I was looking for a good paint or coating to help preserve the frame and underbody of my 96 CC. Chassis Saver or POR15 seems to be the ticket from what I read. Does anyone here have any long term experience with either of them? How do they hold up over 5-10 years? Anyone have a preference between the two?

 

what lasts and what doesn't depends entirely on prep work and your driving conditions, I.e. salt, moisture, etc. I suspect, living in NJ, with a falling snow flake they treat the roads like the world ending is imminent and the only solution is to dump as much salt as possible.


none of the "coatings" will prevent rust, just slow it down. the absolute best thing you can do in order to maximize longevity of said "coatings" is to sandblast the entire frame down to bare metal, leaving no rust whatsoever, and apply coating of your choice immediately after a thorough cleaning with a non corrosive detergent.

 

I sprayed the bottom of my truck with a few cans of brake cleaner and then brushed on that por15 stuff. It coated and looked really nice for about a year but i can see some spots starting to get specs of rust again. If you ask me it worked really well considering what a half *** job i did. I should of wire brushed everything first.

 

plenty of used truck lots do this to the trucks they get. they'll buy a rusty hunk of junk and spray the undercarriage with whatever the hell they have and advertise as "no rust, clean frame!!!". its obvious to anyone that its been sprayed directly over flaky rust, and it lasts long enough to get the truck off the lot. that's a bout it.


doesn't matter how good the coating is, or what it they claim itll do, nothing stops rust, "converts rust" (gotta love that gimmick) except a leaky oil seal.

 

Well....you hit the nail on the head there. I try not to take my truck out in that slop but it does happen in emergencies. Not to mention all the clowns in this state that think they can do 65 in said slop.




I believe the directions on the two coatings say not to remove all the rust, just the loose stuff with a wire brush. Do you think sandblasting would make a difference in this case?


I have a local guy that can sandblast and powder coat the frame for $700. Better or worse in your opinion? I was leaning towards the paint over the powder coat since it seems to be geared towards rust stopping/slowing.

 

yes, it makes a huge difference. they only say to remove loose stuff because no one would buy it if it said "you must sandblast and rid all rust before application". and, for a lot of people, removing the loose stuff and painting some fresh goo on is enough to satisfy.


theres a wrong way: paint directly over rust/scale with no prep. this doesn't slow down rust, and actually hastens it, as the paint is a moisture trap.


theres the right way: blasting the **** out of rust to bare metal/max prep. this slows rust and can last a long time. it will eventually fail, but it will be in the form of years and not months.


and theres the "in between". and the results will be "in between" the right and wrong way.


powdercoating is great, its a little tougher than paint in the form of physical abuse. whether or not its a better rust preventative I cannot say, but with the same prep work I'd imagine it has to be better considering if the paint gets scratched/gouged from who knows what it will be the "open wound" for the "infection" to set in. powercoating will require a full frame off job though.

 

Got it, Thanks.


Its going to be a complete frame off job either way. After looking at many $10-$15K trucks with a ton of miles and rust from bumper to bumper, I decided to buy an old (fairly rust free...for NJ) bomber and spend the $10-$15K to make it nice and clean. Going for a bumper to bumper rebuild. I like the look of the OBS trucks better anyway. I just didn't need another project....but it all good

 

yea im in that same boat. my next truck for my daily driver will be a frame off OBS. the available choices are stupid: 35-50k new truck that's beat, 10-20k for something that's "newish" and beat, or 10-15k for exactly what you want that's fresh.

 

I use a 2015 F350 utility body at work. Its nice and I love the truck....but its not worth the $68K they paid for it.... or should I say...I'm not paying that much for one.


I currently drive and tow with a 93 CC. I love the truck but it needs attention that I cant give it while it is in weekly use. When I get the 96 done, it will hopefully get its turn....if there is anything left at that point.

 

All the "Paint over rust" products are a joke. You can NOT paint over rust(no mater how well you cleaned it) if you expect it to last.

SANDBLASTING all the rust off is the ONLY way.

Here is my frame after 3 years(and actually driving it in the elements, not just sitting in a garage)

Sandblasted, 1.5 gal of POR15 as a primer, 1.5 gal of tractor black as a top coat

 

Wow, that looks good. What did you use inside the rear wheel well in the one pic?

 

Color match Scorpion bed liner(I spray it)

 

How long did you wait between coats? Is that the silver/gray truck?

 

Have used POR15 many times on different things in the past and with proper prep it can last years and years..(which it has)..first removed all of the scale and did some wire wheeling and got it as clean as I could. then used the cleaner and self etching chemicals I got with the POR kit as directed, used the POR15 rust preventative on the -prepared- frame and used POR's top coat as they call it now, (used to be called chassis coat or blackcote), over it. It's solid as a rock and have driven many winters with it. Plan on doing the same to my other trucks soon. I'm sure there is a better way to prepare the frame and I'm not proving anyone wrong, just telling ya what worked for me

 

Wire brushing works well in accessible areas, no doubt about it. While nothing beats a sandblaster, wire wheeling is a viable alternative, it's just not gonna be as effective because you can't get into the nooks.