Your experiences with underbody rust inhibitors and paint protection

[Sean22]

Thanks gents. I'm leaning towards an entire PPF wrap but hooooooo-boy. That's my entire year's fun money gone.

Consider it a worthwhile investment

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[MAGS1]

This stuff is supposed to be good too. Mix with water and spray the car down with it before you hit the car with just water.

https://a.co/d/6bnV8Ho

One of my favorite YouTube detailers just used it in a video today, which jogged my memory about it

 

[Ahung12]

For the amount you spend on rust proofing and whole-body PPF and winter wheels and tires you can probably just buy a winter beater car.

For sure. In fact, I'm lucky enough to have a second car already. This is more a matter of having peace of mind when I feel like taking the R out in the colder months. And to a lesser extent, protecting the car in all other months.

Good winter tires are the key. Go a little taller on the tire if you can too, just to give yourself a little extra ground clearance. I run Blizzaks and have zero issues in the snow. Nokian Hakkapeliitta is really good too. Can’t run studded snow tires here in IL though, so you’d have to the non-studded Hakka’s.
some snow

I've ran both in the past and would love to run either on the R but neither come in OE sizes or anywhere close as far as I can tell. I've seen Michelin's Alpin PA4's recommended.

Also, an undercarriage sprayer is a must have. Added this to my arsenal last year. Even though we don’t have salt here, I do it with every wash to rinse away any grime or corrosive material.

Yeah I've seen this or similar tools recommended in a lot of detailing forums and threads. Do these work better than the undercarriage wash at a decent car wash place?

 

[FISH22]

Yeah I've seen this or similar tools recommended in a lot of detailing forums and threads. Do these work better than the undercarriage wash at a decent car wash place?

Those are good as well, and are probably adequate. I just like being able to take my time with it…. And not going through an auto wash.

 

[MAGS1]

For sure. In fact, I'm lucky enough to have a second car already. This is more a matter of having peace of mind when I feel like taking the R out in the colder months. And to a lesser extent, protecting the car in all other months.


I've ran both in the past and would love to run either on the R but neither come in OE sizes or anywhere close as far as I can tell. I've seen Michelin's Alpin PA4's recommended.


Yeah I've seen this or similar tools recommended in a lot of detailing forums and threads. Do these work better than the undercarriage wash at a decent car wash place?

Talk to @TonyNJ , I believe he still puts winter tires on his 350. I don’t recall what he runs though nor do I remember the size.

 

[Sketcham]

For protecting the undercarriage I highly recommend Fluid Film. It’s made of lanolin and beeswax and has protected my equipment from VT winters for years. It does need to be reapplied every fall. You can buy a sprayer but for one vehicle 3 or 4 rattle cans should do it at $10 a piece.
https://www.fluid-film.com/

 

[TonyNJ]

Talk to @TonyNJ , I believe he still puts winter tires on his 350. I don’t recall what he runs though nor do I remember the size.

No more winter tires. It's all seasons for me. For the GT350 I like 285/35/19 All season Conti DWS06 PLUS all around on the OEM wheels. Or even better would be 305 30 20 all around on OEM GT500 wheels. Either way you're golden in the winter freeze.

 

[Mach 307]

Illinois resident here, I am a fan of fluid film undercoating my undercarriage. Shop near me runs around $150 to do so once a year.

 

[Ahung12]

Illinois resident here, I am a fan of fluid film undercoating my undercarriage. Shop near me runs around $150 to do so once a year.

Where do you go to? I'm up in the NW suburbs (Wheeling).

 

[Ahung12]

No more winter tires. It's all seasons for me. For the GT350 I like 285/35/19 All season Conti DWS06 PLUS all around on the OEM wheels. Or even better would be 305 30 20 all around on OEM GT500 wheels. Either way you're golden in the winter freeze.

I'm fine to run the GT350 factory wheels on my R without modification right? No need to change lug nuts or studs?

 

[TonyNJ]

I'm fine to run the GT350 factory wheels on my R without modification right? No need to change lug nuts or studs?

