The best 4WD RUST protection

[slobo]

Hi Guys,

I am planning a trip to Frasier Island around December/January. So I would like to do a rust protection for it.

I found some electronic devices which prevent corrosion. Has anyone had any experience with those?

Cheers,

Slobo

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

no i havent.

but have you tried old school fish oil, or lanolin based stuff?

[alien]

grab a can of rust guard and spray it anywhere the paint is missing the day before you leave... then the day after you get back high-pressure clean the whole underbody etc to get all the sand/salt out.

Then give the rest of the body a good scrub down =)

[simkell]

i use wd40 long life, so far in 5 years of beach and muddy driving no rust found

[GRPABT1]

Get some lumps of zinc and a bunch of wires and attatch them around your car and join them with wires.

[slobo]

Thanks guys,

Do you have any brand names of actual products.

I plan to apply some degreser underneath then hire high presure water cleaner and give it a good wash underneath. Then apply the the rust protection product that you mentioned with the spray gun.

How about sand/salt that you get into your car on your shoes any ideas on how to prevent it or clean it aferwards?

[just cruizin']

beside both front seats I have a dust pan brush, and the deep dish rubber floor mats for anything you miss with the brush

[alien]

you can cut the dirt dragged in by more than half if you tap your feet on the outside of the car before puting them in... i always do this to avoid getting slippery pedals from all the gunk stuck in my shoe losing all the tread...

[bazzle]

Ive driven on many many beaches, been to Fraser 6 times and Never had a rust issue. Just give all a good wash and a spray of touch up paint on sand blasted areas after trip. You can also drive thru those car washes afterwards that wash underneath and leave soluble oil residue. a few near there.
I think peeps get a bit anal re issues from going to these places. It actually no worse than driving on any road or highway near a beach.

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

my 80 has deep mats on the floor in the front. handy for this.
i empty them after a beach run.

this is the 1st time ive tried to use my little shitty compressor to apply fish oil. i think the oil was too thick for it as it didnt work.
so old school pump bottle it was. worked ok, little more wastage.

[bruiser]

How old is the vehicle.
If it is relatively new has no chips or paint missing then I believe that no treatment is the best and just a good wash after you finish.

An untreated vehicle is much easier to keep clean.

My 80 series hits the beach every few weeks in sumer and fraser about 5 times a year.

I never had it rust proofed until recently and wish i hadn't. That shit just makes sand and mud stick to your car and imposible to clean properly.

If your vehicle is old and and the paint not in the best condition, or you are too lazy to spend a couple of hours cleaning her down after every beach run than go and wack some goo on it.

[MnG2guys]

My Vehicle (93 4runner) was "enrusted" at new by the original owner and i must say its very good theres no rust in doors or panels where you would expect to be seeing signs by now. I also fisholined the under side just for my own piece of mind. Mind you the seagulls tend to hang around looking for a feed as you smell just slightly fishy for a week or two but it wears off

[lump_a_charcoal]

Lanotec is pretty good, and reminds me of sheep... Kiwi KY!

[slobo]

My vehicle is 1998 100 Series GXL still looks like new underneath and everywhere else. I think it is still worth protecting it.

Actually I found a product that seems to be less messy then fisholine its called Penetrol Aluminium. Do you think it would be appropriate?

http://www.firequip.com.au/files/Techni ... minium.pdf

Cheers,

Slobo

[slobo]

I went to the Lanotec web site. It seems to be quiet good.

My question is: Does it dry completely after few days or is it sticky therefore making the sand stick to it when you drive on the beach?

And how do you remove it if you want to?

[Jeeps]

I have the electronic gizmo, which i think works well, but i still wouldn't rely on it. I've got spray on stuff too

[gumtree]

I went to the Lanotec web site. It seems to be quiet good.

My question is: Does it dry completely after few days or is it sticky therefore making the sand stick to it when you drive on the beach?

And how do you remove it if you want to?

i would like to know this as well. i asked this same question last year and ppl here told me to use lanolin and its shit coz its sticky and all the sand stuck to my car and even with a high pressure cleaner still couldnt get it off in some nooks and crannies. so now theres small bits of salty sand in places and every time it rains its would add to the salt to make rust.

my advice is test whatever anyone tells u in a small area and if its sticky a couple weeks later DONT use it.

erp from the trading post are only $150, would be ok as extra but never tried.

[Jeeps]

With lanolin, you gotta drive down a real dirty dusty road to get dust sticking to it first... apparently

[gumtree]

either way its shit. better off to use what some guy here suggested and combo of 40% engine oil 60% deisel. spray it around underneath and inside door panels and at least it wont be sticky and if u want it to look clean afterwoods some degreaser will do the trick easy.

[adriand82]

Chemical rustproofing only protects the areas that you cover, so not 100% effective. Electronic rust units are not exactly proven to work either. They basically produce an overabundance of electrons to the vehicle, which are lost to the atmosphere when bare metal is exposed, resulting in corrosion. The old diff oil works, if you keep it maintained and cover every square inch, but is very messy. Just wash you car thoroughly after a beach trip, as a light wash will only moisten the salt and allow the corrosive process to start all over again.

