Undercarriage preventative maintenance
 

I'm going to get my truck up on a lift and pressure wash the undercarriage sometime soon on a warm summer day (so things dry out real nice like). I'm going to pull off the steel wheels and give them a good cleaning and waxing, and do a complete lube of the drive shafts, and ball joints.

I'm wondering if there is anything while I'm there you think I should do? The main one I've been wondering about is applying some sort of oil or grease or what have you to the frame - what would you recommend for rust prevention in that regard, also how would you apply it (spray it and then spread it with a towel or?).

This is going to be my first time doing this, and I'm going to trya nd make a habit of doing it again this coming fall before winter, and then every late summer/early fall to prepare for the winter, etc.

I have no idea being from Texas and all but I'm about to move to Colorado so I'm subscribing.

por 15 the whole thing then topcoat with a high grade name brand polyurethane paint. Put it on with a brush, it holds up extremely well. I use Benjamin Moores metal enamel industrial polyurethane.

4runnermt - I don't think I"m going to go to that extent. The only way I would POR-15 the entire thing (and I "subscribe/am a fan of POR-15 and have used it) is if had the body lifted off of the truck so I could do the entire frame properly and professionally but that would be a 2 or 3 day process in the shop alone which I don't have the luxury or funds to currently do. I'm just looking at some sort of oil or lube or similar I could use to coat the frame/axle/other metal components with (for example didn't some guys say WD40 might work?) that would displace water/salt for a period of time and could be reapplyed regularly, say once a year before Winter.

What I'm also curious about is what type of lube do you guys use (I'd appreciate a synthetic recommendation - amsoil perhaps? Mobil 1?) for your driveshaft/ball joints, etc. ? Is there something I should look specifically as far as the grade or type of lube I am allowed to use?

Thanks.

I just use regular old all-purpose lithium grease on the driveshaft/ujoints/etc. seems to work fine.

I also just use an all purpose grease.
As far as keeping the underside clean, I have heard that you can just hose the whole thing down with PAM or WD-40. But personally, during the winter, I used to just go to the DIY carwash and hit the whole underside with the warm water powerwasher and really hose it down every two weeks or so, this worked really well, my frame stayed in great condition. Unfortunately, the next year I was wheeling it and it was getting a little more beat and I didn't take such good care of it, I noticed a major difference at the end of the winter. :(

Professional Undercoating/Rustproofing is your friend.

Lamm

After 8yrs, my Toyoguard coat is starting to peel. Time for me to strip it and apply something myself... I think I'm too lazy to paint the undercarrige, though. :)

I'm going to try this. http://www.eurekafluidfilm.com/appli...utomotive.html

For grease, I use Amsoil lithium grease w/ Molybdenum (MoS2)

I had a mechanic tell me to mix used motor oil with diesel fuel and spray that on the underside as a preventative measure.

Wouldn't that be a huge mess?:think:

Not to mention flammable...

I give my underbody a good long presure washing and then hit any rust with a wire brush. Then I go crazy with about 3 cans of gloss black paint. I paint the frame, the axle, the IFS, the wheel wells, everything. It looks so sweet when it's done for only about $10 worth of paint and about an hour of your time. I gota do that to my truck soon as summer gets going also.

I have a friend with a BMW who does this with his used moor oil and a litle kerosene. He sprays it with a cheap garden sprayer. It seems to work well. It does not drip because the spray is so fine and motor oil is pretty much not flamable in most circumstances. It has worked well to ward of rust in the Ohio winters.

Lamm