The dealer I'm buy my truck from keeps wanting to put this stuff on my truck for free I keep telling them I dont want it.
Is this stuff really worth the 100lbs or tar I will haul around forever on the bottom of my truck?
Will it make everything a big mess under my truck?
Do they drill holes in the body panels? Will this stuff plug up my water drain holes in the frame and body causing rust anyways.

Chris

 

ChrisB

I have a 2000 Lariat and I had the undercoat done to mine, it comes with a warranty. It helps protect your under carriage and cuts down on the road noise. It takes them about two hours and donot drill any holes.

 

Chris B.,
I undercoated my truck myself. There are black plugs on the doors and other panels that come out so, the person can spray the undercoating inside. If you have the dealer undercoat your truck, make sure they remove the spare tire before they spray. Bugman.

 

I bought a Mercedes SL convertible brand new back in the 80's. (Very expensive.) Yep, one of the things on it was undercoating and I said "sure!" I like a freebie.

Well, it was a mess. Every time I drove the d*amn car, it dripped brownish/black spots of undercoating on my finished garage floor. There was an odor from it around the muffler, too. There was absolutely no benefit to it and it made the underside look like hell.

When I sold the car, I tried to hype the fact that it had undercoating, but the guy buying had been down that road. Almost cost me the sale. There might have been a small benefit regarding road noise, but don't think it was enough that anyone could tell.

Don't get it! Make the dealer do something else for you for the same price that he claims the undercoat is worth, or make him deduct the cost from your bill. You do NOT want it.

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2000 F150 Harley-Davidson: Superchip, K&N FIPK
Hard Tonneau, Hidden Hitch, 2-Meter Rig (KG0UK)
'99 FLHRCI, '95 XLH

 

It does help cut down on the road noise. I carefully did my own for around $55.00 (10 cans). I used the plastic type..I don't care for the tar variety.

It is more than worth it to me.

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2000 F-150 XLT, 4x2, 5.4L Supercab, Superchip, Styleside, Black with silver two-tone, 3.55 rear, class III towing package with super engine cooling/auxiliary transmission cooling HD package, Heavy duty shocks, 4 wheel disk ABS, overhead console, sliding rear window, keyless entry, dark graphite interior, in dash CD, factory leather wrapped steering wheel, FORD bedliner, FORD black tubular cab steps, K&N air filter, mar-hyde rubberized undercoating, Modine climate filtration system, Bugflector II, Mobil 1 oil, build 7/2000

 

I was so disappointed how the undercoating messed up that beautiful Mercedes convertible. Looking under the vehicle looked terrible and then there was the issue of dripping tar. (Dustoff has a better solution, but I'm still against it.)

The underside behind the wheels, inside the fenders and looking up under the engine and from the rear on the truck look absolutely super and I'd never put undercoat on it.

Take a a look at one portion. Ford did a pretty good job of finishing off the fenderwells, and the underside:


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2000 F150 Harley-Davidson: Superchip, K&N FIPK
Hard Tonneau, Hidden Hitch, 2-Meter Rig (KG0UK)
'99 FLHRCI, '95 XLH

[This message has been edited by HarleyGuy (edited 02-16-2001).]

 

Undercoat is good if it's done correctly. My dad has taken every new vehicle he has bought since the 1970's to Ziebart for undercoating. I've taken all of my vehicles there also. You can choose just undercoat or a full rustproofing where they do inside all the panels as well as undercoat. It's sticky for the first day then it dries. Personally I can't stand a non undercoated vehicle because the underside turns a rusty orange if it's driven in roadsalt.

If I get a new truck, it's going straight to Ziebart just like my last one.

Steve


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Hopefully future F-150 XLT Sport owner.

 

If you're not going to keep the vehicle forever, I wouldn't advise undercoating. Even then, it's more difficult to clean out the fender wells and such. My wife had a Mercury Sable that was undercoated one time and they sprayed the rubber/plastic fender wells under the front of the car like idiots. Looked like crap when it got dirty.

 

I'm from Minnesota where we used to have awful rust problems.

The general talk here is that the undercoating/rustproofing is a waste--it does nothing to rustproof a vehicle and makes it a PITA to work on them.

Save your money. Buy mudflaps and a bugshield and call your truck weatherproofed.

 

Depends where you live!!!

If I lived in an area that never experienced winter and gravel roads then I would probably not undercoat....but I live in the great white North (Canadian eh)where winters are really hard on vehicles and your an idiot if you don't undercoat in these conditions.

It's a big bang for the buck!

 

One thing that bugs me when someone else does the undercoating is sometimes they really don't do a good job. My previous truck before the F-150 was a GMC Sonoma and I had it undercoated. It was brand new when I bought it and like practically all brand new trucks, their frames just have the basic undercoats and has a few rust spots on them from exposed parts. I took note on where those rust spots are and after a few months, the undercoating started peeling off the same rust spots. Not only that, some parts of the undercarraige were entirely missed. Of course, I would have not noticed if that baseball didn't roll under my truck. I recently bought the Ford truck used and it doesn't have the aftermarket undercoat offered by the dealer. I plan to do what Bugman did and do the undercoating myself but I'll wait till the summer when its dry. One thing that I do want to know is if its really necessary since some websites says modern cars and trucks don't need them due to the way the underbody is galvanized. I'm not sure about Ford but GMC even says that it will waive the warranty if the "aftermarket" products causes rust.

 

I had my first pickup (a little Toyota) undercoated by the dealer. 18 months later the tailgate rotted out. Instead of fixing/replacing it they just gave me a refund of the purchase price of the undercoating. Seems that I missed some small print which gave the seller the option of refunding the money or making repairs.
The entire truck was a rust bucket within 3 years. I no longer bother with undercoatings,
I just dump the truck at the slightest hint of rust.

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2001 Lariat Screw. Gen.3,
5.4, 4x4, All white w/ gray interior. 4r70w tranny, no problems yet,
wrong radiator, 3.55 gears

 

Just bot a 2001 F-150. Dealer tried to sell me the rust protectant, paint sealer, and undercoat. What do you think about the rust protectant? I plan to own this truck for 10-15 years,, but I don't want rust!!! What would you do?