[MoparCanuck]

Just wondering if anyone driving their car in the winter with the snow and salt has applied a rust-proofing spray on their car? If so, what kind of product did you guys find works best?

 

[Rambit]

I've always done it to my trucks and I did it to my 300C SRT8. That was a waste of money cuz it doesn't even go out when it's raining...haha. The dealer's always done it so I imagine it was over priced.

I decided not to get my Jeep done though mainly because it took me forever to get all that crap out of the engine bay on my car. From what I've heard the modern coating processes at the factory is all you really need, but I think it's more important to have the undercarriage washed in a touchless car wash every week during the winter.

Go figure eh. The one that won't see winter is undercoated/rust protected and the one that's actually going to see winter isn't.

For the record, my son-in-law gets my old trucks and the undercarriage looks pretty damn good. Of course I'm sure putting them through the car wash every day probably kept a lot of the corrosive salt out of there, but spending ~$60 a week was overkill.

Bernie

 

[stevesrt8]

fact

it's fact that modern autos do not benefit from a coating. In the old daze we used Zeibart and others, may have been wasted even then. Note this process can be very heavy, why add more weight for no benefit?

Most sheetmetal in new cars is galvanized and/or treated specifically to stop rust, this is why we get a rust-through warranty on almost any new car.

 

[Sauceman]

it's fact that modern autos do not benefit from a coating. In the old daze we used Zeibart and others, may have been wasted even then. Note this process can be very heavy, why add more weight for no benefit?

Most sheetmetal in new cars is galvanized and/or treated specifically to stop rust, this is why we get a rust-through warranty on almost any new car.

I have to disagree. The reason they give a (usually 10 year) rust thru warranty is because car dealers know people will rarely keep their cars that long. And don't forget it's a rust THROUGH warranty, surface rust is excluded. You have to prove that the rust started under the paint and not from rock chips and such.

I am a strong believer in Krown Rust Control. They spray that stuff everywhere, in the doors, rockers, A-pillar, under hood, under trunk ect...the stuff will help keep the structural integrity of the car for long after ten years if you re-apply every year. And if your involved in an accident and panels are replaced, they will spray the new panels for free.

I just sold last year my 1980 Olds Cutlass that was sprayed every year since new, and the rear body mounts and frame doglegs still looked brand new. This car spent its entire life in central Ontario! (Barrie area)

It should not cost more than $130.00 for the first spray, (because they drill holse for the spray wands to reach everywhere) and $110.00 after that.

Andstay away from any factory undercoating, it's a scam.

cheers from the sandbox

 

[LSCto300C]

The extended warranty I bought with my car includes an annual "day of beauty" for my C for the next six years. With this they also do an anti-rust spray on the bottom of the car before it's polished and waxed inside and out.
So I do but I haven't been anywhere in my state where they've used road salt (and we get a ton of snow). We use the more primitive sand and gravel routine.

 

[Bradk]

One word. Krown. Especially if you live in an area with lots of salt on the roads. Get it done every year, and you should never have a problem.

 

[BCasey]

I got a rust protection warranty for my car. They spray it and give me one of those little boxes that keeps a current running through the car to stop rust. I dunno exactly how it works but in any case if I get any rust they fix it for free. Don't remember how long the warranty is for but it was at least 5 years.

Most people have told me its a sucker deal but it worked out to like $4 a payment and they actually got me a lower interest rate then they thought which lowered my payments by $4 so I pretty much got it for free.

I pretty much dont need to worry about rust, just once every 6 months bring it in for an inspection for rust, if they find any they fix it. I never gotta worry about.

 

[MoparCanuck]

I got a rust protection warranty for my car. They spray it and give me one of those little boxes that keeps a current running through the car to stop rust.

BCasey....electric current somehow prohibiting a chemical reaction is proven to be bunk. Rust is a general term for a series of iron oxides, usually red oxides, formed by the reaction of iron (and its alloys) in the metal with oxygen in the presence of water or air moisture. Other metals also undergo corrosion, but the resulting oxides are not commonly called rust. Given sufficient time, oxygen, and water, any iron mass eventually converts entirely to rust and disintegrates (the corrosion of aluminium is extremely slow because the resulting aluminium oxide forms a coating, which protects the remaining aluminium).

As an aside, a simple and inexpensive way to remove rust from steel surfaces by hand is to rub the steel with aluminium foil dipped in water. Aluminium has a higher reduction potential than the iron in steel, which may help transfer oxygen atoms from the iron to the aluminium. The aluminium foil is softer than steel and will not scratch it, as steel wool will, but as the aluminium oxidizes, the aluminium oxide produced becomes a fine metal polishing compound.

Other than glavanizing metal (with nickel), the only other way is to prevent more O2 and/or water from coming in contact with the ongoing chemical reaction (rust) is to coat it with something impervious to both. Paint and oil/grease are the only ways. Electricity will not stop the oxygen or the moisture in the air from reacting with the iron in metal, and even if the salesman said that the electricity would neutralize the salt sprayed up from the road, that would require so much juice (to break apart the Na and Cl ions in salt) that we would be talking about a plasma type current, not an electrical one.

 

[Northern Rider]

Having suffered through the rusty Fords and Mazdas (they were built from recycled steel) of the early seventies, I started rustproofing my cars for a few years.

I don't bother anymore. Technology has changed for the better. Like Rambit, I just keep the cars and trucks rinsed thoroughly during the "salt season" in the touchless car washes.

 

[BCasey]

ya i was skeptical but it allowed me to get the warranty and it wasnt to expensive, it came with the warranty package.

 

[chuckkent]

As a past Chrysler sales rep....they do not recommend it. As said before plastics and galvanized metal are in all critical points plus the splash guard below the drive train probably helps too. I just keep mine out of the salt as much as possible and then rinse the underside off occasionally in the winter!