Avoiding rust in the rust belt states?

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There are a bunch of oil based rust proofing products that "creep". Avoid the Ziebart and Waxoyl products. Krown, Carwell and Fluid Film are the well known ones, but there are others. Typically you need to retreat the vehicle yearly. After treating avoid a car wash with the under carriage spray. Or do not get that option. Just get the car outside washed.
 
Missouri not a rust belt state?? Maybe compared to New York no but vehicles do rust here. The Mazda's seem to be the worst but I've seen rust on just about everything. I know what stopped it on all of mine but I'm not going to mention it. St Louis has a place for the environmentally friendly version... Krown(?) can't remember unless I look it up.
 
Krown or RustCheck. You can buy Krown on their site in the US or Canada now.

Whatever you do don't fall for electronic rust proofing and don't EVER use the rubberized undercoating. This just creates rust. Look up the South Main auto video of the truck that had the Rubberized undercoating. It was a huge mess of rust under it.

I can't wash my car most of the winter because it's too cold and will cause the locks to freeze up thereafter being parked outside near the lake with lots of wind, despite oiling the crap out of them.
So I typically just drive it all winter and only wash on the mild days. No rust to report.
 
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If it's not a permanent move, buy a beater. Otherwise oil rustproofing is the way to go, but it has to be reapplied annually.

There are other treatments that can last about 5 years, but I don't remember their names at the moment, I would have to dig that info out. They are pricey though.
 
Originally Posted by Eric Smith
Missouri not a rust belt state??


I certainly wouldn't call it one. On average, St. Louis gets about 17" of snow per year (well under the national average) and there is an average of about 6 snow events per year with more than 1" of snow. Kansas City and Columbia get even less.
https://www.currentresults.com/Weat...ll-totals-snow-accumulation-averages.php. To put it into perspective, most (if not all) of upstate New York get over 100 inches per year of snow. Pretty big delta there.

Obviously there are rural areas further north that could get plenty more, but on the whole Missouri isn't exactly a rust/snow/salt haven.
 
Rubberized undercoating has one job, it's when you have a $500 beater and you've replaced your floorboards with computer cases or stop signs held in with zip screws, pop_rivets, and-or HF flux welding wire. You hose the whole mess down to fill any seams you missed and to keep water out of your carpet for another year.

Fluid film is where it's at for an existing used vehicle.
 
Originally Posted by LeakySeals
If its a new(er) GM truck with the factory wax still somewhat intact don't use oil based sprays like Fluid Film. It softens the coating to the point it rubs off just putting your finger on it exposing bare metal. Another negative (IMO) about oil based sprays is how they stay wet and sticky, attracting sand, dirt, grit like flypaper. In my NH winter conditions thats not desirable. They use a lot of salt and sand on the hills around here which makes working under the truck horrible. I moved on from FF to a product called RP-342. Recommended by a Canadian. Its a military grade cosmoline wax in a spray can. Its self healing, flows good during application. Has no tacky sticky oil. In the cold the surface gets pretty hard so salt, sand, grit beads up and rinses off with water. Wish I had found this years ago.

Pic under the rear bumper after driving through snow, salt, sand.



Just for correction, Fluid Film is not petroleum based. It's made from wool lanolin. I don't use it for rust proofing, but I've known about the product and have a gallon with two small refillable spray bottles in the garage. Fluid Film is a good product and never dries out. A few guys I know here in Western New York use it to spray people's vehicles. I just found out that there is Fluid Film NAS which is used for undercoating. Someone here with more knowledge can possibly comment.

My first Ford, a 1996 F250, I used Carwell for rust proofing annually. I plowed with that truck and whenever the roads dried up, I would take it in the drive in car wash and spray off underneath. Several mechanics would talk about how clean it was underneath. It definitely worked. But I also think washing it off when the road was dry was paramount to keeping it clean.

My current truck, a 2016 F350, I mistakenly let the dealer talk me into the crap Zeibart undercoating and Bedliner. The Bedliner is for a different thread. Rhinoliner, complete garbage.

Anyway, I let the truck go off the Zeibart warranty and had it Carwell coated. I found a few small rust spots underneath Where the tar came off and treated them with Chassis Saver this year before winter. There were also small paint chips on the rockers that I sanded down and painted with Chassis Saver. Next spring, the rockers will get MonstaLiner to protect them before I get Duraflap mud flaps.

