DOC, Right Friggin' On! Well Said. The effect of millions of junked vehicles (many rusted out, frames and unibodies ruined) taken out of service before their prime, is much more distructive than a well maintained, oil undercoated, vehicle, that still serves a usefull purpose. Oil film undercoatings, do not drip oil, day in and day out. To think when a vehicle is sitting at a redlight, dripping oil puddles, which run into our storm sewers, is just nor correct. It's not happening. It's almost like the millions of dollars spent on smog and emissions testing. It's a legalized scam, and a sham. However, because I say that, does not mean I say it's okay to drive cars that sting your eyes from neglect in it's maintenence. Cars driving down the road with blue smoke billowing out of the tailpipe should not be allowed on the street. However, I witnessed vehicles that do not pass an emission test at one place, driven a mile up the street, and they pass easily. Then with all this emission testing, a autumn forest fire burns several thousands of acres, smoke and haze over a quarter of the state. The emissions testing did nothing except seperate the hard earned money from your wallet, to be mis spent by state fat cats on social programs and other waste. Sad, but true. Doc, for what it's worth, I agree with your common sense logic (rare in today's society) and enjoy your weekend, as I will too! ED

 

Considering where I live, we see snow every twenty years I have no personal experience with any type of undercoating. The paint manufacturers are no longer able to use any VOCs in their formulations of exterior paints. Reason, while one home does not present a hazard, all homes with VOC materials will gas enough to create a pollutant. This was mandated back in the eighties. We need to think cleaner is better. While I have no data to give, it would seem like the oil would be a pollutant. How about a wax parrafin product? Has anybody tried anything like that? It is not a pollutant and should last several years and maybe an occasional touchup. These products are on the market but have no data or experience using them. Anyone with experience using them?

 

I think we need to keep in mind that: (1) only a small percentage of the 200 million autos in use today would have oil undercoatings done regardless of environmental impact (2) 1 quart of oil COULD (but not necessarily will) contaminate 250000 gallons of water under the right conditions - put a quart of oil in a 50 gallon drum and see how much of the water in the drum is contaminated (3) people have some rights too and one of those is to take reasonable measures to protect/preserve their investments

 

What about using vegetable oil? That will stop rust too, and how bad can it be for the environment? It's cheap enough too. Most "undercoating" peels away, traps water, and causes rust!

 

instead of oil undercoating why not just use a real rubber undercoating which won't drip and is a one time thing it protects from salt better than oil and has a nice clean look they spary it on the underbody of show cars i just finished spraying my truck i used 25 cans nut it was well worth it now it won't rust underneath

 

if you dont undercoat a truck when its brand new you lose most of the rust prevention. once the rust has already started covering it up will just hide it. but it will keep rusting under the coating. if you got metal thats already rusted por15 will permanently stop the rust, but it doesnt work on painted surfaces.i think the main thing with oil undercoating would be to do it in the winter months to protect against the road salt, then in the spring flush the underbody really good to get all remaining salt off.

 

Absolutely correct!!!

Its a funny thing about paint these days. The paint on my 65 F-100 is by far more durable than the new paints these days. I have no rust on my 65 and it has been used every year during the brutal winters. I could not say the same thing for the newer paints and coatings. Every coating that is environmentally friendly just costs more and protects less. I'm all for preserving the environment but these days I consider it a dirty word. Common sense engineering and less beuracratic nonsense would do this country some good.

 

You guys might be interested in "oil eating bacteria" or "oleophilic bacteria".
Also rubber eating bacteria http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1996/1...nnovation.html
Seems this world is made in such a way that it can clean up a certain amount of our messes.

Somewhere else on this site there is a recommendation about spraying hydraulic oil under the car.

