Rust through corrosion

Ron Ketcham

Active member
Does washing and applications of LSP`s keep your ride during the 60+ months of payments stop it from becoming a rust bucket? Do you "really"understand what causes vehicle "rust through corrosion,how it comes to be? To really understand you need to understand what is below the paint, how the vehicle is assembled. Let`s share what you have to share.


 
Live in the rust belt?
Salt is bad enough, however mag chloride solution is worse.
In three years or less, fender lips start to go, door/trunk/hood hem flanges start corroding.
Pickup truck, Toyota`s, GM`s start having their FRAMES break behind the cab, some GM`s, Rams are mainly rear fender lips, all brands tail gate hem flanges are subject to the rusting.
Over the past years many passenger vehicle suffered suspension corrosion failures, resulting Federal Recalls,see TSB`s for some of these at Valugard.net under Engineers Section.
Ford just issued one for two years of Explorers


 
Biggest thing for me was applying a sticky/wax coating from Eastwood`s inside the door seams (remove the door cards), trunk seams etc with a throw away paint brush. When able during the winter, lift the hood, spray water down inside the front fenders and wheel wells... where I was able to and behind the rear bumper/trunk zone. I the spring I`d run water down between the door window "whiskers" and watch the salty water run out the door bottoms.

Eastwood anti rust.jpg
 
Rust preventatives are micro wax based and quality ones carry testing and approvals by SAE and ATSM, They are NOT black,they are not applied with a brush, they are "fogged" into all inner cavaties with a special application gun. Little or no mess and ONE properly applied application protects for a decade or more. If a product does meet the
two standards, then that is where the term "snake oil" comes from.
People confuse "under coating" with rust preventative/inhibitors, commonly termed rust proofing-entirely different products and abilities.
 
The Eastwood Black Heavy-Duty Anti-Rust, *which I like/use/recommend* is not, as Ketch said, for cavity protection. It`s something to, for instance...spray on an exposed frame.

Take Ketch`s advice seriously, he knows what he`s talking about.

Ron Ketcham- I never did get the Aerosol version of the ValuGard stuff to work as well as the bulk through an undercoating gun (the one you recommended ;) ). "User-error" I`m sure, but the aerosol just wasn`t sufficiently, uhm...Accumulator-proof.

(Thanks again for that DC-branded stuff!)

EDIT: FWIW, I did get good results with the (aerosol) product from KBS coatings. It`s been *years* worth of salt exposure now, and the fix that I topped with that is still holding up 100%. No, it`s not the same as fogging the right stuff on right, but if you`re gonna use an aerosol, well...that stuff works perfectly IME. But no guarantees it`ll work for somebody else ;)

If I *REALLY* cared, I`d have a AI/ValuGard-certified shop do the work. And note that I`m sure not lacking in confidence as I`ve done it (properly) with great results. For one thing, doing it right is one seriously messy process, at least IME.
 
I feel for you folks up nort---with all them chemicals on the road etc...
Down sout we worry about them thats been on the beach / ocean front
 
You don`r have to go only to a Valugard installer as the Chrysler Master Shield products are the same, been produced and provided to them since the early 80`s
Their dealers can provide.
 
It does not meet SAE or ASTM test standards and must be reapplied regularly vs the Valugard/Chrysler products which have a minimum protective life of 5 years.
 
Fluid film/wool wax are great products I’m in Northeast pa it’s big here I crawl under Vehicle and spray It everywhere. I have also used a cosmline based product called Crc6026 when you spray it it’s liquid and dries to a hard wax.

CRC 6026 is better protection but does not creep and will not lubricate.
fluid film does creep and will quiet down the suspension because it lubricates it’s lanolin based

check out YouTube videos on rust prevention tests and it’s interesting stuff
 
You don`r have to go only to a Valugard installer as the Chrysler Master Shield products are the same, been produced and provided to them since the early 80`s
Their dealers can provide.
I`d gladly pay a dealer to do it if they actually had a competent person doing it. They probably got one mechanic or the parts guy certified but it`s actually the meth head "lube technician" who sprays it wherever he feels like, that is if he even does it.
 
I`d gladly pay a dealer to do it if they actually had a competent person doing it. They probably got one mechanic or the parts guy certified but it`s actually the meth head "lube technician" who sprays it wherever he feels like, that is if he even does it.

funny.
 
Cosmolene is for outter surfaces and seldom used today, plus can not be fogged into the cavaties, is only for outter panels. Fluid Film evaporates and requires reapplication every one to two years. Plus does not meet OEM performance standards. SAE and ASTM approved products last for years with one applicstion. Has been applied to millions and millions of vehicles around the world since the early 80`s.
 
Dan- When I was a kid working at the local MOPAR Store, they had a dedicated undercoating guy who *REALLY* knew his stuff and did it all right (he`s the guy who schooled me on the process). And just FWIW, he kept his Cordoba *SPOTLESS*, perfectly Detailed even by Autopian Standards. Impressive guy all-around.

Ron Ketcham- Any tips for finding somebody who`ll apply the ValuGard stuff properly (and without [screwing] up the car otherwise)? I`d worry about getting the car back all marred up or covered with Rust Inhibitor as I just don`t see it likely that somebody will spend hours masking/etc. to keep it off the surfaces that don`t need it (and yeah, deal-breaker for some of us).

Noting that most references I see to "cosmoline" aren`t *really* talking about the same (terribly messy) Cosmoline that I spent my younger yeras cleaning off of Mil Surplus stuff...
I’m surprised that more folks on here don’t use fluid film or Cosmoline to slow rust.

WAY too messy for me. And too prone to retaining dirt. For applications where that kind of product is appropriate (see comments by Ron Ketcham), I`d rather use something that "dries like paint" such as the Eastwood Blk HD-AR.
 
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