Fluid Film - Lets see how she goes!

My new-to-me 2006 Land Cruiser came from the land of sun, and hence, has no rust.  After looking at my options, I settled on Fluid Film.  A few days ago I pressure washed the underside and touched up any seams and bare areas with VHT Epoxy Chassis Paint (good stuff, takes like 3 weeks to get off skin)  Today I jacked it up, pulled off the skid plates, the wheels, the spare, and a few trim items and chassis plugs, and went after it with Fluid Film.  It took about 3/4 of the gallon and I sprayed it on with their application gun and my compressor (single stage oilless 25 Gallon was just fine), I did not want to use aerosols because I had read that the formulation is different so it sprays easier and it would have taken more $$$ in aerosols, plus the coverage did not look as good.  

I did the whole underside, the engine bay but not the engine or serpentine, inside the doors and the hatch and the tailgate.  Then I sprayed down my snow blower and the deck of my lawn mower.  

This will be my first year of not having a winter beater in a while, so I want to keep the LC looking as good as I can thru winter.  I am excited to see how it goes.  Only thing I am a bit cautious of is it says that you generally want to avoid high pressure washes, which I realize can strip the coating but I do love a good car wash in winter.  

Plan so far is to hit it again with Fluid Film during the January thaw we tend to get and keep it touched up, wash it off with a garden hose after heavy salting and snow, and keep it out of car washes for the most part.  

What do you folks run for rust preventative in the salt belt?

I found out about Fluid Film from snowplow guys.

If it protects plow truck parts from the environment they operate in, I doubt there's anything better.

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

I use FF also and have been happy with it but only time will tell how well it performs.

what Application gun did you use? ( pics?). I bought a rustproofing gun from TP tools that they recommended and found it to be worthless. The spray bottle doesn’t have a nozzle so I can only use a tiny wand that sprays out a fraction of material compared to a  aerosol bottle. 

For rust protection I get a sacrificial car every couple years.

We started doing Fluid Film application at work.  The first one we did, I used a electric paint gun.  The second one was the FF applicator gun.  In my opinion the electric paint gun worked a lot better.  More of it went onto the vehicle instead of getting dispersed in the air.

I've always used aerosol but I wonder if a Schutz gun would be a good way to go.

I bought a new truck last week and, on the recommendation of a friend who knows, gave the underside a coat of Fluid Film before it ever saw rain or snow. I'm happy that I did it, but it was a miserable task and, my god, does that E36 M3 ever stink. I have some peace of mind, though I'm not sure if I'll ever do it again. I used four aerosol cans and had some leftover. I'm glad that it is over.

In reply to Woody :

When I did my first FF application (pretty much an entire gallon of the stuff) I lamented that I smelled like a sheep's ass.

"How you do know what a sheep's ass smells like?"

It's not really a bad smell (the pervasive lanolin odor of Fluid Film, not a sheep's hindquarters) but it's definitely unique.

The gallon containers have a different product than the spray cans.  There's a lot more solids in the gallon can.  Before you can pour them into the sprayer you have to stir it up.  I made a kind of doughhook thing out of a piece of brake line and stuck it in a drill.  (Do not use to mix dough afterwards)

In reply to Woody :

What’d you buy?

OHSCrifle said:

In reply to Woody :

What’d you buy?

I did my truck and the charger.  My dad buys the 5 gallon buckets and sprays everything.  Their astro, which i can’t give away, came from utah and still looks it after 4 northeast ohio winters with fluid film.  

I use it as well. Spray gun and compressor. Coated the entire underside of my Armada. Inside the frame and out with the attachable spray wands. 

I also take the front fender liners out to spray inside that area, as well as the rear interior panels to get the whole rear wheel arch coated. Plus the usual body plugs and a couple can of aerosol to go up the drains in the doors. I even removed the front bumper cover to spray that area. The car smelled like wet sheep and mint for a couple days. 

It does wash off in the high impact areas from just driving in the rain. But after the first heavy coat, reapplying is a 15 min job. 

I've used it for two years. No rust so far....but it's hard to say if I would have seen any without it. Wish I'd have found it before my wife's escape rotted out. 

In reply to Woody :  New Tacoma every ten years?  Good plan. 

