat. Kinda like a factory reset.

at the end of the day doing some kind of rust mitigation is,better than none.

more important is the application of the product rather than the product itself (oil or cosmoline type)

 

Unless you have a brand new spotless frame then rubberized undercoating is not the way to go since as others have said it will trap moisture. Oil based products like fluid film do a great job. I'm 4 years into ownership of mine and have had it undercoated with fluid film every year and not a spot of rust on it. The only thing that sucks is when you go to do anything to the underside of your truck it's a slippery mess. I usually plan my big projects like suspension swap just before my next undercoating to avoid a fresh mess of fluid film.

 

I live in the rustbelt, so that was the very first thing I had done . I used Zeibart for the undercoating.

 

Been taking mine to Krown since 2022...soooo..two visits now, no issues.

 

Wouldn't be a bad idea to give your battery terminals and any exposed ground terminals a spritz with CRC, too.

 

If you want to coat the battery terminals I would recommend petrolium jelly for that.
Used it for years on the cars and boat. Prevents the white powder oxidation.

 

I'll be trying Krown for the first time, scheduled for the end of October in York, PA. They had open availability as early as next week, unfortunately my work schedule is a little hectic over the next few weeks so I pushed it out a month. $159 for my Tundra which I was extremely shocked at the price. I asked them if I should drop my spare tire, as they don't do so, and the lady on the phone said they should be able to reach under there still with the various hoses/attachments they have, along with being able to spray the spare tire as well. I'll follow back once I actually get it done.

 

id drop the spare anyways. Actually I do this every year. Otherwise if you don’t, and you get a flat you may find the mechanism seized.

plus I also check the tire pressure as well.

 

Yea after thinking about it a little more, I think I will just leave my spare in the bed for them to spray separately. But living in MD and now PA a majority of my life, this is normal practice yearly to drop and inspect the spare like you mentioned.

 

good plan.

most people never,do this. Then when you need your spare, it’s low on air and useless.

ask me how I know! Lol

 

I am using PB Blaster's Surface Shield. Dust and debris do tend to stick to it but that can all be washed off as long as rust does not form. This winter will be its first test on the Tundra. I have been using it for 3 years now on my wife's Highlander but it rarely seen snow as we did have a winter beater before I bought the Tundra so it would not be a fair evaluation of this stuff.