RocketMouse

Hola mi amigos/amigas....

Looking for personal/professional opinions and/or personal experience with the following....
I have a very clean, rust free 99 XJ. I want to protect it to keep it that way. What methods/products seem to work best and stand up over time for a good undercoating on these puppies?

Thanks!

OldTires

I give everything a good wash with the garden hose. Especially inside the frame, both axle housings, wheel wells, brake hoses and fuel lines. I do this after winter to get rid of salt, and again in the fall, right before I apply a rust inhibiting coating, like Fluid Film, on everything on the underside.

Member Jordan was kind enough to do a thread about it.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/fl...s-salt-233637/

RocketMouse

That's some slick stuff man.... thanks. I did a search before posting but didn't come across that thread for some reason.
I'll have to see if I can get my mitts on some of that. Even if it works, I'm not a fan of vehicles that people have done the "oiling" treatment to underneath... but that seems like a nice thin coat/layer that stays intact fairly well. If it held up through two seasons, that's a decent test in my book.

Muchas gracias

OldTires

You want to make sure to wash and treat the areas that will kill the Jeep, like the front wheel wells by the shocks. The entire frame rails, front to back. Also the rear shock mounts, body side; that entire piece get forgotten because it is tucked away, but it is important. Anything structural, like the points that hold up the front and rear axle housings, pay close attention to.

Tbone289

Fluid film is wonderful stuff. I only discovered it a couple of years ago, and wish it had been much sooner. It will turn all the rusty axle/suspension iron nice and black after a short time, and it doesn't leave an oily mess at all.

Ralph77

What Tbone said. Been using it for 4 seasons now. My front knuckles and whatnot were a little rust red. Nothing crazy. Figured I would POR 15 all that. But was going to wait till the following spring. It was October. So did the Fluid Film. Well the following spring I power washed all the fluid Film off. Now everything that I was considering POR 15'ing was a mud brown instead of the rust red. It was like the Fluid Film conditioned the metal. Never did POR 15 them even though at some point when I get bored I might.

Tbone289

I thought about painting/PORing everything too, but after using Fluid Film I don't see the point. I'm going to be under there 1-2 times a year to apply it anyway, so it's no bother to put a light coat on the suspension. Everything is so dark brown (nearly black) it all looks like it's painted anyway, and you never have to deal with paint trapping moisture and bubbling.

When you apply FF, just knock off any rust scale with a wire brush first.

RocketMouse

Sounds like going that route is pretty much a no-brainer. I'd call those tests (multiple seasons) subjected to the elements in different areas of the country a pretty good indicator of a solid product that holds up to its claims.
Not much time left before winter this season, but will if I can. If not, then I'll start this coming Spring with it.

Thanks for the input.... much appreciated.

mschi772

If you wanted to go nuts, blasting it and painting it with POR-15 or Chassis Saver THEN coating with Fluid Film would be the way to go. Otherwise just Fluid Film is still good.

RocketMouse

yeah.. well I think I'm just going to stick to the fluid film.... all the other repairs I've had to do on this thing in a short period has me less than thrilled about putting more into it right now.

Turbo X_J

Lock it up in a hermetically sealed vault and wipe it down occasionally with a fine cloth diaper.
If driven on public roads more than likely as soon as you get real attached to it, it'll get T-boned by a WhatsAppster when you're driving through an intersection and "Poof" it'll be gone.

CurrySoSpicy

Too true. LOL.

RocketMouse

And his a** will be history too if I'm still mobile. Accidents are one thing...but when it's due to lack of paying attention to the one thing someone should be when behind the wheel of a 4000 lb. device that can go a hundred miles an hour.

I just moved back to the US after living overseas for years... and it's a fright seeing how bad people's mobiles are glued to their hands and eyes while driving. Where I lived it was the better side of a $500 dollar fine if you even got caught with it in your hand in the car....and they enforced it.

As for the Jeep... well, don't take me too literally. lol. I like to take care of my vehicles so that they last me longer. Being a 4x4, I do expect to get the normal battle scars they get with use and enjoyment. I just want to keep it in condition to be able to keep doing that with for years to come if possible. lol

jbdpayne

I also only just discovered fluid film from the guy I bought my 8.8 from. I'll be using it this winter and probably finally going to get around to doing por15 under mind come spring next year...good stuff but definitely not cheap

andrewmp6

I have always used good rubberized undercoating.In the winter every time i can i wash the under side of my truck.Summer months i do it once a month maybe longer depending how dirty it looks.Thats the best you can do for a daily driver,Other options cost a lot more and not really worth it for a daily driver that could end up wrecked one day.