I just had my truck oiled a few days ago and I posted it up on Facebook. One guy commented about the oil on my front doors. I had them spray towards the inside of the mirror housings with the mirrors folded to get to the plastic gears inside hopefully. I told them I didn't care about the mess on the doors. Today is day number 2 after the oiling. The truck has pretty much stopped dripping. The oil does dry and leaves behind a anti rust film. They spray inside the body, inside the doors, all wiring to prevent corrosion, the batteries, hinges etc.

While it will attract some dust along the bottom of the doors along the creased metal, I want to see that as that let's me know the product is there. When being sprayed off with water, the water beads off like Fluid Film. I've been talking with those Fluid Film guys and watched videos on YouTube. So the product doesn't drip once dry and you can use high pressure spray to clean off the bottom during winter.

I learned that Krown's product is called T40 and Carwell's is T32. So I'm wondering if they are from the same company and same chemistry. From what they say, the oil is designed to creep and flow into all the nooks and crannies. I'm just wondering how a thicker product does that? I'm 52 now and still do some stuff myself, but I like paying more to have someone with a lift spray down my truck.

I hope all this babbling helps someone with gaining new knowledge. I posted pics on Facebook also so if anybody wants to see, let me know and I'll put some up.
 
Just moved (part time) to PA from rust free FL. Good god, the road salt and sand is a downright physical assault on the underneath of my car. It's downright noisy! The stuff sticks to the tires and is blasted up on to the fenders, wheel wells and everything else to a lesser degree. I've been washing out my wheelwells and enough sand comes out to contaminate my gravel driveway. Ugh. Car has been here two months and the rust (on what was previously clean under car hardware) is already underway. Bolts, calipers, emergency brake hardware, muffler hangars, etc. I can't believe it.
 
I visit family in NY a few times a year, and I forget how bad the rust is on cars.

The doors, everything is trashed by road salt.

I refuse to buy cars from up north, and never drive my cars up north in the winter.

Try doing a brake job, or a suspension bit replacement on a rusty hulk. Never again.
 
eljefino: Well stated and to the point!!! I get under my work trucks and brush grease where I can and spray fluid film in areas that are hard to reach.
 
I posted a link to this stuff before, RUSTPROOFING PRODUCT it isn't cheap, goes on like Fluid Film but is much better. Trav told me about it a few years ago, and I've been using it ever since. Just do a little searching into salt spray test results. IMO it is worth the extra money for the better product, application time and method is identical to other products.
 
Just because a wax based product lasts longer,it doesn't automatically make it better.Wax based products are no good on surfaces with light/medium rust, when compared to an oil based product.The wax will not continue to penetrate and be active after it's solvent has evaporated.Oil based products are continuously active for as long as they remain in contact with the surface.Wax based products are a good choice for a new car.Although Fluid Film is Lanolin based,it does contain refined petroleum oil,which is what makes it so effective when used on rusty,or clean surfaces.
 
Originally Posted by Cujet
the road salt and sand is a downright physical assault on the underneath of my car. It's downright noisy!


That's the sound of safety.
cool.gif
 
I've lived in the Buffalo NY area my whole life. There's no way to avoid the effects of road salt other than keeping the vehicle off the road for the winter. Rust proofing and taking good care of the vehicle does help, but generally, after 4,5 years, the effects take hold. 10-12yrs the vehicle is usually shot.
 
Thanks guys! I appreciate all the info! I'll read through all of it! Glad to hear rust is not bad in Missouri!
 
Originally Posted by JTK
I've lived in the Buffalo NY area my whole life. There's no way to avoid the effects of road salt other than keeping the vehicle off the road for the winter. Rust proofing and taking good care of the vehicle does help, but generally, after 4,5 years, the effects take hold. 10-12yrs the vehicle is usually shot.


Rustproofing does mord than you think. Yes you will eventually still deal with rust, but my 1983 Caprice is just starting to rust in a few areas after 35 years. It wasn't driven every winter but probably the first 10-15 and then the past 7-8 years.

I've seen some well undercoated cars go 20-30 years with almost no rust.
 
For daily drivers, rust is a fact of life. It can't be stopped. Delayed maybe, but not stopped. The only way to avoid it is to park the vehicle as soon as salt hits the roads, and don't get it out again until a good rain has rinsed all the salt off of the roads...
 
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