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My truck is from a southern state and has basically no rust, except some really minor surface rust, But the truck now is in MN and I would like to drive it in the winter. Does anyone have a good method of protecting the underside and the body from the road salt? I've been thinking about spraying some of the underside with the rustoleum bed liner paint, does anyone have experience with that stuff?
I also have that problem in my location. People seem to prefer oil-based products like Fluid Film and NH Oil over those spray-on bed liners. I spray mine in the fall. It seems to wash off easily in the wheel wells though.
Here's a link to a recent thread where a member cut 1" holes in the bed to easily wash the wheel wells:
NH Oil sprays, right off, when washing vehicle, fluid film never drys, so it catches dirt, grim, and salt, and they cost way more($100+ for a gallon does a truck), they also say to reapply as needed, the rubberized undercoating, peels off, so get the real bed liner coating, clean underneath before spraying or rolling on, it will also give some sound deadening help(road noise)
I use Fluid Film. The gallon is $35 locally. I cut it with used motor oil to basically double the usage. I spray my '95 twice a year, which the gallon will do using old oil with it. Yes, it does wash off over time, but that is why you have to reapply it. Any rubber coating will rot underneath it or just peel off if you don't prep the surface correctly.
I spray inside the tailgate, the doors(remove the panels from inside), inside hood area, front fenders, around rear wheelwells and the whole chassis. It does build up, but it stays moist and keeps the moisture out of the cracks.
I spend half the time working on my trucks preparing them for pennsylvania salt roads. In winter time you literally have to avoid driving over the small mounds of road salt from the road crews its terrible and the cars look aweful.
My approach is the nastier the better. Basically if cant get it off your hands with most soaps, thats a good one to use. That all being said, what i do for undercoating is get a 1 gallon pail of the best roofing tar you can find. Henrys seems to work good and you can pick black or aluminum. And mix it with as much used motor oil as it will hold without a puddle being on top of the tar. It will be almost 50/50. And brush that on everywhere you dare to. Then spray it with oil at least once a year. This will keep it from tacking up.
You want it to be able to "heal" over stone chips and cracks when it gets hot out. Half way done. Blow or scrape off anything loose before starting.
