Picking up Southern LX470 - Looking for Undercoating advice/experience - esp. Waxoyl, Fluid Film, Krown

[whitenoise]

My f150 gets parked at first snow. It was my dad's last truck and we brought both kids home from hospital in it. It's nothing special but has huge sentimental value. Probably will have it forever.

@Matthew810 that's exactly how I feel about my LX. When I spent over 6 months and looked at maybe 10-12 100s before I bought mine, I knew it would be my forever truck. I had a low-mile Toyota 3rd gen before, and it was so rusted out underneath that the brake lines popped when I went to bleed the brakes.... That's when I decided to buy from the South and figured nothing short of parking in the winter would do for me.

Sorry OP if this ended up cluttering your thread. It's just a different viewpoint that might work for some people.

 

[JOFS]

I am a fluid film fanatic. All my trucks get coated in it. The garage that inspects my 1997 wants me to do it to all the employees vehicles. Doesn't mask or hide anything. Can be removed. Lubricates.

My advice is if you have a compressor get a kit and apply it yourself. You don't need much space, and I use 4 ramps to get the truck higher but did it for years without. It is cheap (39.99 at napa for a gallon) and I have found that doing it twice a year for a couple of years really puts you ahead and the coating is much thicker. You can spray it on as thick or thin as you want. You can spray into the holes in the frame and some of the kits have adapters to spray into panels small holes etc.

I have all the stuff and treat all my vehicles and some friends. I have some pictures of the undercarriage of my previous lx470 and uzj100. I purchased both used and think that I stopped any additional corrosion with fluid film .

My 1997 undercarriage is amazing for a truck in Maine that is used regularly. Both my 200s look new (but pretty much still are).

So that is my vote and if you are ever in the Augusta area I am happy to help. If you want to see how to spray it yourself let me know. I do have to wait for spring as I don't spray it in my garage as it makes everything very slippery. I have to apply it outside.

Don't avoid driving these trucks in the snow. They are amazing. Just prepare and take care of them

Good luck.
John

 

[RND1]

John, I remember seeing pics of your LX470 when you put it up for sale. The undercarriage was incredibly clean for a "rust belt" rig. Let's see some pics of your 80's bottom!

 

[JOFS]

John, I remember seeing pics of your LX470 when you put it up for sale. The undercarriage was incredibly clean for a "rust belt" rig. Let's see some pics of your 80's bottom!

Too cold and snowy to get any updated pictures right now. If we get a warm up I will get some. I will see if I can snap a couple quick ones this am.
John

 

[JOFS]

@RND1 here are some pictures of the underside of my 80. I have been a bit delayed with putting the spring coat on my trucks as the kids are busy and my wife had some surgery.
So here is my 1997 FZJ80 that lives in Maine and gets used regularly in the winter. I treat it with fluid film twice a year. These pictures are before I put on the spring coat.
As mentioned previously when I took it in for a state inspection the garage offered me a job doing undercoating.
This newest coat I put on today is woolwax which doesn't smell the same as fluid film and reportedly will be more durable. Thanks for the mud discount @bob1008
I have found that by doing it twice a year I can really be sure I coat everything and makes reapplication pretty quick.

 

[JOFS]

Here are some more. I tried to show that you can rub off the fluid film and see the black paint underneath. I purchased this truck at 100K and started the fluid film a number of years ago so it did already have some rust before I started. But I think you can get a sense of how little there is even despite being used in the winter.

I do live on a dirt road as well so you can see it does cake up with the dust a bit, that still provides a protective layer. You can see that in many of the pictures. I didn't wipe it off as I didn't want to then have to reapply more. But basically it is rust free under the fluid film dirt layer.

It also makes it messy to work on but the nuts and bolts actually will turn and are not fused with rust.

Both my 200s are rust free even the normally very rusty KDSS screws.

John

 

[tjb]

I returned to Maine in mid-February with my southern 06 LX470, and applied fluid film immediately upon return. We had quite a bit of snow and salt after that, and I was able to avoid going out in the worst of it, but not all of it.

Things look good under there this summer. All the nuts turn easily. No real rust to speak of. Plan to hit it with fluid film again in the fall and every fall thereafter.

 

[bob1008]

@RND1 here are some pictures of the underside of my 80. I have been a bit delayed with putting the spring coat on my trucks as the kids are busy and my wife had some surgery.
So here is my 1997 FZJ80 that lives in Maine and gets used regularly in the winter. I treat it with fluid film twice a year. These pictures are before I put on the spring coat.
As mentioned previously when I took it in for a state inspection the garage offered me a job doing undercoating.
This newest coat I put on today is woolwax which doesn't smell the same as fluid film and reportedly will be more durable. Thanks for the mud discount @bob1008
I have found that by doing it twice a year I can really be sure I coat everything and makes reapplication pretty quick.

JOFS thank you so much for the pictures. I am certain that you will be extremely pleased with the Woolwax formula. It is much more resistant to wash-off and provides a better level of protection for a longer period of time. It look like to did a great job applying it. We appreciate your support!