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Login to post Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » keeping weather out of vehicle frames

July 5, 2011 1:06 p.m. daytonaer Reader

My father bought himself a new truck as a retirement gift, it is pretty nice.

he lives in PA, and this will be driven in the winters, with nasty salty slushy roads. I wanted to help him out and seal this thing up while its still new clean underneath.

The frame is painted (wonderful!), I was planning to drive over for a weekend and spend some time with a cleaner (acetone/rag) and some spray paint and hit everything bare on the under chassy. (ie. uncoated bolt threads, fittings, odds and ends, anything not painted). The back of the fenders are not painted.... so I will probably hit those with paint too. But to the main question:

Those "access holes" or whatever they are in the frame. Obviously the ones on the bottom are drains, but there are plenty on the sides of the frame (fully boxed). I assume they are for assembly. they are all open and exposed and will catch salt and grime which will sit in the frame and rust it out over time.

They are all different sizes, some not round, so I'm not going to find pre made plugs easily. I had a '87 camry which had plastic plugs for every frame/chassy hole/access. Wish this had those. I have used duct tape in the past to seal up rust holes, worked great preserving an old dodge and stalling rust but when I tried it on my jeep the fabric held in moisture and rotted the material beneath the tape rapidly.

Is there some type of tape that will not hold moisture under its adhesive? Honestly, I would just cover these holes with duct tape if it were not for my bad experience with my jeep. Rotting out over a few years is no big deal. Does anyone ever plug these things? it could help preserve vehicles up north so much. Google search returned nothing. Making plugs is not happening. I'm also thinking some type of roofing tape, the AL type with the tar on the back, but that seems like overkill? I just want to keep road spray out...

Thanks for reading.

Short summary: Holes (assembly) in the frame, how to seal them up to keep spray/dirt out? duct tape? Tar backed metal tape? saran wrap and a hot glue gun?
July 5, 2011 1:11 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

do new trucks even suffer the rot that trucks ten years ago have?
July 5, 2011 1:17 p.m. Taiden HalfDork

bubblegum

lots of bubblegum
July 5, 2011 1:29 p.m. Don49 Reader

Use aluminum tape. It's the stuff they use for heat and air conditioning ducts. You might even find it at WalMart.
July 5, 2011 1:34 p.m. Streetwiseguy Dork

The chances of you sealing it all so nothing gets in are slim, to say the least. Once a month, stick the garden hose in each of the holes and wash out the accumulated poo. Drill drain holes as needed.

As to the paint- what it will do is get chipped, then trap dirt and moisture against the steel. Watch for bubbles in the paint, scrape them off and touch up as needed.
July 5, 2011 1:41 p.m. foxtrapper SuperDork

All you'll do is make sure the frame rots out from the inside.

Leave lots of holes, and wash things out occassionally.
July 5, 2011 2:22 p.m. daytonaer Reader

racinginc215 wrote:

Or just do what the rest of us do and drive the thing though a damn car wash once a week.

Been doing this for years. NE PA and SW NY use allot of salt in winter. Commuting every day before the sun rises means 1x a week car wash is not enough. I understand retirement means not commuting every day, but he just spent allot of money. We have vehicles less than 10 years old with rot, even with a 1x a week bath. Garden hoses get shut off in the winter. I realize this is not 80's jap steel, however an ounce of prevention or whatever.

I think I'm going to try for the aluminum tape. The goal is not to seal up the frame, it is to block the obnoxious access holes right next to the wheels. there are enough new cars up here with rot that I do not need to argue my justification. A few years ago my mother bought a 07 toyota, brand new and I gave it the same treatment, it still looks great underneath and I don't have to worry about rusted bolts if I ever have to work on it. but they used calk to seal everything that looked vital. If it weren't for family, I would try a different climate. This land eats cars.
July 5, 2011 3:57 p.m. amg_rx7 HalfDork

Don49 wrote:

Use aluminum tape. It's the stuff they use for heat and air conditioning ducts. You might even find it at WalMart.

+1 for use on the holes in the side

Keep the drain holes open though
July 5, 2011 4:09 p.m. Keith SuperDork

There's a waterproof version of the aluminum tape that truly is waterproof and is labelled as such. Much better adhesive. I think they have it at Home Depot.
July 5, 2011 4:53 p.m. iceracer SuperDork

The fenders and body will probably rust through before the frame-----unless it is a Toyota.
July 5, 2011 5:13 p.m. fasted58 HalfDork

Why not dealer undercoating on new vehicle, the waxy stuff... or do the home brew recipe. I done the rattle can paint, gets only a few yrs protection in Pa., not worth it IMO. Used to do the heated used motor oil/ kerosene spray mix after a thorough flushing, it creeps pretty good but needs repeated yearly.

That factory frame paint is not gonna last long in Pa. winters, I think it's designed to prevent rust until the vehicle is driven off the lot.
July 5, 2011 5:14 p.m. njansenv HalfDork

Honestly? Oil it: Rustcheck or Krown. Nothing beats a car that was regularly oiled when it comes to rust prevention. Here in the rust belt, it's the difference between basically rust-free 30 year old Chevettes, and piles of iron oxide that retired a decade ago.

Don't seal it up - it's more likely to hold moisture in, unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure that everything is sealed.
July 5, 2011 5:31 p.m. novaderrik Dork

the main thing is to not be one of those people that gets the cheapest option at the automatic car wash at the gas station and assume it's clean because the shiny parts look good. here in MN we probably use more salt than you do out east, and you can tell the people that don't understand the concept of washing the parts of the vehicle that you can't see- they are the people with the 7 year old trucks and cars that have surface rust around thte door edges and rear wheelwells.

run it thru the automatic car wash every couple of weeks during the winter .. go to the coin op bay every few times and open the doors and spray out the doorjambs with the high pressure wand and make sure the drain holes in the doors and rocker panels are open. get up under the rocker panels, bumpers, fenders, and quarter panels really good at the end of the salty season. the frame itself is really a non-issue these days- i'm pretty sure Toyota took care of their "frames breaking in half after a few years" issue and i can't recall anyone else having similar problems with their trucks.

it aint rocket surgery- do this simple stuff, and the truck will look brand new for years to come.
July 5, 2011 8:12 p.m. Curmudgeon SuperDork

When I rerockered the Jensen, I used this behind it: http://www.eastwood.com/rustproofing-and-undercoating-system.html

only I didn't get the undercoating, instead I got a second can of the waxy stuff. The gun comes with side, front and rear spray nozzles and works pretty good. Don't close off the holes, if you do there is no way for moisture to evaporate! I'd say paint the shocks, rear axle etc with good quality spraybombs to slow that corrosion down as well.
July 5, 2011 8:25 p.m. fasted58 HalfDork

In reply to Curmudgeon:

re: spraybombs

used to use cheaper Krylon, Rusto, etc. not to get carried away, now use this:

http://duplicolor.com/products/enginePaint/
July 6, 2011 8:36 a.m. iceracer SuperDork

Years ago when the highway departments put used motor oil on the dirt roads, we would drive on one that was recently done. Free rust proofing. Ah, the good old days.

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