how to protect your rig from salt damage??

Marky Dissod said:

Incredibly Cheap@$$ idea:
buy a 48" wide sheet of coroplast (plastic impersonating cardboard)
attach under truck, trim for max suspension droop & steering articulations.

An ounce of prevention can be worth a lot.

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Like the next gen cars.

Marky Dissod said:

Incredibly Cheap@$$ idea:
buy a 48" wide sheet of coroplast (plastic impersonating cardboard)
attach under truck, trim for max suspension droop & steering articulations.

An ounce of prevention can be worth a lot.

Click to expand...

89Suburban said:

Like the next gen cars.

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Obviously car companies do a FAR better job.
If they really wanted to, they could accomplish so much more aerodynamically, if they were so inclined.

All I'm trying to do is take an incredibly simple idea, and implement it simply with as little effort for as little investment as possible.

Speaking of which, I think Home Depot is overcharging me for sheets of coroplast.
Anyone got any cheaper sources?

I dont know if anyone mentioned but a coat woolwax or fluid film

Also, there are drain holes in the bottom inside of the doors, those should be cleaned out with a straw now and then. Rust can start from the inside of body panels before it shows its ugly face on the outside.

Baja_Bob said:

Also, there are drain holes in the bottom inside of the doors, those should be cleaned out with a straw now and then. Rust can start from the inside of body panels before it shows its ugly face on the outside.

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VERY good point as well. The old Squarebody Suburbans had 2 piece rear wheel housings. The seam is in the middle right above the tires. They almost always started opening up at the top first. Then all the road wash get's thrown up into the quarter panels and they start to rust from the inside out. By the time it shows on the outside it is too late. I seen them with up to 3-4" of silt packed in those quarter panels when I went to replace them.

Baja_Bob said:

Also, there are drain holes in the bottom inside of the doors, those should be cleaned out with a straw now and then. Rust can start from the inside of body panels before it shows its ugly face on the outside.

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Yep. True rust issues start from the inside of the body panels…rockers, fenders, doors, rear hatch, and cab corners of trucks etc. Salt water from driving on the roads gets in all those nooks and crannies and never gets washed out, no matter how much you go through the car wash or spray the underbody.

I bought my power wagon brand new, and have applied fluid film to the entire underbody, as well as inside the the rockers/cabcorners/fenders/doors etc. using a small flexible wand/spray gun that i purchased online. She just went through her 8th northern michigan winter…no signs of rust yet!!!! Put her up on the hoist and spray away!!!

We in Germany have very serious salt problems because the roads here are heavily salted in winter.

I have a sensational German product, but I don't know if it's available in the USA.

The stuff is called Fluid Film and is a liquid substance based on wool wax.

This originally comes from shipping and is used to protect the ballast water tanks of seagoing ships against corrosion.

The remedy has the huge advantage that it remains liquid and creeps into all cracks. You can also spray it very well into cavities. Since it creeps, it spreads better than Mike Sanders' wax, for example.

There is a product from the same Company called Permafilm, which hardens on the surface and forms a solid surface.

I first clean my vehicles underneath with a high-pressure cleaner to remove all dirt and loose rust. Where it is already rusting, I use Brunnox to bind the rust.

Then I spray Fluid Film onto and into the cavities, let it work for a day, dab off any hanging drops with a cloth and then spray Permafilm over it, which hardens.

This gives you a solid layer that doesn't disappear if you drive through the rain, for example. But the fluid film continues to creep into the sensitive cracks. This gives the car lasting protection against rust. If you check the whole thing every two years at the latest and work on it if something new happens somewhere, you will keep the car permanently.

nonickatall said:

We in Germany have very serious salt problems because the roads here are heavily salted in winter.

I have a sensational German product, but I don't know if it's available in the USA.

The stuff is called Fluid Film and is a liquid substance based on wool wax.

This originally comes from shipping and is used to protect the ballast water tanks of seagoing ships against corrosion.

The remedy has the huge advantage that it remains liquid and creeps into all cracks. You can also spray it very well into cavities. Since it creeps, it spreads better than Mike Sanders' wax, for example.

There is a product from the same Company called Permafilm, which hardens on the surface and forms a solid surface.

I first clean my vehicles underneath with a high-pressure cleaner to remove all dirt and loose rust. Where it is already rusting, I use Brunnox to bind the rust.

Then I spray Fluid Film onto and into the cavities, let it work for a day, dab off any hanging drops with a cloth and then spray Permafilm over it, which hardens.

This gives you a solid layer that doesn't disappear if you drive through the rain, for example. But the fluid film continues to creep into the sensitive cracks. This gives the car lasting protection against rust. If you check the whole thing every two years at the latest and work on it if something new happens somewhere, you will keep the car permanently.

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Is this the Fluid Film you have in Germany? If so, yes we have this in the USA.

StephenPT said:

Is this the Fluid Film you have in Germany? If so, yes we have this in the USA.

View attachment 423269

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How could I even assume that there wasn't anything this good in the USA...

Only the best from Germany makes it to the USA...

Although, you also have VW, BMW and Mercedes...

Well, at least they were good, back in the days when good was good and bad was bad.

Crazy times we live in...

nonickatall said:

How could I even assume that there wasn't anything this good in the USA...

Only the best from Germany makes it to the USA...

Although, you also have VW, BMW and Mercedes...

Well, at least they were good, back in the days when good was good and bad was bad.

Crazy times we live in...

Click to expand...

From my understanding, the product was invented on the west coast of the usa and is still a family owned business.

So yes, its here. Like i stated in my post above, ive been applying it to the truck i bought new in 2016 and after its 8th northern michigan winter its still showing no signs of cancer. Fingers crossed!