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For a 28 year old truck that has spent all it's life in VT, it has held out well.
Body is not much to look at but it is basically solid and the frame is great.
When it was inspected, the mechanic verified that the previous owner had the truck "oil sprayed" every year before winter.
OK, yes it smells as it drips onto the exhaust and yes it drips everywhere but since my driveway is dirt I don't really care.
I was about to get some oil and spray it on using my garden pump sprayer.
They I started reading postings all over the web.
It seems everyone has a "better" idea.
From home made mixtures to list of products available, everyone has an opinion.
I want something relatively cheap. It must be thin enough to spray on with a garden sprayer (I will be lucky if I have a 40 degree day).
Other than just oil, the ones that seem to me most likely to help are the home made versions of "waxoyl". I say this because they all seem to be oil based but have a wax mixed in with them so that they "stick" a bit better than just oil.
I found three versions:
1) 1/3 boiled linseed oil, 1/3 new motor oil, 1/3 paint thinner
2) 1 1/2 quarts turpentine, 12 oz bees wax or candle wax, 1 quart of light machine oil
3) 1/3 kg or paraffin wax, 2 liters of mineral spirits/paraffin/kerosene/diesel, 1 liter mineral oil or non detergent motor oil
Do any one of these sound like one would work better than another? on one post, someone with a chemistry background said the linseed oil would work best as it is an "unstable" oil and would bond well.
An I getting way to complicated? Should I just use oil or ????? This is only a $1000 truck but I want to keep it on the road as long as possible.
I'm coming from a chemistry background and any of those mixtures pretty much accomplish the same thing...being a cheapskate.
Really though, you're just trying to create an oxygen barrier so the choice of solvent is the least important part of the mixture. From my perspective, the linseed oil is probably going to be the best of those choices for rust prevention. What the other guy meant by being "unstable" is that it self-polymerizes under atmospheric conditions and temperatures, creating a solid sheet or plaque. Similar reactions occur with cooking oil at cooking temperatures (like seasoning a cast iron skillet), or even with motor oil at extremely high temperatures.
Think of it as a single super-giant molecule that is in the exact 3d shape shell of what you spray it onto.
The benefit over the other ingredients is that once polymerized, it won't wash off nearly as easily as liquid oils sprayed onto metal. Plus, the initial spraying may carry off some of the excess oil from previous applications so you won't be spreading an oil slick once it warms up again.
Wax and solid paraffin in suspension almost accomplish the same thing, but the way they are held in suspension leaves them to clump in sheets once the solvent evaporates. They won't really polymerize into a single structure, but will be in long overlapping sheets with each sheet being easily slid over the next (it's why waxes have lubricating properties). You can get coverage over the whole truck, but anywhere it gets hot it's going to melt the wax and start dripping/clumping. I'd be scared to get it on brake pads.
Personally I'd try 1/2 and 1/2 turpentine and linseed. I know the 2 will mix in any proportion so a garden sprayer would work well. I would avoid adding any more oil as it would interrupt the polymerization chain and create little oil slicks.
It would stink like pine trees for a few days, but since turpentine evaporates so quickly, it would "dry" the linseed oil faster than mineral spirits.
That's the least technical explanation I have. My truck is a rust bucket
Road dust will adhere to the oil film. The waxes will probably clog up the sprayer tip. How about a homemade bedliner material....it would dry and protect.
It's already oiled down. There would be a huge amount of prep work to get the frame and underbody clean enough for bedliner to stick. I think the OP is just trying to get something on quick and easy before another season of road salt.
I have heard and seen for myself spraying it with oil works well. I have had several trucks and other vehicles that were driven with oil leaks, and when I fixed them or put new engines in place, if the oil/dirt is scraped off the frame, it looks like new underneath, while the rear part of the frame is rusted to pieces.
I can't bring myself to do it yet on the truck I have now, because as was mentioned, once you commit yourself to this method, it would be terribly difficult to change you mind later. What I am doing now is using paint, with a good coat several years ago, and then just maintenance touch ups every year. But the paint doesn't soak down in the cracks and crevices like the oil would.
