I am pretty new to having a car like truck. Until now, all I've ever driver were military style SUVs (Jeep, Defender, Hummer H1) and I've had them all undercoated. It helped with noise, insuation and corrosion. And it kept the fasteners sealed against rust which is huge plus when working on a beast like those.
Most anti-rust coatings and undercoatings actually ABSORB water! Z*bart has been infamous for the latex in their formula absorbing water. Some use neoprene (also absorbs water). This means that the water will be in proximity to your vehicle LONGER! These treatments also allow oxygen to permeate through.
Companies that put this junk on your vehicle show photos of water beading on the product to make people think that it waterproofs. It's BS marketing.
My SSR: Silver on Black Final Prod 6 speed #23387, Signature #23, Signature #12
Undercoating will actually trap water in any crevices or cracks in the undercoating material, instead of allowing the water to evaporate.
Not sure why rustproofing materials would be a concern - they just make the underside oily without sealing it. I'd be much more inclined to go that way, if I was driving my SSR in the winter - mine is now prked for the season.
Ray
__________________
Ray
No longer One of the "Blues Brothers"
Final Production Silver on Black/chrome/6-speed #23387
Signature #23
Signature #12 - The Gibson Guitar truck
First off, I do not have an SSR yet and am planning/hoping? on next spring but as I read all the badmouthing here about most rustproofing, I have to tell you about what I use. I live across a river from Windsor, Ontario, Canada where they have an OilGard outlet (check their corporate website). They do a rustproofing with a mixture that is mostly oil with some antirust chemicals mixed in. It WORKS!!! They only charge around $65 U.S. for cars and $80 for trucks to put their original formula in and a few bucks more gets their dripless formula. They recommend getting it annually each vehicle but I have been getting it just once per and have been VERY happy! Example: Our 1994 Ford E350 has NO rust at the bottom of all the cargo doors where this area's salt, etc. rots out almost all other Ford van doors of that age that I see. Installation involves using mainly existing holes where they probe a wand in and spray their mixture. I usually get a couple holes drilled into the rocker panels and pickup tailgates with nice little black caps put in afterwards and this stuff then drips and drips and drips ------- a LOT for about 2-3 days and then YEARS later you can still see small residue appear beneath key holes, etc. That oily stuff just keeps creeping around and prevents rust. There is no gooey Ziebart-like crap involved, just the oily mix and I have used it for many years on many vehicles with zero problems other than the initial oil dripping which can be prevented with their dripless mix but I still think all that dripping involves extra penetration into cracks, etc. so I save the few bucks and let 'er drip. Terrible, I know, but I park on the street for the first couple days and it makes a mess there but it clears with time. This may be ecologically inconsiderate but I know of no better method to preserve metal in Michigan.
Danko: I think I am with you on the oil treatment of inner surfaces.
The body metal on an SSR is suppsoedly double sided galvanized, but:
1. What about the places where that galvanzed surface is broken by bolt and screw holes and welding?
2. What about all the NON-"body parts"?
In 1978, right after buying a Lincoln Town Car brand new, I actually hooked up a setup that used an air compressor and a pesiticide spray can filled with oil, and sprayed all the inner surfaces of that car using a technique like you described. I went with a very genrous amount of oil. It did drip for a few days.
I drove that car in Ontario, Canada and Minneapolis, MN winters for 6 years and put over 75,000 miles on the car, and not even a trace of rust anywhere. When I traded it in 1984, it had the Canadian odometer calibrated in kilometers verus miles, so had "rolled over" past the 100,000 km = 62,000 miles, and registered about 20,000 KILOMETERS on the odometer. The dealer's trade-in evaluator, not noting the calibration in KM, actually thought it had opnly 20,000 MILES on it until I told him that it was actually 75,000 miles. he was very impressed. I got a really good trade in price.
When I was a kid an elderly gentleman that I knew had a 1950 Chev pickup in great shape , this was 1972, and he had put grease inside all the cavaties like doors , etc and that worked for him.
Grease may work but its coverage is more limited than the oil which flows into and over more areas and crevices. I do not know if any American companies offer Canadian OilGard type rustproofing. Does anyone? EPA may have banned it??? Hard to believe our laws would be more restrictive than our Northern (Southern, actually, for me here) treehugging neighbors.
There is an British product called Waxoyl (spelling) that is a mixture of oil and wax. (duh!) I had it in my Land ROver from a previous owner and it was pretty good stuff., I don't know who has it in the US but it sounds like this might be the stuff!
I understand that it can be made at home by dissolving a tolet bowl wax ring (!!) in summer grade chain saw oil (warmed to 120 degrees or so) and then spraying it with an undercoating gun.
I've never tried it but it thin kI'll look into it. It is better, IMHO, than undercoat if as people have said in this thread, undercaot traps moisture. I'm pretty sure this stuff won't.
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Undercoat or not undercoat?
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