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I'm looking for advice on the pro's and con's of undercoating.  I'm going to power scrape the rust off the underside of my 2012 Connect.  Then I am considering undercoating it.  I don't have enough bubble gum to complete the job so I was wondering what the Connect Guru's have to say.  :headscratch:

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The Pros  -  If you drive a vehicle known for rust out problems, undercoating can greatly extend the life of your vehicle, especially if you live in an area where they use chemicals or salt to deal with snow and ice in the winter time.  I guess it can also give you a bit quieter ride.  Can't think of any other advantages

The Cons  -  It's expensive.  It's messy if you need to do work under the car on any part that gets sprayed or oversprayed.  It adds weight to your vehicle.  

Is it worth doing to your TC?  Has anyone ever heard or read about a TC anywhere with serious rust problems?  Not many modern vehicles are prone to rusting out these days  -  This wasn't the case 20 or 30 years ago when undercoating was a popular aftermarket option.  Many cheap (and even some not so cheap) cars had holes rusted through them before the payment booklet was empty, but that's not the case very often anymore  -  Car manufacturers got lousy reputations for building rust buckets and they were pretty much forced to build longer lasting vehicles . . . . cars cost more, engines are better, oils are better and it's not uncommon now for people to keep a car for 200 to 300 thousand miles and you can't do that if the body doesn't hold up

If you like undercoating, maybe because you live where they do salt the roads, or maybe you like the quieter ride, or maybe it just gives you an added sense of security, I wouldn't try to talk you out of it  -  Take your brand new vehicle and get it undercoated the day you drive it off the dealers lot. It's not THAT expensive and there are some benefits.  But unless you're planning to keep your 2012 for another 15 years, I wouldn't even think about trying to scrape and brush existing rust off a 5 year old car and then paying to have it undercoated.  The horse is probably out of the barn at that point.  You'll never get it clean enough to get good adhesion and I don't think you'll be extending the life of the vehicle enough to make it worth all the time, trouble and expense  -  You could spend 20 hours under there with scrapers and wire brushes and still never get it really clean

Either way, post an update here in 2032 and let us know how it works out . . . . I might be all wet in my thinking, who knows?  :drop:

Don

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Right. I had my 2006 TC for 10 years and most of the undercarriage was relatively rust free (I live in the rust belt). The only problematic places were sills which developed penetrating rust 8 years in, you can protect those yourself with off the shelf products. If I were to buy another one I would drill holes and soak the cavities in body protection wax once a year and be done with it.

Edited by mrtn
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There is rust on the underside of my Connect.  A little of it is heavy and needs to be scraped off.  In addition to undercoating there is rustproofing.  Spraying a chemical on the rust that is supposed to chemically interact with the existing rust in such a way that it stops additional rusting.  I don't know about the legitimacy of these claims.  I do feel that I need to do something to stem or slow down further rusting.  I have not priced the various methods yet, wanting first to determine other people's experience.  It may be that both rustproofing and undercoating are used in combination.  It's not clear in my head yet just what to do.  There is a rust removal and undercoating shop in Southern Illinois near Scott Air Force Base, that claims to use military grade undercoating.  I have not investigated that yet either.  I'm just looking for a way to extend the life of the 2012 Connect.  With the raised ceiling it fits our needs perfectly, and since Ford is not making them anymore I want to make this one last.  Anyway I thought the Forum would be a good place to explore this issue further. 

Chong, I am going to look into Ziebart.  Thanks.

Beta Don, yah I hear you.  I do live in an area with frequent snows, although the last couple of years there was virtually none.  And since I am planning to keep the vehicle longer term it might be worth my while.  I am wondering about the extra weight added by undercoating and wondering how much weight is added.  I'll have to look into that too.  Like most things today it's a personal compromise that determines the outcome.  My son is either heading to Colorado or Oregon next so I have a window of time before he returns to figure things out. 

mrtn, good thought regarding protecting the body cavities, I'll look into that too.  Thanks. 

My more immediate concern is how to stop the woodpecker that returns each year to peck a hole in my siding without killing it.  :rant2:  Rubber siding might work :yahoo: I may try an inflatable owl, or some kind of whirly gig.  I might have to have them all over my house.  I have cedar siding and my neighbors all have either vinyl or steel siding.  So my home is woodpecker heaven. 

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Thanks Beta Don, Ospho looks like it will work.  I want to have things ready when my son gets home.  He can use my Xterra while I'm taking care of the Connect.  Then I'll look for the next project.  Hmmmmm.  :stirpot:

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/11/2017 at 8:31 AM, G B L said:

There is a Canadian product  (Corrosion Free ) which is a very waxy oil spray that provides a very good flexible coating .  It seems to soak into the surface rust very well.

 

Fluid Film is like that. The only real issue is that its temporary. Good to last a winter, but you need to keep re-applying it if you want to keep the rust away.

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