To the original poster; I would just use regular oil, old stuff you got of of your engine(if you do your own oil changes) and just enough thinner so it will spray. If this has been done over the years, you should just be doing a maintenance coat, you should have a nice thick coat of oil and dirt already on the frame.
Like it was mentioned, really, I just want to continue with some kind of oil spray.
If I were restoring the truck or something, I would clean it all, have it sandblasted and such but this is just a $1000 daily driver.
So far, just a simple oil spraying once a year has done an amazing job.
It is a pain to work on it but at least bolts are not rusted solid ... in fact I was amazed that once I cleaned off the area I was working on, everything was still in great shape.
My only thought was if rather than just motor oil, is there anything else for a similar price that I could spray on.
Hey, I just found this post on another site ... it say use chain saw bar oil. He writes:
The best thing some of us up here have found is quality bar and chain oil. Do not get the cheap stuff. Agway or Husquarvarna seem to both use similar formulas. That is a mixture of phosphoric acid, oil, and paraffin. The phosphoric kills the rust. In fact the rust will turn black within a week. The oil and wax leave behind a sticky residue. This treatment also has the advantage of lubricating all joints, etc...
Do you think this sounds any better than just oil or ?????????????????
Possibly. The only thing I see wrong with motor oil is the detergents. You may find spraying motor oil on the frame, especially new motor oil, will actually clean and wash off the frame. Motor oils are high in detergents.
That's one way to tell what type of leak you have on a tranny or engine; If it's clean and wet looking, you know you have a significant leak. If the leaking oil is dusty and built up, then you know it's a very slow weeping type of leak, nothing to worry about. The oil from the major leak will clean the area right off.
Phosphoric acid will treat surface rust, but it will just keep flash rusting once exposed to air again. It's not a permanent fix, but light surface rust isn't a truck killer either. Keep it simple- Nothing you can just spray on will fully destroy your current rust, and any liquid oil or wax emulsions will derive their anti rust effects from blocking direct contact with air. Clearly, it's worked fine on your truck for the past 28 years.
I'm still voting for a linseed oil just because it will be a semi-hard, semi-permanent application that may help clean up some of the liquid drip mess you're experiencing, and it can be thinned enough to spray into every nook and cranny of the truck.
Actually, what may be a good modern alternative is Boeshield T9: Automotive & Motorcycle | Boeshield T-9®
It would be longer lasting than any of the oil based mixtures but 4 cans would run you about $50. I think the benefit here would be that the current oil on your truck is miscible with this product and you would only really have to apply it once.
Here is a list of saltwater spray corrosion inhibitors, including the boeshield and many other cheap alternatives that would be less messy and more permanent than straight oil. http://www.tc-11.com/Marine%20Electronics%20Test.pdf
After thinking about it I think I might actually go this route now too before the weather gets nasty here. They list a CRC product that is significantly cheaper that has good results.
This CRC stuff is $26 a gallon online and should be more than enough to do the underside of your truck. It's way cheaper than Boeshield.
I'm probably going to pick some up and post up results. My frame is pretty gnarly.
Thanks so much. I will definitely give a good read through tomorrow ( well today since it is 1:21 a.m. ... just got in from shoveling ).
The CRC looks great at that price. I will have to check to see if it is compatible with my "well oiled" truck ( since I don't plan on cleaning it other than a good spray down at the power wash).
If it is not then either the linseed oil or Boeshield will be fine. I don't mind $50 ... just don't want to get into a $500 job.
You sort of reminded me that I had to do the same thing, plus I'm avoiding Thanksgiving chores.
I checked the MSDS. It will work ok with your current oil layer (It's just light petroleum carrier and it has it's own surfacants), but I would still pressure wash as you intended to blast off any accumulated dirt or salt nuggets. Try to get the fresh stuff onto bare metal.
I'm going to order a gallon tomorrow and give it a shot.
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