PatHenry

So I live in the Northeast and hence every winter a ton of road salt is used to keep the roads from icing. I recently got a 95 XJ and it's surprisingly clean underneath, but that said it's still New England so there's surface rust on most of the metal. I read a recommendation to use Fluid Film, so that's on the to-do list as soon as it's not sub-freezing outside every day.

What I'm looking for is advice/recommendations on keeping the undercarriage as clean and salt free as possible. Is it best to frequently hose it off or take it to the car wash as much as possible or is there a problem with too much watering? My 2000 TJ rusted so badly I had to have multiple frame repairs over the course of it's lifetime -- So I definitely DON'T want to repeat the mistakes I made with that Jeep.

I'm hoping I can get some tips that have proven successful for others. Thanks guys!

IJM

I'm in DC where we don't get quite as much snow/salt (I did grow up very near Groton, MA), but I recommend regularly hosing off the underside of the Jeep, being extra careful to get up inside the wheel wells and other hard-to-reach-areas on the underside. Since Cherokees have decent ground clearance, it's fairly easy to get underneath with the hose. What I've found works best is one of those garden wands with the sprinkler heads. With that you can reach underneath the Jeep and shoot a shower of water up to rinse off all the salt. Again, pay careful attention to the rocker panels, bottom of the doors, wheel wells, frame rails, rear suspension, etc. It's not a bad idea to drive it afterwards to dry it off a bit.

I'll also second the recommendation to use fluid film. Make sure you get one of those extension wands with the little nozzle on the end. Those are great for getting up inside of the frame rails and other encloses spaces that love to trap water and salt.

Tbone289

I rinse the undercarriage well after every time my vehicles are exposed to road spray brine, and apply Fluid Film twice per year. I try to wait until the temps are above freezing to do the rinse each time so it dries before freezing, but I have more opportunity to do that at my latitude.

DonP

3 hours away but might be worth the trip;https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carra...57007631027583

diskman

Here is what I started doing on my 99 rust-free XJ. This works extremely well. Went to the manual car-wash this weekend to wash and the water just beads up and rolls off the underside. Very awesome.

Wash it extremely well with a pressure washer. Inside the frame rails also. Let dry for a few days.

Go to Lowes and purchase 10 cans of Fluid Film spray. Lowes here is about 8 bux a can. (Google or YouTube Fluid Film).

Lay under Jeep and spray every square inch with a spray of Fluid Film. I used the plastic straw and shot it in and under everywhere.

Bonus if you order the $20 "wand" attachment for the cans so you can really get deep into the "frame" rails. The tube/wand is well worth it. Spray and pull the tube out. Coats the inside of the frame VERY well.

I removed the plastic sill trim and drilled a 1/4 hole to shove the long wand tube in the rocker space and hose it down with Fluid Film. Same with the rear door rockers.

Remove door panels and spray inside doors and along bottoms.

Remove rear tail-lights and spray all over the inside quarter panel metal.

This will stop any existing rust and prevent any other rust for forming. Enjoy the wierd smell of industrial lanolin for a few days. urgh.

Repeat every year.

You can order the "kit" of Amazon. Has a gallon and the nifty sprayer if you have an air-compressor. I will go that route next year for sure. I already purchased a gallon from Oreillys for $55. I went with the spray cans as I was running out of time before the first snow/salt here. Putting the spray can in a bucket of hotish water for a bit REALLY makes the stuff creep around and get into all the seams too.

RocketMouse

I had a thread on here fairly recently about this same topic.. and Fluid Film was by far the winner... will be coating mine too when time permits. Good stuff and well worth the money, especially when the product works that well.

LadyKenai

nice topic, good tips

thanks

diskman

This video sold me on it.

RocketMouse

In the thread I had on it, someone popped that one in on it too... yeah.. that pretty much sold me on the stuff.
And hell.... at that price, once a year to keep the body on our Jeeps from turning to dust.... can't beat it.

PatHenry

Awesome advice - Thanks everyone!

jordan96xj

Thanks diskman, I made that video. It got a lot more attention than I would have guessed. I was just frustrated that so many youtube videos that were supposed to be "reviews" just showed somebody putting fluid film on, and making comments about applying it, with absolutely no real-world follow-up.

There were a couple other good ones, but the one that really got my attention was this one:


You guys putting it off... I wouldn't. Conditions don't have to be perfect to get the stuff on. And as far as particular products go... anything that keeps the oxygen and moisture away from the metal is way better than nothing.

Tbone289

Ugh... Ain't that the truth? So much crap out there... like "unboxing" videos....

Thanks for doing something constructive!

robertj

All that is fine and good, but most XJs will rust from the inside out. Meaning windshield/window and other leaks soak floorboards and hatch areas and no amount of cleaning, prepping from the outside is going to help. Make sure your XJ is watertight is the number one thing you should do to prevent rust.

Tbone289

They rust both ways. I don't think anyone is implying that the application of Fluid Film negates other maintenance requirements. The thread is specifically about reducing the effects of road salt on the undercarriage.

PatHenry

Jordan, the only concern that I would have is with trapping the salt which would cause it to rust out worse/faster than having done nothing. I have seen this play out first hand when a buddy POR'd some metal without it being completely clean and in a matter of a couple years the metal was completely rotted.

I think that what I'm going to do is hose the crap out of the undercarriage and let it dry, then use a few spray cans to treat it as best I can. Then when the weather is warmer (and the air is dry) and I have a free weekend, I'll follow diskman's advice and pressure wash the entire undercarriage and get the fancy spray kit and then I can do a fall and spring treatment for as long as the Jeep holds up.

Robert - Absolutely the windshield is going to be done ASAP (On my Dad's 94 XJ the spot on the passenger side above the windshield rusting out was the final nail in the coffin.) Fortunately the doors and trunk hatch area on my Jeep are in really good shape and there's no known leaks.