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Dirt Road Inhabitants / Off-roaders....Frame Maintenance

Buckshot556

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Buckshot556 Enthusiast

Buckshot556

Posted
Posted

Fellas, how are you maintaining your wax coated frames??? Every weekend I'm up north tearing down dirt roads, two tracks, and fields of heavy brush. My tacky wax frame has been a bitch to keep clean. Even worse, any dense brush or tree branches, gravel, etc scratches the coating off my frame. I've already touched it up 3 times with special spray paint in the 9 months I've owned the truck. It's very annoying and high maintenance. I need my truck to last, hoping at least 20 years, but the frame coating is definitely the achillies heel. I love my truck otherwise but will never buy another wax coated frame again.

 

What are you guys doing to keep it maintained? Will it eventually dry and harden?

 

Thanks

Justin101714 Enthusiast

Justin101714

Posted
Posted

Don't know if you have much of a choice on the coating. At least not with GM. It sucks to keep clean, I just keep an eye on mine and fill any spots with undercoating.

 

And no it will never harden, it will be tacky like that for years. It gets a little better, but I've worked on early 2000's models and the stuff is still tacky

 

 

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sdeeter19555 Senior Enthusiast

sdeeter19555

Posted
Posted

That wax shouldn't dry/harden...touching it up is the only way. Unless you want to do a frame-off and redo with something else like POR.

 

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sdeeter19555 Senior Enthusiast

sdeeter19555

Posted
Posted

And I know what you're talking about, even high field grass will wear the coating off where ever it gets in contact with the grass...

 

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diyer2 Senior Enthusiast

diyer2

Posted
Posted

I have used this method to protect metal on equipment. Easy to apply but must be redone. CHEAP.

I take clean motor oil and mix it with paint thinner to reduce the viscosity so I can spray it with a garden sprayer.

Sprayed the underside of my mower with it also. Made removing stuck grass easy.

Spray things on dirt or on a mat, plastic,etc. :happysad:

KARNUT Senior Enthusiast

KARNUT

Posted
Posted

I've off-road my pickups for work for 40 years. The grasses and small brush that removes undercoating products will keep your frame clean. If you stop off roading you can respray the frame with rubberized undercoating. But never fear your frame may get flaky rust, rust holes and breaking is very rare. Just walk through a salvage yard.

 

 

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aaronarf Enthusiast

aaronarf

Posted
Posted

I just hit my exposed metal with black spray paint. Not much you can do to clean the dirt off the soft coating. I hate it

 

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Bvonscott Enthusiast

Bvonscott

Posted
Posted

I plan on removing the undercoating of the front frame under the engine where most of my rust develops and spray it with black rustoleum and clear coat it. That's what the pre-runner trucks do. Black gloss or matte paint

2017SierraSLT Senior Enthusiast

2017SierraSLT

Posted
Posted

The frame coating is available straight from the GM supplier, Daubert. On my 2013 Sierra, I spent a few minutes annually with a putty knife, and a can of Dauberts Nox-Rust® X-121B. When I traded the truck a couple of weeks ago, the undercarriage and frame appeared as new. This was after 4 harsh, salty winters, and regular travel on dirt roads. I used Fluid-Film on the floors, and all other painted metal parts. Again, ZERO surface rust, let alone rot. I shall continue to do this with my brand new 2017. The frame coating on this one looks great right out of the gate.

GM used to sell the X-121B through their parts counters under part number 12346501, but it has been discontinued for about 2 years. Here is the link for the Dauberts:

 

https://www.daubertchemical.com/store/product-list/corrosion-prevention/nox-rust-x-121b

2017SierraSLT Senior Enthusiast

2017SierraSLT

Posted
Posted

I've off-road my pickups for work for 40 years. The grasses and small brush that removes undercoating products will keep your frame clean. If you stop off roading you can respray the frame with rubberized undercoating. But never fear your frame may get flaky rust, rust holes and breaking is very rare. Just walk through a salvage yard.

 

 

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I've seen a couple of 1999-2000 GMT-800 regular cab 8' box 4x4 frames break where the C channel and box section meet. I think the 18 salty winters weakened the frames for them to break.

tnchevy Senior Enthusiast

tnchevy

Posted
Posted

You guys may just be a little to worried about your frames. Surface rust is not a big deal and I have never seen a new model truck have a frame that has rusted through. My 2012 ford work truck has a painted frame but 5 years later it is covered in surface rust but is doing fine.

Nanotech Environmental Enthusiast

Nanotech Environmental

Posted
Posted

You guys may just be a little to worried about your frames. Surface rust is not a big deal and I have never seen a new model truck have a frame that has rusted through. My 2012 ford work truck has a painted frame but 5 years later it is covered in surface rust but is doing fine.

Perhaps a few winters in Southern Ontario, or Michigan/New York may change your perception about that......? :)

2017SierraSLT Senior Enthusiast

2017SierraSLT

Posted
Posted

You guys may just be a little to worried about your frames. Surface rust is not a big deal and I have never seen a new model truck have a frame that has rusted through. My 2012 ford work truck has a painted frame but 5 years later it is covered in surface rust but is doing fine.

Keeping a handle on the condition of my undercarriage rewarded me with an excellent trade in value, which put me in a far more well equipped, and therefore expensive truck than what I had. My old truck was so well liked by the salesman, he bought it immediately for himself. It was a testament to my weekly washing, bimonthly waxing, and annual undercarriage maintenance.

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