Undercoating/Rustproofing

[sshoureas]

I have an '04 Sierra Z71 SLT I bought new. It will be 3 years old in January and currently has 31,000 miles on it. I'm thinking I'll keep this for several years to come though I normally trade them at 2 or 3 years. I'm considering Ziebart to keep it good shape and they bottom clean as I live in Northern Ohio. Any advice on whether I should or not ?

[Rolandd]

I thought everything on these except the roof was glavy steel. I am not sure what you would gain covering it up with undercoating, but I am curious to see who weighs in and how....

 

On my 82 Dodge the biggest issue with rust I had was at the edges of the Ziebart holes, which were drilled and left unpainted with rubber plugs installed.

[jgillott]

I would highly recommend the Ziebart rust proofing if you plan on keeping your truck a few more years. I've had my last 4 new trucks, dating back to 1992, treated by Ziebart and they have remained completely rust free.

[sshoureas]

Thanks for the input. I like to maintain my stuff as new and hate seeing any rust, any where. Anyone else have input on this ?

[m3gumby]

I painted the underside of my chassis to give it a clean look and also against rust. I've never heard of ziebart rust proofing? how expensive is that, and can you do it yourself?

[sledr]

I had mine undercoated at the dealer. 300 bucks for the rust inhibitor and under coating.

You get free inspections and touch ups annually. I have been dealing with the same place for 20 years now and the mechanic who does the "touch up" basically redoes the underbody with the undercoating. I have no rust yet on the inner door seams. So far so good

[pm26]

I would not waste my money. A spray can of Marine Corrosion Inhibitor by CRC (available in most marine stores) and several cans of rubberized undercoating should do the trick.

 

I sprayed the bottom door edges with the marine inhibitor, also the hood lower endges. I undercoated the raw painted sheet metal in the wheelwells, and also the bottoms of all skid plates on my Z71. JC Whitney sells brush-on rubberized undercoating in a gallon bucket for about $ 20. It is a water based formula and goes on easy. it makes no overspray mess the way cans do. With spray-on undercoating , you need to mask off large portions of the truck not to get overspray all over the paint.

[sshoureas]

unless anyone thinks this is a bad idea I think I'll get it done the week between Christmas and New Years when I can afford to do without the truck for a day or two.

[m3gumby]

well now that we're talkin about the underbody, does anyone know what powdercoating different parts runs as far as cost? talkin like skidplates and such

[Frank Sub]

Hi sshoureas--I just use three $.98/cans of flat black spray paint from WalMart, roll under my Suburban in the driveway every fall, and spray everything that has a hint of rust, including the back side of the bumpers. Takes about an half hour, and has worked well on my last ten Suburbans.--Frank Sub

[blk99SLT]

Living in Ontario (lots of road salt) I use an "oil type spray". After researching I found Krown rust control the best bet. www.krown.com

[mjager]

Living in Ontario (lots of road salt) I use an "oil type spray". After researching I found Krown rust control the best bet. www.krown.com

 

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[fossil]

Undercoating will do absolutely nothing other than maybe quieten the wheel wells when rocks hit them. When was the last time you seen the underside of a truck rusted out. Usually its the fender area and it starts on the outer panel and not inside the inner fender panel. GM does not recomend undercoating as salt and mosture gets behind it when cracks or chips and stays there.

[camel]

the krown undercoating is the good stuff. we have a couple of 15 year old vechicles with no rust thanks to krown. i'm also canadian eh, the gm undercoat is junk though.

[couchsurf]

I heard that moisture can get between the truck and the ziebart and create rust problems?? I've used Krown, sprayed every year in the fall and the truck is in great shape. Winter number 7 coming with Ontario's love of road salt (stupid) and the truck is ready.