Under body rust protection coating, is it worth it?

Does anybody have experience putting an under body rust protection coating on their Tacoma?

Is it worth having it applied professionally?

Does anyone have experience applying it themselves?


I bought a new 2018 two months ago an with winter coming up I was wondering if it would be a good idea to add some extra protection against corrosion. I'm currently living in Michigan and I believe they use a lot of salt here so I'm worried that rust my be a problem in the future.

Some feedback from members that have had this kind coating applied would be appreciated.

 

I recommend fluid film or something similar that is applied annually. The "permanent " coatings will only crack and encourage rust from under the layer. Plus FF can be sprayed on everything to keep bolts loose too

 

Applied correctly, some coatings can do a pretty credible job of preventing corrosion. Some of the same coatings - applied incorrectly - can do more harm than good. (This happens when they plug drain holes with excess product or drill tons of holes in your body panels "to gain access." I too am a fan of oil based coatings like Krown or Fluid Film, but they don't hold up very well in areas where dirt, slush and road spray eventually wash them off. But that's where yearly re-applications come in. If you don't re-apply them though, they become useless pretty quickly. Oh, and they make for a real mess when you work on your truck!

Speaking of yearly re-applications, one product I do not recommend anymore is Ziebart. I had them undercoat (not the full rustproofing) on my brand new 2014 the day after if rolled out of the dealership. Before they applied it, I had to endure a hardball session with one of their "sales consultants" where they pushed the hell out of me to buy every single product they offer. Despite the arm twisting, I went with undercoat only - for $800.

A month after the undercoating was applied, it was already falling off in sheets. I took it back and their sales consultant blamed it on "a coating Toyota frames have from the factory that sometimes causes adhesion problems. It usually washes off in a few weeks and our product sticks just fine" he said. "Then why did you push me so hard to get it done right away?" I replied. He just shrugged. So they re-applied the undercoating and it stuck pretty well in most spots. Where it didn't stick, I started to see corrosion within a year. (Full disclosure: I live in a city where we absolutely bury our streets with road salt.)

Now here's the beauty of the Ziebart "system." Every year I get to go in for my "free" re-spray. (Since I paid $800 for the original undercoating, free isn't exactly free.) And every year I get to endure another arm twisting session for more of their products. After I resist, they re-spray most of the underside of the truck. But all they're really doing now is covering up the rust that already started. What a great system! Remember, undercoating doesn't do anything to stop rust that's already started. It's supposed to prevent it from starting in the first place. But since they cover it up every year - and since you paid for your "free" re-sprays in advance - your truck looks great! Genius!

So I cannot recommend Ziebart to anyone for two reasons. First, their pushy sales consultants will drive you right up a wall - and into products you do not need. Second, I do not believe their product - particularly their undercoating - is worth a crap. hope that helps.

 

The largest issue with undercoating is certain products like the black Tar types when they dry it also cracks and in those cracks water finds away in and then when it freezes the water turns to ice and expands and opens it up a little more creates "pockets" that the road salt and water mix now stay in against the frame and the rot process on the frame gets going to work.

If you are determined to put rust "proofing" look for the types that do not dry hard they are usually a light clear brown or yellowish in color and stays soft and tacky Cosmoline is by far the best however good luck finding a dealer or many places that use it you can purchase it and spray it on yourself and if you get it on the exhaust pipes it going to stink like hell for awhile that is what we used a lot of when I was up in Rochester NY area and went into Buffalo area a bit.

The Cosmoline does need to be touched up now and then but overall it performed well.

 

I picked up a fluid film kit off of Amazon. It included a spray gun, a couple of attachments, as well as the fluid film. I put plastic down on the driveway and wore a tyvek suit. It took a couple of hours but I got it pretty well coated and still have enough fluid film to reapply next year and probably do half of another year.