 

HIGHBOY 74, Well stated!! I agree with you. Isn't it amazing too, of when you see may late model cars and light trucks / vans. Factory paint, brittle, and has chipped and peeled off in large sheets, usually down to the primer? Many times the primer has been reduced to bare metal, which has turned to rust. Then other areas of the vehicle, you can see the original paint color, with a shine to it? This is not a one manufacturer problem either. I see this dilemma on 10 years or newer, Ford, GM & Chrysler Products. Just large areas of the hood, roof, trunk, where the paint has peeled off in sheets, like neglected paint on wood, on a house. I always think to myself: After all these many years of building cars and pickup trucks, the "BIG 3" still does not know how to paint their vehicles?! I don't know if it's the clearcoat layer, reacting to the paint underneath, when exposed to the outdoor elements? All I know is I see a alarmingly fair amount of cars and trucks, 10 years old or less, that need paint jobs. ED

 

Oil type underbody sprays are common in canada. I checked with several local body shops and they swear that these type sprays work. Morover, these sprars are endorsed by automotive consumer advcacy groups. The 2 main products in Canada are (1) Rust Check and (2) Krown. See www.krown.ca for details on wnat they claim the benefits to be.

I purchased my 02 Explorer brand new with the intention of driving it for 10 years. I got my vehicle undersprayed immediayl at a cost of $125 (canadian dollars) annually.

I have no personal or financial interst in either of these companies or the industry in general. Just thought I would pass this along

 

I live in northern new england and have never seen any advertisements for oil undercoating. I cannot believe that the EPA wouldn not have made this illegal a long time ago.

We have enough environmental problems in this country and we don't need to encourage others to start slopping oil on the bottom of their cars and think this won't increase the harm to the environment. A good amount of it will flush off the vehicle in rain/snow and will make its way into nature. When scrubbed off it will also make its way to nature. BTW, motor oil will cause most rubber parts to breakdown prematurely.

Maybe vegtable oil?

 

Just to chime in here..


I lived in Michigan for 30 years. I have gone thru many cars and trucks, I never one time did anything to the underbodies of my cars. I simply would wax the exterior with a wax every spring and fall and would call it good. i never once had a problem with rust on the undercarriage. I had to replace a few exhaust pipes, but that's it.

With todays technology, They dip the undercarriage into some protective bath to prevent corrosion on the frame and undercarriage. With the stainless Steel Exhaust parts today, you do not have to do anything to your undercarriage.

If all I had to do was to worry about a little rust on my undercarriage, I would be a happy man. There are bigger things in life than to worry about a little rust.

Just my .02..

02 Ex V-10 No rust or any signs of rust anywhere..Undercarriage actually looks almost brand new..

Big Rig

 

OK, I've got to step in here, Some of us are worried about rust because we have older vehicles that are literally being rusted to death. I have a 74 F-250 that is rusting to pieces because of winter time driving. The last thing I need is someone telling me rust doesn't matter. The under sides of my doors have rust clear through them and my cab has rust underneath that is coming off in chunks. I have already completely redone my rear fender wells because they were rusted clear through and I have since put a very nice $3250.00 paint job on my trucks exterior. I am still battling rust on the undercarriage however and plan on using some POR 15 to seal the rust. The point I am trying to make is that rust is a very big concern in the northern environments and is not taken lightly. Another point I would like to make is that most people do not realize what the viscosity or the consistancy of this undercoat is. It is more like a very fine film with the consistancy of kerosene. It does not come off or drip off the underbody like many people want to believe. It has a very real purpose and that is to defeat the corrosive elements.

 

You can thank wacko extremist activists, and the EPA for the peeling paint issues. it was mandated (that is a word used to bypass the fact that the legislative representitive branch or elected officials are supposed to be the only ones making laws yet unelected lifers are making laws and calling them mandates) that all automotive paint had to be lead, and arsenic free, and couldn't emit hydrocarbons in a static air test (BTW some joker in Colorado threw his christmas tree into the static testing room, and it failed terribly so that means your car has to emit less emissions while not running than a pine tree )

 

This not a popular belief but oil comes from the ground so let it go back to the ground. DDT was man made and man should take care of it ect. I know there is additives in oil and if everyone coated there vehicles down till they dripped oil we would have a problem. BUT a few people here and there is not going to pose a problem. Hell our roads are made of low grade oil. just use some common sense when dealing with things that can have an adverse effect on the enviroment.