Your gladiator after a year or two in the rust belt

[Rocksalt]

3 years in Illinois with trips to Northen MN... minimal corrosion

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[Rusty PW]

I got my '22 JTRD Ziebart undercoated. I do all of my vehicles that get run in the winter time done with it. I spray CRC Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor into the places that are not undercoated. Living in Pa. it's a must if you want to get long life out of your vehicle.

Here's a good video to watch.

 

[Rocksalt]

best anti rust solution : move to Arizona

 

[Hootbro]

Had two winters under my 2020 Gladiator with either a Fluid Film or Woolwax application and still looked pretty good underneath. Very similar to what @Mac posted for pictures.

Been Fluid Filming my vehicles for the last 10+ years and they have held up well year after year.

 

[JET_83]

As the title suggests. I am curious about those who live in areas where salt/sodium hydrochloride or some other sort of solution is used on roads.

How has your frame, body, components faired after a year or more of use?
Did you use any sort of treatment or is it stock?

I ack because parts of the frame paint on my truck is flaking off already - probably bad adhesion from the start. Its less than 2 weeks old (to me) and had 0 miles on the lot when I took it for it's first test drive. Whatever sort of semi-gloss paint they use these days doesn't seem to hold up - which is odd as the government Dodge trucks we use have a different type of non-gloss paint that seems to hold up very well.

I live west of the divide - so not technically in the 'rust belt'. However, they still spray the roads with their terrible horribly no good very bad crap on the roads - I absolutely hate this crap they use.

I did spray the entire outside of the frame, under body, and components with a good layer of Amsoil HD metal Protector. Have not been able to get to anything inside of the frame yet.... Hoping to before much more dirt accumulates.


So I'm just asking if folks could maybe share some pics of their frame/under body after a year or more of driving in salty conditions to help me determine if it will be worth my extra financial cost to get a little beater pickup to be my primary grocery getter/errands runner in the winter. Not really wanting a third vehicle. But if these trucks rust as bad as they did in the 90's it might be necessary to protect this investment.

Thanks

I’m confused on you saying had 0 miles on the lot when you took a test drive. All vehicles come from the factory with at least some miles on them, mine had 9 and those were all from the factory transport.

 

[DobaMark]

best anti rust solution : move to Arizona

I agree. I bought mine in the rustbelt (Ohio. when I lived in Pennsylvania) then moved south to Georgia before the first winter.

 

[chorky]

Had two winters under my 2020 Gladiator with either a Fluid Film or Woolwax application and still looked pretty good underneath. Very similar to what @Mac posted for pictures.

Been Fluid Filming my vehicles for the last 10+ years and they have held up well year after year.

Got any tips for application? I"ve never used it before and never seen it before a couple months ago...

I’m confused on you saying had 0 miles on the lot when you took a test drive. All vehicles come from the factory with at least some miles on them, mine had 9 and those were all from the factory transport.

I think it actually had 15. But as good as 0. Watever was from the factory and PDI.

best anti rust solution : move to Arizona

Maybe when I'm older, all my family is dead, and I'm tired of the cold. But for now the Rockies and northern states have too many amazing public lands to explore.

 

[Hootbro]

I’m confused on you saying had 0 miles on the lot when you took a test drive. All vehicles come from the factory with at least some miles on them, mine had 9 and those were all from the factory transport.

Been a couple threads on it, but I think the lowest mileage seen on a delivered Gladiator has been 3 miles. You are right though, is at least some single digit miles just from normal driving off the assembly line and transport movement at a minimum.

 

[Hootbro]

Got any tips for application? I"ve never used it before and never seen it before a couple months ago...

Using the gallon size fluid film or Woolwax, I am currently using the professional applicator kit. You will need at a minimum a 25-30 gallon air compressor. Anything less, you are wasting your time. There is plenty of youtube videos on applying it this way. Just factor in that you will be covered in a fine mist of this stuff when doing an application. Account for 1/2 to 3/4 of gallon of product for decent coverage. You also only want to spray it when ambient temps are above 70 degrees which for me is usually very early fall. If needed, product can be thinned a bit with vegetable oil.

https://www.amazon.com/Fluid-Film-FFSG-Spray-Applicator/dp/B07YF5BCDH

Before I bought the professional applicator kit, I used my Wagner electric paint sprayer for a few years and it worked relatively decent. Lacked the wand extensions to get inside frame rails and other tight areas. Many have used the cheap Harbor Freight Sprayer with same decent results.

https://www.harborfreight.com/5-gph-electric-paint-spray-gun-63452.html

You can Fluid Film straight from the spray rattle cans but a lot less product in the rattle cans and plan on 4-6 cans if using that method.

Fluid Film and Woolwax are two different products but are both Lanolin base undercoatings. The main different between the two is that Woolwax is a bit thicker product that stays on longer and may be a better product if frequent rinsing during the winter months is in store. For the relative mild winters I get in Delaware, Fluid Film holds up for the whole winter on one application.

