New in Maine / Mass - tips on ppl / undercarriage prep?

[207 Grenadier]

Hi everyone,

I ordered my wagon / Fieldmaster’ish spec last holiday season and it’s arrived in Framingham and getting prepped. Very exciting and pleasantly surprised that it arrived a little earlier than expected. I’m talking to the loosely affiliated partner shop on paint protection film and am looking into a wool wax shop somewhere between Boston and mid-coast Maine. Anyone in this corner of the work have any lessons learned?

Im intending on having the truck for the long term…. Thx!

 

[landmannnn]

The chassis/frame appears to be well protected already using a process called KTL coating.

What is a KTL-coating?
Cathodic dip-paint lacquering is an electro-chemical process. It is also called cathodic dip-lacquering. Here the object is coated in a bath of aqueous, electrically conductive dipping lacquer, using DC voltage. The negatively charged work piece attracts the anodic lacquer-particles and those adhere as an even layer on the surfaces of the work piece. Afterwards in the baking-process the added lacquer is baked at a temperature of approximately 120°C-180°C. The coating-thickness of the lacquer applied onto the work piece in our process adds up to between 10 µm and 15 µm. The coating layer merges with the surface of the object into a homogeneous, compact surface film.

 

[bigleonski]

Actually that leads me to the question of how to wash it after a week on the beach.

Heading to Fraser Island at the beginning of September for the annual fishing trip. In other words the car will be driving and living on the beach for a week.

Normally I would put it through an underbody wash (high pressure water) and spend an afternoon flushing out the chassis rails etc afterwards.

With the chassis having the wax treatment etc at the factory do we need to be particularly careful how the underside and chassis is cleaned?

 

[207 Grenadier]

Thank you both! Will share my rationale now and will come back in a few weeks to share more after a bit or research. The coating and thoughtfulness in the coating process that Landmannnn describes was for me a leading indicator of the inherent robustness and long-term thinking that Ineos put into the manufacturing process, and it’s some peace of mind on the frame and chassis itself. But, there’s ‘everything else’ down there that are also exposed.

In addition to salt being applied to the roads where we live in winter during snow storms, we live near the coast with lots of salt air. And we are also putting boat trailers in / out of the water (though we try to use the oldest / most worn vehicles for that task). For comparison purposes, my wife has an ‘07 Wrangler that she’s emotionally attached to, and I have a 2016 mid size diesel GMC pick-up. Both are well care for but see some work. There is appreciable rust developing under the GMC - not just the frame but springs, control arms, etc. And the state of the older Jeep is mildly terrifying.

So to use the ‘belts and braces’ analogy I’m going to do some sort of additional undercarriage spray. In effect they’re consumable coatings that will need to be re-applied every 1.5 - 2 years but for the extra layer of protection around salt water I’m happy to do it. Though bigleonski asks a good question of how aggressively to clean with the trade off of removing sand / salt vs removing the protective layer.

I’m in data-gathering mode and will ask around for tips / tricks, will come back in a bit with what I hear. Thx again!

 

[landmannnn]

There's basically 3 types.

Wax based using white spirit as the carrier (mineral spirit in the US). It smells, drips and tends to last a couple of years. Brands such as waxoyl or Eastwood

Grease based using petroleum spirit as the carrier. These are a lot more durable and seep into gaps better. Brands such as Dinitrol. You would get a sticky mess if over sprayed, so needs careful masking.

Lanolin. I've not used this, but by all accounts it washes off fairly quickly.

 

[AngusMacG]

Welcome! Make sure you post some pics of the ride!