This is the gun I used.  Came in a kit I got on Amazon with a gallon of stuff, an aerosol can for touchups, and a few other odds n ends.  

The whole thing was $80 to my door.  

Honestly the gun worked awesome.  I do have to wash my windows tomorrow since there is spatter on them.  I laid down a bunch of cardboard in my driveway and went to town.

In reply to Woody :

I suspect after the fiasco of the rotten taco frames they will outlast the body now.

OHSCrifle said:

In reply to Woody :  New Tacoma every ten years?  Good plan. 

Fourteen.

TGMF said:I've used it for two years. No rust so far....but it's hard to say if I would have seen any without it. Wish I'd have found it before my wife's escape rotted out. 

If it's any consolation, here in Rustville USA the Escapes that seem to have rot problems do so from the inside out.  Seems to be centered on the right rear inner fender only on models with the rear "entertainment package", and people usually don't notice until they get a "strange clunk" that is the upper shock mount flapping in the breeze.

I can't count the number of Escapes that I have made new wheelwells for.  Generally the shock mount is still okay, but the design relies on an intact wheelhouse for it to be stable.   And it's always the right side, and I've never not had to remove a speaker/subwoofer assembly to get to it.

kevlarcorolla said:

In reply to Woody :

I suspect after the fiasco of the rotten taco frames they will outlast the body now.

They had replaced the frame on my old truck under the recall three years ago, even though I didn't think that it needed it. They had the truck for eight days and gave me a list of the numbers for the replacement parts. I totaled it up and it came to something like nine grand in new parts, plus labor. In addition to the new frame, the truck got new rear springs, front control arms, new front axles, fluids and a zillion other things. When it came time to trade it in, the dealer was all over the truck when he found out that it had had the frame done at their dealership. My original plan was to sell it myself, but they offered several thousand over book value, even after coming way down on the price of the new one.

Hopefully, I can do this all again in another 14 years!

I’m a fluid film fan. Used it on my jeeps. It actually creeps, and by spring had wicked it’s way out onto the body a few inches. 

joey48442 said:

I’m a fluid film fan. Used it on my jeeps. It actually creeps, and by spring had wicked it’s way out onto the body a few inches. 

How often and what methods do you use for winter carwashes?

In reply to Knurled. :

That's the older escapes. Mines a 09, first year of a updated rear suspension and refreshed body work.  It's now got a fist sized hole in the body above the left rear wheel arch. Right side is going too...but at least there's still some metal left there.  Lower edge of the hatch is just as bad.  Underside  of the car is surprisingly mildly rusty.  I'm in Michigan....right in the heart of Rustville USA. 

I suspect I use FF a lot more selectively than most, but I've got the extension for the aerosol cans with the 360-degree nozzle for doing interior cavities and other inaccessible areas, and those are the only places I use it - rockers, subframes, frame rails, etc. I'm satisfied covering the weld seams and places moisture might accumulate, as it seems these are invariably the places where rust starts.

02Pilot said:

I suspect I use FF a lot more selectively than most, but I've got the extension for the aerosol cans with the 360-degree nozzle for doing interior cavities and other inaccessible areas, and those are the only places I use it - rockers, subframes, frame rails, etc. I'm satisfied covering the weld seams and places moisture might accumulate, as it seems these are invariably the places where rust starts.

That's how I use it now, too. When I first did my old F-150 with it, I hosed down the whole underside. But I really don't think it stays on there all that long, especially after a couple of automatic car washes. So I just use the aerosol cans and do inside the doors and rockers and any other nooks and crannies I can reach.

I hit our cars with it at least once. Figure it stays in the nooks and crannies. Even if the exposed surfaces get rinsed off.  Seems to have worked well so far.

In reply to 02Pilot :

Did my wife's Suburban this way too.

Every motorcycle I put back together gets a spray of it into the open frame tubes as well.

93gsxturbo said:

joey48442 said:

I’m a fluid film fan. Used it on my jeeps. It actually creeps, and by spring had wicked it’s way out onto the body a few inches. 

How often and what methods do you use for winter carwashes?

I would take it to the diy car wash, and just hose the salt off the paint work. I figured doing an underbody flush just liquifies the salt and pushes it further in. So in the spring I’d do a thorough cleaning of the underside, flushing the frame and such.