2016, to coat the frame or not?

I’ve heard that as well. I can see the logic but I always choose the undercarriage wash which is high pressure and I’m not seeing any issues. But, I’m not in Jersey either. Yes, please post some pics. I’m interested to see what your dealing with.

 

https://www.toyota.com/recall

Run your VIN there, any recall will definitely pop up...and you can go from there.

 

I am going to repeat a link I did in another under carriage thread:

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

The link folllows a guy’s efforts to test rust inhibitor coatings over a long stretch of time under harsh conditions, including a long dunk in a chlorinated pool. It’s a fun read, and at least partially applicable to the question here.

He tests Master Series, Rust Bullet, POR 15, Rustoleum, and Jasco to name a few.

It’s a fun read and the guys on the site swap BS the same way we do here.

Also- my opinion on undercoating: don’t do the tar-like undercoating. It will destroy your under carriage because over time it will partly fail and allow moisture to intrude and get stuck, hastening the rust.

 

I agree @panicman, I would only use product such as fluid film or eastwood. Its basically sticky grease that eventually will wash of. But it does protect it. Anyways, here are few photos. I will say, I am no where near to say that, "Omg! my frame is so rusty." But you gotta understand with toyotas recalls I am just being cautious. Owning the vehicle out right, I am planning to keep it for a very long long time. Maybe I am being a little anal. But I guess I am simply seeing if wiring wheeling the rust spots then painting will void warranty or such things. We all know what happens if its left untreated. So its not that bad though.







couple photos of the 4runner after Sunday wheeling!



Again, I think its not serious at all, but for sure something to take care of.

 

I live in Maine and obsess over the road salt. Prevention is key. I treated the entire frame in the fall and washed the undercarriage as often as I could in the winter. Someone on the site suggested the lawn sprinkler, which I used a couple of times to prep. However you do it, It’s messy and sucks to try to get under there.

I recently bought a Ryobi under carriage/floor power wash sprayer accessory. Home depot. 43$. And extension wand. Picked one up and LOVE it.

 

Is it ok to use fluid film with existing rust or would it be alot better to sand blast it to make sure it all cleared off? It was said earlier that the tar under coating could cause more problems by trapping the enemy.

 

You can apply the fluid film over existing rust. Stays “wet” and seals it. It does wash off. I have a line-x dealer spray my2016 with Krown annually and I touch it up as needed

 

You can. It will definitely help! But it’s better to wire wheel it of. Spray it with quality paint then apply it fluid film.

 

The frame look good. It looks to me like the welds are what are rusting.

 

Brilliant!!! I'm going to get one of these. Thanks.

 

Lived in CT and PA for many years, lots of winter road treatment. Now I live a couple miles from the Atlantic in NC, also salty.

-Wash the undercarriage regularly.
-I use fluid film a lot at work, on boats, and random stuff, but no longer on my frame. A pressure washer removes fluid film, protection gone. Heavy road spray will also remove it.
-I used CRC SP-400 for years, now I am back to Amsoil MPHD. Both are good products, the Amsoil seems to grab onto the surface better, and it's just a little less expensive.

 

Fluid film does work well but needs re-applied. I'd use that or one of the other products mentioned here rather than banking on a future potential recall.

 

Never understood that, I think something is better than nothing, and sustained long enough is good mist dilution in those crevices rather than having the salt sit somewhere else, every spot is vulnerable.

 

I'm seriously considering buying something like this. The one I saw looked like the spray was way too wide though and didn't have much power left once the water actually hit the underside of the truck. How has this one been about removing mud and dirt?

 

From another forum I belong to where they were taking about the HD deal on the Ryobi water broom:

“used mine today with a 1900 psi 1.3gpm karcher... it just moves dirt... doesn't clean like a regular head does.... i guess i need a gas one to make it work properly”

 

Hmm, I may just build my own at some point then and use nozzles with narrow angles.

 

Great idea, post up later, I may just copy because I missed the deal.

 

i do a full crown treatment in the spring and in the fall i use a guy next to my shop that uses a more thick stuff look like lithium grease,only on the underside, but its almost edible he does all the city trucks, including the salt trucks,has worked great so far: my 1996 tacoma that my buddy has now is still going, my 2008 tacoma that the dealer's daughter uses is perfect and my 2016 tundra has slight surface rust normal, i'm in ontario canada and they use some kind of beet juice brine on the roads that eats oil. I also have the crown spray can for touch ups.

 

Agree with OBXTundra...Amsoil HD Metal Protectant is what I use. Ive used Fluid Film and CRC products and Amsoil works the best for me.

 

Fluid Film is easy to put on. 2 cans take about 30 minutes of time. Washes off over a seasons use so it needs reapplication.

Anyone consider doing a full frame grease rub? With actual moly-lith grease out of the tub?

 

I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. It’s like, every seen a very very greasy oily undercarriage? 0 RUST LOL. Back in the day people used to use old engine oil to coat the frames.

 

If you live up north I would definitely get it coated. i live in the southern Midwest and I'm even starting to see rust spots.

