I have been getting my truck ready for winter and beyond by applying Fluid Film.
Some have expressed reservations about the product, and I admit that I have only begun to use it. So, I took a piece of 1/2" x 1 1/2" cold rolled steel, cleaned all of the finish oil off of it, sanded all sides so that there would be no question that it was completely bare, shiny steel, then I coated it with Fluid Film.
That piece of steel has been outside in the weather for 3 weeks now, and it has gone through numerous rain storms. It has been sitting on the ground, as exposed as possible. It is still shiny, with not a fleck of rust on it. I know that 3 weeks isn't much time, it isn't exposed to salt and abrasives, or heat. So, it hasn't gone through the rigorous exposure that a vehicle gets. But, there is no question that as long as the Fluid Film stays in place, it is an effective barrier against moisture. That's good enough for me, considering that no other product provides such protection for such little money.

 

I just had my 2015 F250 CC LB done. It still feels...wet. I rubbed my fingers on it and its still slimy. Its been about five days since I've had it done. Not sure if its ever going to dry or stay like this. I'm hoping the stuff works since I hope I have the truck for the next twenty years at least.

 

if you smear grease on a piece of bare steel it wont rust either.

 

That is true, but grease is much harder to apply to the underside of your truck.

When I first received the Fluid Film, I sprayed the bed supports. That would be about 4 weeks ago, and that dried to a clear film.

 

fluid film will not dry, it will pick up a coating of dust but will not dry. this is what contributes to it's self healing nature. I am a FF believer. I coated the entire underside of my truck, painstakingly using a brush on all the front end components and adjustment areas for wheel alignment that usually turn into solid rust quickly. then using the sprayer hit the entire underside, every nook and cranny. This was last feb when I got the truck new, drove it through a central NY winter and can report all front end components look shiny and new, zero rust, not on the axles that had chipped paint from the factory, nowhere on the body, not even the exhaust, yup, I treated the whole thing cat back. Going into my second winter, and already in the salt. I shot the truck again last month preparing for winter, and found it much quicker the second time, and was happy to see how much coverage was left from the original treatment.

 

Did the Fluid Film on my truck and Jeep too...
Very optomistic that it will do better than any other sort of treatment...

I used a similar product that I had to have shipped from England years ago called Finnigan's WaxOyl.... The truck I used that on never got a spec of rust and it was ten years of salty streets and highways around Minneapolis...

 

is it hard to keep off the rotors when your doing the axle spraying?

 

I've been trying to spray used engine oil underside of my car. I just sprayed the living crap out of everything, then drove away riding the brakes till it burned off. About a block it took. I think any oil will protect metal, but different qualities of the oil will make it stay on longer or repel dust better.

Also another thing to look into is zinc spray on coating, it is apparently very good and preventing rust, but it's silver so would need a coat of paint over top.

 

that used motoroil trick is a good one, truckers been doing that for years in alaska here. keeps them trucks going.

 

I've been using fluid film for two years now and the underside of my wife's F150 still look like new. I covered my SD with FF before I even drove it off the dealers lot since the roads were already salted by the time the truck arrived from the factory and so far after a year and a half the underside of it also shines like new. The only parts I don't do are the axles and the exhaust. I thought about doing the axles but I want to be able to see any leaks if they start.

Only thing I can't decide on is whether or not I should power wash off the underside during the winter or just leave it alone and wait until spring to give it a good cleaning? I would think that if you wash the underside too much you'll wash off the fluid film, but if you just leave it alone the fluid film will be the barrier between the salt and the metal.

 

I didn't have any troubles.. There are shields over the rotors as well.. If you hosed down the shield and caliper, you might get some on the rotor, but that wasn't what I did..

 

I tried the motor oil trick on my Tacoma. I tried 90 wt gear oil as well as new m1 synthetic, neither one held a candle to FF. I had rust and wash off from both very quickly.


I use a brush to apply FF around the brakes to keep it off the rotors and pads, once they are contaminated I don't think they will be effective for long.

 

90w gear lube.... Man that had to stink to high heaven!!!!

 

dont use gear oil that stuff smells awful, id just stick to motoroil.

 

I used it on my Tacoma a few years ago, I don't care what the frame smells like, it was fine in the cab. No matter now I finally got the SD I always wanted and love it!


will always stick with FF now it works great.