I see nothing advantageous about winter climates, yeah its fun when your a kid building snow forts and such, but as an adult its expensive. The heating costs, the labor to prep for winter, gas mileage goes down, road salt rots out your vehicle, buying winter jackets, boots, gloves, snow brushes, cleaning your vehicle off, oh crap, I need new tires NOW, I cant wait a couple months And the worst, HUGE traffic slow downs/stops, on the highway on the way to work, and yah gotta pee from the coffee your drinking to keep yah warm
I remember guys coating the entire bottom of their cars with grease, then pouring drain oil in the doors, etc. Some would, after applying grease, drive down a dirt road to coat the grease with dust to 'harden' it.
I’ve been in the auto repair business in the heart of the Rust Belt for over 30 years. IMO, the best rust preventive treatments for vehicles being used year-round are the spray-on ones applied yearly that have the ability to creep, aka Rust-Check, Corrosion-Free and Krown to name a few. They certainly don’t cause any type of build-up or plugging of drain holes, etc, when exposed to normal “dirt”. Matter of fact, the dirt helps to hold the fluid on longer. I have personally used and recommended many dozens of clients to use both Rust-Check and Corrsion-Free, and I prefer the latter. I don’t have any first-hand experience with Krown. The vehicles that we’ve seen for a decade now that have done the yearly treatments are like-new still in terms of corrosion, not only body panels but things like brake lines, fuel lines, fuel sending units, metal fuel tanks, trans lines, oil cooler lines, trans pans, oil pans, differential covers, steering and suspension components, etc. The non-treated ones or the Ziebarted ones are nowhere near the condition. Not a fan of “Ziebart” at all. As mentioned, if the vehicle is not brand new, good luck with getting it to stick on anything less than 100% clean. And on top of that, it doesn’t creep. That’s the real downfall. Anywhere it doesn’t stick or if one small section is missed on top of fuel lines or brake lines, on the whole top side of a fuel tank, any door seam, fender lip, inside of cab corners, rocker panels, inside of subframes, unibodies, bumpers, etc, and it’s pretty much useless. The other thing with Ziebart is what do they do with GM truck frames with the wax-like substance on it? Nothing, as it won’t stick. The others will at least stick around for a while, except in the high-wash areas. Fluid Film is another great product. I think they sell several kits for the DIYer. One is a spray gun, and another is a plastic, flexible wand with a tip that sprays in all directions that attaches to an aerosol can. If you are diligent, you can do a lot of good with Fluid Film. Two downsides of the commercial liquid spray-ons are the mess (dripping for a few days after treatment), and the mess if you have to work on something that’s had a treatment. If the shop that’s applying the product doesn’t use a silicone spray on all components that don’t like petroleum-based products, aka rubber gaskets, seals, weatherstripping, etc they WILL swell. Corrosion-Free seems to be a lot cleaner (less drippy), and doesn’t smell bad like Rust Check. And either it doesn’t swell gaskets or seals, or the outfit we use takes the necessary preparation steps to mitigate that from happening. Although Corrosion-Free claims to be environmentally safe, I’m not sure I believe it. So if you live a busy lifestyle and are in an area that uses a lot of salt, brine, pre-treatment or mixes, and you don’t want to rinse every nook and cranny of your vehicle every time is sees salt and can’t stand to watch it rot away, I think you know what to do. Around here, the first treatment for the 3 mentioned systems is usually a tick more than $200 for a truck, and then a tick less than that for the follow-up visits. Slightly less for smaller vehicles. For my wife’s and my own vehicle, and a handful of select clients, we alternate visits every other year to a body shop that is a franchise for Corrsion-Free and I treat the “off-years” in our shop with the same product.
^^^ Great info Bob, Thanks! I especially like the fact that these products are also a penetrate. It'll get into panel seams and well as lubricate nut and bolt threads to make future disassembly easier. I plan to use it sparingly on my classics.... I don't need to protect from rain/snow, but it will be good for hidden areas such as the inner/outer fender wheellip joints, inside doors, and inside edges of hoods and trunk lids.
I just checked. Dealers for both mentioned products are on the east side of Michigan. No one here. I have friends who own service shops or body shops. I am going to see if any are interested in becoming a dealer.
I buy 5 gallon pails of NAPA No Drip Oil Undercoat and oil all my daily drivers including my enclosed car trailer that get driven in the winter. It is a must and have been doing it for years. One of my trucks, a very rare 1992 Chevy Sport 4x4 one of only 385 built in 1992 is still 100 % rust free, original paint truck because it has been oiled and properly maintained. With all the small tip attachments for the air gun I can undercoat entire underside of body /suspension and all inside rockers ,doors fenders and rear quarters hoods and decklids. There is no grime build up inside body panels only on underside of undercarriage. The oil creeps on a molecular level and penetrates all lapped seams and protects the metal in body perfectly forever. If you live in a rustbelt area like I do, it is an absolute must to keep winter driven vehicles rust free.