 

Amsoil HD Metal Protector is what I use. Seems to stay on and not really wash off. I cleaned the entire truck and let it dry for a day or two and sprayed everything, used about 3 cans. I live in Wisconsin and everything looks pretty good after the first winter. Hit the car wash every week as well. Also I have a dealer membership if anyone wants it at cost plus shipping.

 

I read this thread with interest as I just went through rustproofing the new Tundra this past weekend. Its been sitting in the garage since Thanksgiving as I refused to drive it through the brutal Chicago winter unprotected. I've gone the professional rustproofing route on a Mustang I bought decades ago and was never happy with all the holes they drilled and plugged and the sloppy application. I have a big compressor for painting and sandblasting so figured undercoating wouldn't be so bad. I had a gun which is used to apply 3M Body Schutz to some of my restorations but it didn't have a wand to get into the frame. Getting the material into the boxed section of the frame is critical. Eastwood sells a undercoating gun for $70 which has two wands for the tight areas. I read the reviews which were split between great and worthless. Figured the guys bitching probably were clueless to begin with or trying to use it for something it wasn't designed to handle. Eastwood also sells a pro gun which everyone loved but its $250 so a bit steep.

Now it was time to find an actual material. I had heard about this Fluid Film here months ago but after further research it seemed like it was temporary at best. Washes off? Thats not undercoating. Reapply it twice a year, touch-ups, expensive, etc. Sounds like over-glorified WD-40. Black grease or heavy black slop, bedliner, even considered the Body Schutz. Everything seemed to have a downside. But during my years of restoring old cars from the 60's I remember this sort of sticky substance that cast iron parts were coated in to keep them from rusting on the dealers shelves. The downside is that it is like a magnet for dust and dirt to stick to it. So I did some more research on the material and found that its was first developed in the late 1800's. Over the years it was used for many things but during WWII they found that it could be thinned and sprayed onto tanks and artillery to rustproof them from the salt air while being transported to the 2 overseas theaters. The Russians also used it to protect large caches of AK's which were stored throughout the countryside for decades in leaky silos in case of an invasion from the west during the Cold War era. Even after 40 years of moisture once the coating was washed off the weapons looked and operated like new.

Whats this magic product called......Cosmoline. And its still available via the internet. A gallon shipped to my door from Cali was $102.

I experimented a little and found a ratio for thinning it to spray nicely through the wands was 3 parts Cosmoline to 1 part Mineral spirits (Home Depot). For the main frame and other surfaces 3 parts to 3/4 of 1 part works well. While at Depot also pick up a mixing paddle (the one with the orange plastic multiple fins) a 1/2 quart marked mixing/ measuring cup and a white hazmat like suit (painting department $10) to keep you from getting covered in the stuff. If you have to roll around underneath the truck because you don't have a lift you will be rolling around in this stuff. My lift is for small cars not this monster. Wear a hat or something to keep this from getting in your hair. Otherwise you will need scissors or a crew cut afterwards. Those with "flow or mullets" beware. Use a drill and the mixing paddle to help get it thinner to work with. We had temp in the high 60's this weekend and it worked fine but I stored the material in-doors over night.

The worst part is all the paper covering on the underside. I covered everything that wasn't frame. So exhaust, driveshaft, shocks, brakes, brake lines, engine, trans and front diff/axles, etc. Removed the front skid plate (PITA), mudflaps and two rubber sheild kind of covering engine in the front wheel houses. A roll of brown paper and white masking tape from depot took care of the material portion. The roll of paper is about 30" tall and a nice weight. Red Rosen paper is too heavy and the stuff painters use for trim is only 10" and way too light weight. Plan on spending 3 hours prepping the underside with tape and paper. I didn't want this stuff on mechanical bits as once this stuff gets a layer of dirt on it you have some cleaning to do to get to bolts. Spend the time up front you will thank me later.

Your air pressure should start at 60 lbs but will drop to 40 lbs with full trigger. My two stage 5 hp compressor with a 60 gal tank never ran out of air through out the 2-3 hours of spraying. Now it does get a chance to catch up as you refill the bottle on the sprayer or as you mix up more material. If you order your gun from Eastwood the sprayer comes with 1 bottle but buy a second one for spraying thinner through your equipment. Clean op immediately as this magic honey will set up quickly overnight. Once it does it is a more flexible solid. Get lots of cardboard to lay under your truck. Don't try moving around a small piece. You dont want this all over your driveway as it ozzes out openings in the frame. Just throw out the cardboard when you are done. It was a looooooong day. I can't remember the last time I spent close to 11 hours in the garage. Stripped off the paper after cleaning the gun on Saturday. Put the wheels, spare tire, skid plate on Sunday morning before the rain started. Read up on Cosmoline I think you will be impressed. Check it over the years to see if you need any touch ups but this stuff is durable. Water wont wash it off like an Oil Spray, Krown or Fluid Film. Having to reapply once a year is a joke. This job sucked the one time.

 

To be more specific you are looking for the following product from Cosmoline Direct, LLC. Product is
Cosmoline Rust-Veto 342- Industrial Grade.

 

Any reason why you didn’t coat the brake lines, under body and such? It’s a pain in the ass when bolts brake to rust! It wouldn’t of hurt to coat all those minus the exhaust. Thats a great write up by the way. I’ll have to look into this product you speak of. Thanks again.