[GUpatrol02]

Ive used lanolin before and found that it wsnt sticky and nothing stuck to it, however it wore off very quickly from the sand blasting it off when driving up beach. I use penetrol now and cant fault it, it creeps everywhere very well and dries very hard, nothing will stick to it. I also have a couplertec system and i believe it works on my vehicles.

[def90]

i've never had 'visible' rust on any of my vehicles that have done a fair bit of beach driving.

i coat the underside before i go with WD40 or RP7 then on return wash it thouroughly - after spraying it with a few cans of $2 degreaser, then coat it again with Wd40 or the like, then wash it a few more times over the next few months and do the same. it always takes more driving for more bits of crap loosen.

at every wash during the year i degrease the entire underbody, wash it then spray WD, keeps everything looking micky mouse.

but that may be overkill for some.

[Mark2]

Dont just rely on automatic underbody washes - spend plenty of time with a hose washing out all the nooks and crannies including inside of chassis rails in a systematic way. Driving through a creek after the beach is a great way to really flush the underside.

I wouldnt use anthing like lanolin, fishoil or sump oil on the underbody for a one-off trip as sand will stick and you'll always have evidence of beach use which will frighten any future buyer of the vehicle. Theres also a risk of perishing suspension rubbers etc. I'd certainly use oily type products in internal cavities (not inside chassis rails) but again would question the need for a one off trip - only needed if on the beach nearly every weekend like me.

As has been mentioned, spray paint or penetrol is the go for the underbody. Penetrol is especially good over existing surface rust, followed by spray paint.

[slobo]

Thanks guys,

Very informative.

[Yom]

Lanotec = sticky for me.

Not a problem though as I went and did some dusty driving and its all dry. Dirt coloured, but dry.

I only covered areas where it would actually cause a problem, like body seams, mounts etc. Everywhere else I reckon a wash down is the best preventative. But I'm not constantly on the beach. As a matter of fact I'm yet to take mine on the beach! Probably change later this month tho.

[gumtree]

mmm, ive been thinking about this 'give it a wash after is the best thing'. that will only work if u have a new car with no paint chips or exposed metal for the salt to touch. last time i went swimming at moerton island with my car keys still in my pocket and a few hours after i was out of the water and reliased they were there, they already had quite visible rust. thats after a few hours. so the same will happen to our cars, they will have rust by the time we get home to wash them, especially if we are camping for a few days.

to me wd40 or rp7 seem like an exellent temperary preventative while on the beach as its not sticky and then the good wash at home.

[Yom]

mmm, ive been thinking about this 'give it a wash after is the best thing'. that will only work if u have a new car with no paint chips or exposed metal for the salt to touch. last time i went swimming at moerton island with my car keys still in my pocket and a few hours after i was out of the water and reliased they were there, they already had quite visible rust. thats after a few hours. so the same will happen to our cars, they will have rust by the time we get home to wash them, especially if we are camping for a few days.

to me wd40 or rp7 seem like an exellent temperary preventative while on the beach as its not sticky and then the good wash at home.

Well yes and no. Type and quality of the metal plays a big part.

Nissan use shithouse metal, but you don't see them rusting instantly when you hit the beach.

My arguement is drawn void by pre 1990's toyotas. So please don't bring them up as I'll have no leg to stand on.

[macca81]

my 93 hilux got run into a few days before i went on a beach trip, as a result of the accident my bash plate was bent up pretty bad. before getting onto the sand there was no rust (i took photos that morning of the damage for insurance), by the end of the day it was very very brown where the damage was. no washing afterwards was getting that off. where i had put lanolin on other exposed metal tho, had no probs at all. you need to do more than just give it a good wash down, corrosion sets in very quickly

[bushy555]

Move out west where your vehicle will never ever see any moisture ever again after visiting Fraser. It works...

[spongerx]

I've got one of the heavy duty Couplertec units on my Hilux. Really not sure if it's just a marketing gimic or if it actually works since in the instructions it said that surfaces need to be painted in order for it to prevent rust effectively as it needs the paint in order to conduct the small current it puts out. Last time I checked painted surfaces don't rust much if at all anyways since the paint blocks oxygen from reaching the metal thus preventing oxidation and rust.

So far the only corrosion I've seen on my lux has been a slight bit of stuff on the suspension components that were chipped by stones. I've only had the couplertec on for about 2.5 yrs. I put an unpainted idler arm on one afternoon and then went down to a beach house for the week and in a matter of hours the idler arm went from dull silver to brown but everything else was ok on the body even though it was coated in a film of salt for the week that was thick enuf to see salt christals forming when it dried off. My bash plate is always getting bent/scratched and rusts whenever bare metal is exposed as our air is quite salty here.

I try to avoid beach driving as the sand here is extremely fine and gets into everything.

If you're just going to be on the beach once I'd just touch up any exposed metal under the body with some black anti-rust spray paint and then coat it all with WD40 or somthing and then just do a good rinse off when you get back.