Skipping a Season of Undercoating: How Bad Could It Be?

[winestonecowboy]

Last year, I was lucky enough to find an almost entirely rust-free '99 100 Series that I flew out to buy. Unfortunately, some drastic unexpected life events totally drained my finances, forcing me to put all plans for the truck on hold. Aside from new brakes (which I’ve handled), it doesn’t need anything urgent, but living in NYC means rust is a big concern.

Undercoating quotes are currently out of my budget, so here’s my question: how bad is it if I skip a season? Can regular washes mitigate the rust, or am I risking serious frame damage? If it’s critical, I may have to borrow money to get it protected.

 

[Sean9421]

Buy a case of fluid film and lay under your truck and spray it yourself. Washing often is fine, but if you're going to the car wash more than once a week you're going to be paying more than undercoating it

 

[Trapper50cal]

Buy a case of fluid film and lay under your truck and spray it yourself. Washing often is fine, but if you're going to the car wash more than once a week you're going to be paying more than undercoating it

Beat me to it....ounce of prevention.

 

[77pantera]

It's only a virgin rust free truck once, even one season makes a difference.
What do they charge out there, most places around here are only ~$150-200.

 

[baltistyle]

Fluid film is on clearance at Home Depots that still stock it. 5.50 a can. 50bucks, 65 if you get a wand tip. In my opinion, if you’re in a salty state, you cannot skip a year if there is no protection underneath.

 

[FxFormat]

take it to the car wash that has the undercarriage rinse a couple times then park it and let it dry. Then just spray it with fluid film, it’s not too expensive

 

[winestonecowboy]

Alright looks like I've got a weekend project. Unfortunately I have no way/place to lift the truck (it's on the street), so it's going to be tight.

As for what places are charging, my quotes here are in the $500-600 range.

 

[Foehammer]

500 bucks is insane! Around here it's 150-200 (CAD as well) so even less lol.

 

[Rhetoric]

It's worth every penny and minute of your time.

I use a combo of RP-342, Surface Shield, and Fluid Film every fall before salt season sets in here.

I wear coveralls and use a 3M 6900 full face respirator with 2097 filters to protect my eyes and lungs.

 

[winestonecowboy]

500 bucks is insane! Around here it's 150-200 (CAD as well) so even less lol.

I just called another guy who was recommended and he said 500 was just the starting point. I'm sure it's all good work, but just out of my price range at the moment.

All in after checking out what kind of clearance I can get under the truck, there's no way I'm going to be able to get under it enough to do a decent job without a lift or multiple jack stands. Not to mention doing this all on the street just sounds like a nightmare. I think I'm SOL here. Might just need to plan on saving up for some additional frame work next year in addition to an undercoating. And pray for a dry winter.

 

[Red Beard]

That's a crazy price. I'm getting mine done with NHOil this Thursday for around $210, but I guess that's West Chester, PA prices.

I agree with spraying fluid film as a low cost option. It will be messy though, and you won't get into hard to reach areas, but its better than nothing. You can use your bottle jack to lift it up. Definitely hit the areas around the wheels. Probably better than nothing!

If you haven't contacted them yet, I do want to recommend Garden State Undercoating in Saddle Brook, NJ. It will be a tiny bit of a drive for you but I bet it'll be a more reasonable price and you'll get a full coverage. That place is well known here and other Toyota forums. But I don't remember what prices are.

 

[winestonecowboy]

That's a crazy price. I'm getting mine done with NHOil this Thursday for around $210, but I guess that's West Chester, PA prices.

I agree with spraying fluid film as a low cost option. It will be messy though, and you won't get into hard to reach areas, but its better than nothing. You can use your bottle jack to lift it up. Definitely hit the areas around the wheels. Probably better than nothing!

If you haven't contacted them yet, I do want to recommend Garden State Undercoating in Saddle Brook, NJ. It will be a tiny bit of a drive for you but I bet it'll be a more reasonable price and you'll get a full coverage. That place is well known here and other Toyota forums. But I don't remember what prices are.

That's the guy who I last called with prices starting at $500. He comes highly recommended from here and friends, so I have no doubt about the quality of work. This guy is just too broke!

 

[Red Beard]

That's the guy who I last called with prices starting at $500. He comes highly recommended from here and friends, so I have no doubt about the quality of work. This guy is just too broke!

Yep, that makes sense. He does a good job, but that is steep for you right now. Are you going to rattle can it?

 

[bcarbs]

I just had mine undercoated by Chris out in New Jersey. Probably an 1hr and 15 from BK. Did a great job and came in under what you've been quoted. @pearl.the.200 on instagram - not sure what his handle is on here. Shot me a message if you have any questions. Tell him Brian w/ the '06 LX sent ya!

 

[winestonecowboy]

Yep, that makes sense. He does a good job, but that is steep for you right now. Are you going to rattle can it?

Unfortunately my oem jack is missing a crucial piece, so is unusable! That being said, I would be hesitant to crawl under it with that being the only support... seems like a bad idea.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Just find a ditch and straddle it.

 

[RockDriver]

I'm in a similar situation myself and I may be able to offer some ideas. Local companies in my area are offering this service anywhere from 200 to 600 euros. I could afford it, but having done my research I don't really trust any of them, so my plan is to do the Fluid Film job myself, come what may.

I'm thinking of getting one of those portable car ramps, plus my LC has a functional AHC, so that should help a little as well. That should give me a comfortable 30 cm extra clearance, give or take. I'm gonna use a pressure power washer and a compressor for spraying Fluid Film. Also will be treating some existing surface rust with metal brush and rust converter before.

I have another potential idea, but this depends on where you live. If you can get access to one of these - your problems should be solved:

 

[Jwoodywild]

I just called another guy who was recommended and he said 500 was just the starting point. I'm sure it's all good work, but just out of my price range at the moment.

All in after checking out what kind of clearance I can get under the truck, there's no way I'm going to be able to get under it enough to do a decent job without a lift or multiple jack stands. Not to mention doing this all on the street just sounds like a nightmare. I think I'm SOL here. Might just need to plan on saving up for some additional frame work next year in addition to an undercoating. And pray for a dry winter.

Find someone in NJ or Westchester and drive an hour. Or find a mechanic outside the city, or in the Bronx that will let you use the lift for an hour. For sure in the Bronx you can hand a guy a Benjamin and get up on a lift. I lived in NYC for a decade. This can be done. Don't skimp. Too easy not to.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

@winestonecowboy

You are over thinking it.

Change your oil.

While you are under there to drain the oil & grease the driveshafts, use the used oil with a rag and brush to coat everything you can see.
Just did mine again the other day. No need for lifts or $500 just some of your time.

 

[Eyedaho]

Yep. It ain't rocket appliances. It doesn't need to be perfect to be better than doing nothing. If you haven't laid on your back under a car in your driveway/street then suck it up, get a flattened cardboard box to lay on, get some rattle cans of fluid film or whatever, and crawl under there and spray some s***. Saying you're going to do restoration work next year because you're afraid to lay on your back for an hour makes zero sense to me.