You just have to use the open lug nuts. You can use a set of OEM lug nuts, they have a thin sheet metal cap on them that you can just rip off with pliers.

 

[Mach 307]

Where do you go to? I'm up in the NW suburbs (Wheeling).

I go to Yotaworks in St. Charles. You can also go on the fluid film website and they can point you in the direction of places near you if you don’t want to make the hour drive.

 

[Nightmonkey]

Fluid Film is from my point of view not a underbody protection, it is a cavity protection based on lanolin (a grease)!
So from what I did, it can replace the Mike Sanders grease.

It is good for protecting all cavities and gaps, it lasts for about 3...5 years, so it should be checked and renewed at some point.
But it is not suitable for the open underbody, because it will wash of.
That may be the reason why @Sketcham and @Adr2600 needs to put work in it every fall.

If you're serious, do it properly.
Fluid film or something similar into the cavities (including the doors, hood, trunk lid, etc.) and a suitable underbody protection wax for all open surfaces on the underbody.

Simply said formula:
Grease into cavities & wax onto underbody!

PS: The wax must be applied first (wax does not adhere to grease, but grease adheres to wax).

PPS: For the underbody the wax from Fertan should be available in the US and is regarding performance compareable to the Dinitrol 4942 I used, the color is lighter brown: https://fertanusa.com/collections/underbody-protection-1/products/underbody-protection-wax

Fertan:

Dinitrol:

 

[Nightmonkey]

Some more input:
https://fertanusa.com/pages/cavity-restoration
https://fertanusa.com/pages/underbody-restoration
But dont do it like Fertan advises in this picture.
You don't want resin/underseal only and no wax (both is OK) on a car like ours.

From our top source for products of this topic over here (https://www.korrosionsschutz-depot.de) about Fertan wax:

• Tough-elastic and impact-resistant, good rust protection, good ageing stability, good stone chip protection. Visibility is still possible depending on layer thickness.
• Durable wax-based underbody protection.
• Produces a rather thick, initially sticky, transparent wax coating that still allows a clear view, e.g. to check for rust underneath.
• Cannot be painted over.
• Permanently slightly to barely adhesive.
• Color: brown-transparent.
• Can be applied in different layer thicknesses. UBS 240 can be heated for better sprayability.

NOTE: Prewax can be used to pre-seal seams/crevices. Owatrol oil is even more suitable, as it creeps more and can also regenerate old underbody protection.

It is a very elastic and durable wax-based underbody protection. UBS 240 cannot be washed off. It contains no aromatic components and is therefore PVC-compatible. UBS 240 compensates for twisting and is extremely stable, even when exposed to stresses such as stone chipping.

The color is amber-transparent (brown tinted). Due to the slight transparency, you can see through the underbody protection and easily check whether rust is forming underneath. On the other hand, you can also see that an underbody has been perfectly welded and/or painted under the amber-colored protective layer, for example.

Ideally, UBS 240 should be applied to a thickness of approx. 0.2 mm (0.0079 inch) so that it is still possible to see through it. If applied thicker, the transparency decreases significantly.

Not overpaintable.

NOTE: Like all good (slightly diluted) waxes, UBS 240 also becomes relatively solid when left to stand for a long time, especially in cold weather. It is therefore advisable to warm the underbody protection to approx. 30°C before use, especially in the colder months. The best way to do this is to place the material in hot water (40-50°C) or on a radiator for approx. 30 minutes. Then the material can be sprayed wonderfully.

...and more about the process to apply it:

 

[FISH22]

Some more input:
https://fertanusa.com/pages/cavity-restoration
https://fertanusa.com/pages/underbody-restoration
But dont do it like Fertan advises in this picture.
You don't want resin/underseal only and no wax (both is OK) on a car like ours.

From our top source for products of this topic over here (https://www.korrosionsschutz-depot.de) about Fertan wax:





...and more about the process to apply it:

Really good stuff, thanks for sharing. Thinking I should step my game up and advance to a more durable and appropriate material like this.

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