Undercarriage rust - What do you guys do about it?

[AWGD8]

I have a 2008 EX35 AWD and it is close to 60K miles now. Since I was bored this morning , I decided to check the undercarriage. I was really suprised that my almost 5 year old car has less rust than my other sold cars that I had owned.
I noticed that Infinity did use some undercarriage semi rubber coating ( whitish grey color ) on most metal part of the underbody. Also bolts that is lighter grey in color seem to not get rust at all, but few bolts get rusted though...

I am just concern on some suspension parts and brackets that have surface rust to eventually eat up the rest of the metal in the long run. Right now there are rust on the lower control arms front and back. It seems like a surface rust, but some suspension brackets seem to slowly being eaten away.

I am definitely keeping the car for another 60K miles and thinking, maybe I should start fixing it before it is too late. And BTW, I live in WISCONSIn and road salt is being use here all winter season.

I did check on ZIEBARt here and there is a specific franchise that has excellent reviews from the locals. I am thinking of doing this service and see how it goes.

http://www.ziebart.com/ziebart---home/p ... eliminator

What do you guys plan on yours? If keeping the car for longer than 5years?
I will call Zeibart tomorrow and see how much they normally charge for this specific service. And BTW, does rust on the control arms covered by our warranty?

[ArcticBlue]

I strongly recommend against Ziebart unless the car is new and has no rust anywhere - then it might be worthwhile. Had a Jeep in Minnesota, had the Ziebart done when I noticed a little surface rust underneath - the Ziebart sealed the rust in alright - so it ate right through the frame members.
In your current situation, I'd scrape off the rust as much as possible, then apply "rust conversion coating" (various brands available, ask a body shop which one they use), then paint with specific chip-guard type spray. Or, if you are really compulsive, sandblast the areas, then proceed with primer and coating.

[AWGD8]

Thanks for the info. I am planning on just using Zeibart to remove or neutralize those existing surface rust. (Rust eliminator) I am not planning on getting their undercarriage rust proofing, were they coat the metals and most of the time block drainage holes that can start rust....

[AWGD8]

Ziebart charges $75 for rust remover and $75 for front and lower arm rubberized sealer. I think $260 for the whole undercarriage. They need an overnight cure for the rust remover.

After checking underneath the car , most are just surface rust on front suspension brackets, and rear lower control arms and few spots on bolts that normally hold the exhaust muffler. So I grabbed my 2.5 ton floor jack and jacked up one side of the car on a 2 (3ton) jack stands ( Hey, I read jack stand breaks too! ) and brushed all rust that tend to flake. I then went online at http://www.EASTWOOD.com and ordered RUST ENCAPSULATOR ( black spray can 15oz and a quart can of the same thing but rubberized). I also bought prep paint cleaner too.

I think it is doable and I am more confident using 2 Jack stands (one side of the car) reaching underneath the car.

[TimGinCentralNJ]

Ziebart charges $75 for rust remover and $75 for front and lower arm rubberized sealer. I think $260 for the whole undercarriage. They need an overnight cure for the rust remover.

After checking underneath the car , most are just surface rust on front suspension brackets, and rear lower control arms and few spots on bolts that normally hold the exhaust muffler. So I grabbed my 2.5 ton floor jack and jacked up one side of the car on a 2 (3ton) jack stands ( Hey, I read jack stand breaks too! ) and brushed all rust that tend to flake. I then went online at http://www.EASTWOOD.com and ordered RUST ENCAPSULATOR ( black spray can 15oz and a quart can of the same thing but rubberized). I also bought prep paint cleaner too.

I think it is doable and I am more confident using 2 Jack stands (one side of the car) reaching underneath the car.

I have noticed a fair amount of rust on some of the cross members and control arms. Nothing serious; just more than I would expect on a late model Japanese car. I would check out a rust inhibitor called POR-15. I have used it on rust Jeep floor boards and frames and on the bottom door seams of my old M5. Truly worthwhile stuff. I think you'll find many of the other products out there are nothing more than "snake oil"....

Just my two cents....
Tim G

[AWGD8]

Thanks for the input Tim. I finally did it in my garage using rust encapsulator both brush on type and spray can. Took me about 1.5 hours. Floor jack, jack stand and Rhinno Ramp made a lot of diferrence working under the car. I felt more secured with Rhinno Ramp with back up jack stand.

[netwreck94]

Thanks for the input Tim. I finally did it in my garage using rust encapsulator both brush on type and spray can. Took me about 1.5 hours. Floor jack, jack stand and Rhinno Ramp made a lot of diferrence working under the car. I felt more secured with Rhinno Ramp with back up jack stand.

Good call, IMO Ziebart is extremely overpriced for the services they offer. A little undercarriage rust removal is certainly an easy DIY job, and you know whether or not you did a good job. Ziebart has actually been sued by some of their franchisees for forcing them to buy extremely overpriced "proprietary" products which it turns out weren't proprietary whatsoever. The CEO at the time refused to pay the judgment until a moving truck showed up at their corporate offices to take anything of value in order to pay it off. Dude actually spent the night there so they couldn't load it up, then went to the bank in the morning to pay up.

[AWGD8]

Here are before and after shots.
Some rust are just surface rust, but I did spray on it anyway. So I might have missed some surface rust, but I do not think it`s a biggie...

Rust Encapsulator Rubberized - Brush on.
Before:


After:



Rust Encapsulator Spray can.
Before:


AFter:


Before:


After:


Basically, All lower control arms and metal bars were painted with Rubberized one due to lower to the ground and more prone to rocks , stones, etc..

Spray can for hard to reach areas and some bolts. I was hesitant to spray on bolts since I heard it is hard to remove by technician if is covered by these stuff, specially rubberized ones...