Ziebart/ZTech Undercoating Advice

[MWaltz]

I bought my 95 a little over a year ago and it had spent its whole life in southern California before moving to Dallas for a couple years, where I bought it and drove it home to Southern Indiana. I specifically travelled far to get a rust free truck, and it is a truly 100% rust free SoCal truck. I love it dearly and plan to keep it forever (unless someone wants to give me a clean 40th for a total steal of course ). In southern Indiana we don't have bad winters but there are a few months where the roads are salty. It isn't like the northeast but it's still the rust belt. Being terrified of rust, I wanted to do something preventative and thought "professional" was the best way to go. The only place I knew of was Ztech (the same as Ziebart) and I had them do their undercoating without doing any research. Since, I have incidentally run across some pretty nasty reviews of those undercoatings which explain how they ultimately fail and when they do, trap moisture and salts making things even worse than if the coating had never been applied. I really regret doing it now, but I gather there isn't a lot to be done as it seems removal isn't very doable. I've pretty well freaked myself out about the longevity of my frame which was spotless, and I'm looking for some advice for how to best make sure I can still keep this truck solid for a long time. I've avoided the salt anyway and now I really intend to not get it out unless the roads are salt free. Any other advice or input from anyone who has maintained this style of "rust preventative" coating would be really appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Bludozer]

all coatings will eventually fail. best investment you can make if you plan to keep your truck rust free for a long time is a cheap winter beater. park your 80 and drive that during the winter instead.

 

[goranvolvo]

mix some gear oil with transmission oil and spray it underneath with cheap paint gun cheapest and best option
you use transmission oil to dilute gear oil so you can spray it

 

[gummycarbs]

The only permanent coating I would apply to the undercarriage with is epoxy, like this:

Abrasive Blast and Paint Undercarriage? 7 year update

I live in the Northeast and work at a place that does abrasive blasting and painting so ive been talking to the guys about having my rear axle cleaned and painted. I plan on simply rolling my truck in, jacking it up, and having them do what they call "sweep blasting" which is going to knock off...

forum.ih8mud.com

Less intensive options are Fluid Film and Woolwax. Mustie1 on YouTube is in New England and has a few videos about rust prevention using homemade concoctions:

 

[MWaltz]

Thanks a lot for the input guys. A little encouragement goes a long way. My plan right now is definitely to simply avoid the salt by keeping it parked when things are salty like @Bludozer said. My fear is that when this coat starts to crack and moisture gets in that it’ll still cause and accelerate corrosion of some sort since the metal can’t breathe. I’ve also considered doing something oil based on top of it myself like @goranvolvo and @gummycarbs said, but I don’t know if it’ll somehow cause a problem with this rubberized costing under it or if it’ll just protect the rubberized coating and in turn protect my frame and undercarriage.

 

[Rwhat]

I would not do Ziebart. Too many horror stories. I have seen it first hand fail and trap moisture. This is in a state with no road salt.

 

[MWaltz]

I would not do Ziebart. Too many horror stories. I have seen it first hand fail and trap moisture. This is in a state with no road salt.

I saw that video and a couple others which prompted my regret and fear and my post. Unfortunately it’s already been done so I’m looking for advice for how to best prevent the outcome in the video. It makes it seem like even if I avoid salt I’m sunk.

 

[gummycarbs]

Better buy a barrel of mineral spirits and get to work.

Removing "Ziebart" type undercoatings, checking for update methods - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

History / Originality - Removing "Ziebart" type undercoatings, checking for update methods - Gents, the brain surgeons at Ziebart back in the 80s coated the strut towers on my 88 IROC. I'm replacing the engine in the car and now is the time to properly clean the engine bay so it doesn't look...

www.thirdgen.org

 

[Rwhat]

Was reading the article linked above. Hopefully they didn’t drill all the jams and spray that stuff in the panels. All out work trucks have the Ziebart plugs in the jams.

 

[gummycarbs]

I should point out that I know absolutely nothing about Ziebart. I never even heard the name until today. Maybe they came up with the perfect formula and it really works. Maybe the horror stories are from lesser competitors. Maybe it seals and lasts forever if it's applied before any rust forms.

Probably not, but maybe.

 

[Howard705]

I saw that video and a couple others which prompted my regret and fear and my post. Unfortunately it’s already been done so I’m looking for advice for how to best prevent the outcome in the video. It makes it seem like even if I avoid salt I’m sunk.

Have a 40 I bought around '96 as a driver. Had plenty of rust but had a nice-ish resto done years earlier and drive nice. Had this stuff (not sure what company did it) The undercoating got harder and as it peeled off was the worst rust imaginable formed under it steel completely gone in most spots. Just like this video. Frame and all. crumbling. came from Wisconsin.

 

[MrMacdugal]

At this rate it probably wouldnt hurt anything to do some sort of oil based undercoat in all the rest of the untouched areas and maybe over the top of the Ziebart.
Pull any body/frame plugs and apply oil based inside. By my logic, at least one side of a panel still has a chance. You still have the chance to stop rust from the inside out. IE, rockers, door panels, frame rails

 

[zapatius]

You could also use a lanolin-based product like Woolwax. I use it on two Indiana vehicles and it holds up well.

 

[coues7]

Here is another option.

Toyota-4Runner.org

The Largest 4Runner Community in the World

www.toyota-4runner.org

 

[SaturnAscends]

Probably the safest option is to park it when the roads have a lot of salt, than pressure wash thoughly underneath of you do have to drive it in a salt bath.

Otherwise I’d do what Gummycarbs said.

Im not sure if you’d have to pressure wash the salt off if you’d already sprayed wool wax though?

 

[MWaltz]

Have a 40 I bought around '96 as a driver. Had plenty of rust but had a nice-ish resto done years earlier and drive nice. Had this stuff (not sure what company did it) The undercoating got harder and as it peeled off was the worst rust imaginable formed under it steel completely gone in most spots. Just like this video. Frame and all. crumbling. came from Wisconsin.

Did the costing go on over that existing rust?

 

[MWaltz]

Was reading the article linked above. Hopefully they didn’t drill all the jams and spray that stuff in the panels. All out work trucks have the Ziebart plugs in the jams.

I didn’t do this thank goodness. I heard them talk about drilling holes and wasn’t ok with it. I should have kept that thought process for the undercoat too.

 

[MWaltz]

After everyone’s input I’m thinking I can

A. try to remove the coat (and probably apply something oil-based) - I’d want to do this in a perfect world but I suspect it’ll be easier said than done and I’m afraid of doing more harm than good

B. Do something oil-based on top of the coat

C. Just keep it off the salt altogether and make sure it’s clean, which is doable for me, and hope that it doesn’t rot from moisture alone.

Really, I plan to keep it off the salt anyway, but I guess now I have to weigh my options on how to treat this junk on my undercarriage for maximum longevity.

 

[SaturnAscends]

Luckily our frames are overbuilt with high-quality steel: not nearly as rust-prone as other older trucks like the Tacoma.

 

[nigelsiam]

It's really not that hard to do and you really can preserve your vehicle...I should know I drive my rust-free 80 all year in Minnesota and they use a ton of salt and our winters last forever. I ALWAYS completely undercoat it with FluidFilm and I have a $30/month all-you-can wash car wash deal with the Holiday gas stations here so I take full advantage of that. Considering where you live I wouldn't worry about it at all if you follow my advice.