Spring clean, rust prevention. Share your tricks!

OnTheReel · March 28, 2019

Well, it looks like we might finally be out of the woods as far as snow and salt, so I took the day doing some preventative maintenance. I’ve done this on every vehicle I’ve owned and I’m shocked at the difference it makes after a couple years in comparing my old trucks to others of a similar vintage and mileage. It is not a substitute for regular winter washing with underbody flush but some added “insurance”.

Here’s what I did...

Obviously, step one is to thoroughly wash the vehicle, namely the wheel wells and the underbody.

From there I went after it with the Fluid Film. Amazon sells a 6 pack of it and an extension hose/ wand. The end of the hose sprays a fan-like mist of the product and you can use that to get in every nook and cranny.

I cleaned out the inner “lips” along the wheel wells and sprayed those with two coats of FF front and back.

Then I moved underneath. Under the rocker panel there is a bunch of rubber plugs. I just used a plastic wedge to remove the plugs, fed the little hose up in the hole and went to town spraying it in every direction. I paid particularly close attention to the rearmost plug as you can reach the entire cab corner and a considerable way up the side. Anyone in the rust belt knows the cab corners are some of the first things to shit the bed and look the worst. After that, I cleaned the rubber plugs and put them back in. Don’t forget that part! Ultimately I only used two cans of the FF this time, but I’ll use the rest on other projects.

The last step is something that I’ve also done for a number of years, and that’s staying on top of repairing the wax frame coating. The factory coating is very thin near the edges and around the many holes in the frame.

My truck with 2500 miles on it already had some very minor rust. You can buy the same exact wax coating to “patch” it up and keep everything looking good. Once dry you can’t even tell it’s been touched up. If you wait too long, instead you’ll be spraying over vast swaths of rust and it’ll look all bumpy and nasty. Prevention is the best cure. My 2016’s frame still looked like new after 3 winters.

Also want to note that I go under there after every time the truck is on the hoist to touch up where the lift pads touch the frame and wears the coating. Crazy, but necessary in my eyes.

The frame coating is Daubert Chemical NOX Rust X-121B. It comes in an aerosol can. I bought a case, sold some to my buddies and held onto a few cans.

Thats pretty much my routine. Wondering if anyone else is this nuts or if there’s other things we can do to keep our trucks looking mint on the underside...

L86 All Terrain · March 28, 2019

No you're not nuts. It winter climates it is essential. Up here in Canada, depending what they use on the roads, many trucks hit the graveyard for frame or body rot before the powertrain needs attention. I do the same thing with my trucks except my 6.2L, that one goes into hibernation for winter to prevent rot. With frame and body steel getting thinner with every new model, oil is needed to prevent rust. On my GMC's I remove the plastic fender flares and clean, oil and reinstall. We have a very hard time getting a grip on NOX rust here. Did you find a dealer or did you directly order some from Daubert?

OnTheReel · March 28, 2019

I ordered from Daubert a few years back. It was very reasonably priced to get a case. I could see it being difficult to get in Canada, or at least expensive to ship there, but I am not aware of any other products that are the same thing.

Battle Born Offroad · March 28, 2019

We use Steel-It on everything! Works great.

ShamrockShooter · March 29, 2019

Well, it looks like we might finally be out of the woods as far as snow and salt, so I took the day doing some preventative maintenance. I’ve done this on every vehicle I’ve owned and I’m shocked at the difference it makes after a couple years in comparing my old trucks to others of a similar vintage and mileage. It is not a substitute for regular winter washing with underbody flush but some added “insurance”.

Here’s what I did...

Obviously, step one is to thoroughly wash the vehicle, namely the wheel wells and the underbody.

From there I went after it with the Fluid Film. Amazon sells a 6 pack of it and an extension hose/ wand. The end of the hose sprays a fan-like mist of the product and you can use that to get in every nook and cranny.

I cleaned out the inner “lips” along the wheel wells and sprayed those with two coats of FF front and back.

Then I moved underneath. Under the rocker panel there is a bunch of rubber plugs. I just used a plastic wedge to remove the plugs, fed the little hose up in the hole and went to town spraying it in every direction. I paid particularly close attention to the rearmost plug as you can reach the entire cab corner and a considerable way up the side. Anyone in the rust belt knows the cab corners are some of the first things to shit the bed and look the worst. After that, I cleaned the rubber plugs and put them back in. Don’t forget that part! Ultimately I only used two cans of the FF this time, but I’ll use the rest on other projects.

The last step is something that I’ve also done for a number of years, and that’s staying on top of repairing the wax frame coating. The factory coating is very thin near the edges and around the many holes in the frame.

My truck with 2500 miles on it already had some very minor rust. You can buy the same exact wax coating to “patch” it up and keep everything looking good. Once dry you can’t even tell it’s been touched up. If you wait too long, instead you’ll be spraying over vast swaths of rust and it’ll look all bumpy and nasty. Prevention is the best cure. My 2016’s frame still looked like new after 3 winters.

Also want to note that I go under there after every time the truck is on the hoist to touch up where the lift pads touch the frame and wears the coating. Crazy, but necessary in my eyes.

The frame coating is Daubert Chemical NOX Rust X-121B. It comes in an aerosol can. I bought a case, sold some to my buddies and held onto a few cans.

Thats pretty much my routine. Wondering if anyone else is this nuts or if there’s other things we can do to keep our trucks looking mint on the underside...[emoji3]