Lastly, I have bought a new lanolin base product that has come out on the market from the makers of PB Blaster called "Surface Shield". It is suppose to have better retention properties than Woolwax and they advertise a every other year application rather than a annual one for Fluid Film and Woolwax. I am going to be trying it out this year on my annual undercoating application in the fall.

https://www.amazon.com/Blaster-128-SS-Surface-Shield-1-Gal/dp/B09HGL5R58

 

[Mac]

I also purchased a couple cans of Surface Shield to try, seems similar to FF. One thing worth mentioning is anything coated with FF will be very messy to work on, it is an oily waxy film that holds dust and dirt, whenever I am working under my JT I wear and old fleece jacket and rubber gloves.

 

[Hootbro]

I also purchased a couple cans of Surface Shield to try, seems similar to FF. One thing worth mentioning is anything coated with FF will be very messy to work on, it is an oily waxy film that holds dust and dirt, whenever I am working under my JT I wear and old fleece jacket and rubber gloves.

Yeah, I bought a few rattle cans of the Surface Shield also for touch up and noticed it applies thicker and stays more glossy in appearance than Fluid Film over time.

 

[chorky]

Using the gallon size fluid film or Woolwax, I am currently using the professional applicator kit. You will need at a minimum a 25-30 gallon air compressor. Anything less, you are wasting your time. There is plenty of youtube videos on applying it this way. Just factor in that you will be covered in a fine mist of this stuff when doing an application. Account for 1/2 to 3/4 of gallon of product for decent coverage. You also only want to spray it when ambient temps are above 70 degrees which for me is usually very early fall. If needed, product can be thinned a bit with vegetable oil.

https://www.amazon.com/Fluid-Film-FFSG-Spray-Applicator/dp/B07YF5BCDH

Before I bought the professional applicator kit, I used my Wagner electric paint sprayer for a few years and it worked relatively decent. Lacked the wand extensions to get inside frame rails and other tight areas. Many have used the cheap Harbor Freight Sprayer with same decent results.

https://www.harborfreight.com/5-gph-electric-paint-spray-gun-63452.html

You can Fluid Film straight from the spray rattle cans but a lot less product in the rattle cans and plan on 4-6 cans if using that method.

Fluid Film and Woolwax are two different products but are both Lanolin base undercoatings. The main different between the two is that Woolwax is a bit thicker product that stays on longer and may be a better product if frequent rinsing during the winter months is in store. For the relative mild winters I get in Delaware, Fluid Film holds up for the whole winter on one application.

Lastly, I have bought a new lanolin base product that has come out on the market from the makers of PB Blaster called "Surface Shield". It is suppose to have better retention properties than Woolwax and they advertise a every other year application rather than a annual one for Fluid Film and Woolwax. I am going to be trying it out this year on my annual undercoating application in the fall.

https://www.amazon.com/Blaster-128-SS-Surface-Shield-1-Gal/dp/B09HGL5R58

unfortunately rattle cans will be my only option. But its good to know the temperature requirements. Kinda a bummer cause our temps drop below 70 for 4 months before we get salt spray on the roads.

Will be curious to see how that new stuff works for you.
with how FF holds dirt and crud, would it still be good to spray inside of the frame? Seems to me that would cause more problems. Maybe just using the amsoil HD metal protect is sufficient?

have either of you sprayed FF over top of the HD metal protectant? Curious how that works out.

 

[Hootbro]

unfortunately rattle cans will be my only option. But its good to know the temperature requirements. Kinda a bummer cause our temps drop below 70 for 4 months before we get salt spray on the roads.

Will be curious to see how that new stuff works for you.
with how FF holds dirt and crud, would it still be good to spray inside of the frame? Seems to me that would cause more problems. Maybe just using the amsoil HD metal protect is sufficient?

have either of you sprayed FF over top of the HD metal protectant? Curious how that works out.

You can spray below 70 degrees, just it flows and creeps better when at temp or higher. Could store inside before bringing outside and probably have a small window of it being at temp.

Fluid Film is pretty forgiving and they recommend just rinsing off any surface dirt and grime if possible but a clean spotless surface is not needed to get protection. Unless you got dried clumps of clay dirt just stuck in your frame rails, I would not worry about it and apply anyways.

As to the Amsoil HD stuff, I cannot really comment exactly but I would think it would be minimal to little impact apply Fluid Film over it. Fluid Films displaces moisture and when the lanolin base somewhat "dries" there is still a pliable waxy type film coating still protecting.

 

[chorky]

I dont really have a inside place to put the jeep. Tryin to get a garage built but man wood is stupid expensive.

i think the amsoil stuff also has a component of lanolin because it dries clear and waxy. and also displaces water. Washing it off my hands took a while.

 

[Hootbro]

I dont really have a inside place to put the jeep. Tryin to get a garage built but man wood is stupid expensive.

I meant keep the cans inside until ready to use.

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