To Coat the Frame or Not Coat the Frame, that is the Question

I bought a 2015 ACLB little over year ago and brought to dealer about 5 or 6 months ago for frame inspection. Was told frame was good to go, they applied whatever coating they apply and was sent on my way. Just casual glancing a few weeks ago, I am now seeing surface rust at the welds in the wheel wells.

Live in Missouri and winter wasn’t too bad but they do use salt.

So my question is; do I take my time and expense to reapply a coating of some product myself or just let it go and leave the responsibility on the dealer? According to the dealer, they said bring it in for an oil change a couple times prior to end of warranty and they would inspect the frame again.

The concern I have about applying the film myself is possibly just kicking the rust can down the rode and having bigger problems after the warranty period is over. I would think since they had it for over a week, they put it on a lift and “know what they are doing” they would be doing a better job and should be getting to the trouble spots easier. If I am seeing the rust without crawling under the truck, is there more rust is spots I am not seeing?

I still have 5 years remaining for warranty.

 

Woolwax (preferred) or fluid film. So many threads on here about it.

They are lanolin (sheepswax) based coatings that keep oxygen and salt and water from contacting the metal. Self healing, but they require reapplication at least once a year. Non toxic. Both smell but woolwax is made to smell less; and formulated to be thicker to better resist road wash/spray.

Avoid rubberized coatings as they can trap moisture and accelerate corrosion and rot.

All of this is based on the assumption you want to keep your truck for a while. If not, roll the dice.

 

Just for a price of mind, here is what Woolwax has on their site-
Are there any places that I should avoid when undercoating my vehicle with Woolwax ®

There is not much to avoid. Naturally try to keep the Woolwax® away from the brake rotors. Woolwax® has a very high flash point (>400°), so in any of the hot areas like mufflers, oil pans, etc., it will just burn off within a few minutes. Woolwax® works well to protect electrical wiring and electrical connections. Woolwax® is non-conductive. Make the connection (battery terminals, etc.) and then apply.

Many people have concerns about Woolwax® on rubber materials. Almost everything on an undercarriage is oil resistant. We have had no known issues of Woolwax® having any negative effects on oil resistant rubber components. We have seen discussions about rubber breaking down and failing through the normal deterioration process. Rubber does dry out, cracks, and fails during its normal life cycle. Some people believe this may be a result of an undercoat application, but more than likely the rubber component has just reached the end of its life cycle through normal deterioration and exposure to vehicle heat and road chemicals.


We have heard of issues with the soft spongy rubber weather strips around the bottom of the door frames. This is an open-cell sponge rubber and is not oil resistant. There have been reported instances of this type of open-cell soft rubber swelling up when being exposed to lanolin-based products.

Do not apply Woolwax® over any factory soft coatings or wax coatings.


There have been no known incidents of Woolwax® having any negative effect on any paint or plastics. If you do get some over-spray to the paint, just rub it in like a car wax. There is no need to remove it.

 

I am definitely going to be keeping for a while, just a bit pissed with seeing surface rust just 5 months after the dealer application. Just makes me wonder what I am not seeing.

 

Before I started using woolwax, I thoroughly cleaned the inside of my frame. I also went to town with eastwood frame coating inside the boxed sections (mainly because I had sliders welded to my frame, and needed to make sure the inside was well coated since the heat from welding torches paint off on the opposite side of the weld).

For areas of the frame that are easily accessible, I scoured any surface rust off and used rustoleum rust reformer, and followed with several coats of semi gloss black. I also used the frame spray line that came with the eastwood stuff, and sprayed the box section with several top coats of rustoleum semi gloss black, just for some peace of mind.

I recently went into the dealer for my frame inspection and crc application. Because I had sprayed everything with woolwax, they had to use a borescope to get pictures inside the boxed section of the frame, send them to toyota corporate, and corporate would have to decide if they needed to clean it out and respray with their stuff; or if what I did met their requirements. Corporate confirmed that it surpassed their requirements, and did not need their spray. They added plugs, and documented everything for the warranty.

If you already had the coating done, your going to have a hard time cleaning it to the point where paint would adhere well. If this is something you want to pursue, hot water and a really good degreasing soap should help, but its going to be a hell of a job.

My advice, go to town on any areas that didnt get the frame treatment, and then spray afterwards with woolwax or fluid film. Reapply at least once annually.

This was the kit I ordered. I found it cheaper to go direct than through Amazon; and I found a discount code “IH8MUD” through another forum . My local napa sells the stuff by the quart/gallon/5 gallon bucket/55 gallon drum.

https://www.kellsportproducts.com/W...arts-PRO-GUN-with-2-Extension-wands_p_67.html

Sorry for the long ass post.

 

Krown is quite popular up here in Canada. In fact, some shops are booking 2-3 months in advance. I use it on my vehicles and it seems to work quite well. Take into consideration how much salt and brine we use on our roads. There are some dealers in the U.S. and you're in luck, there's one in St. Louis. They'll spray the frame, undersides and inside all the panels. It drips for a bit but doesn't harden. Drive in, wait for an hour, drive home, you stay clean.

Cheers.

 

Fluid film here , love the stuff ! I’m soon washing it and switching to wool wax thou .

 

Why switching?

 

I hear good stuff about the wool wax , the the fluid film on the truck now is about 2 years old and I want to get all the old road grime off and start fresh , figured the wool wax can only be better .

I have a few small areas the fluid film got sprayed/wiped off but for the most part it’s held up excellent !