Bed Liner on the bottom side --PICS--

[Yedi]

I'm an auto body guy and see first hand all the rust/corrosion problems with vehicles.

I work at a GM dealership and know the horror stories of their truck frames rusting.

One thing I liked was that RAM uses a painted frame, GM had a bare metal frame dipped in a wax coating, that's it...

I masked off everything I could, scuffed what I could, cleaned, and spryed transtar "Mul-Tie" adhesion promotor, followed by 2 good coats of U-Pol Raptor liner.

I was dissapointed that there is no chip protection on the rocker panels. I fixed all that. Enjoy the pics, as you can tell I'm pretty picky and keep my vehicles for a long time. I also sprayed some inner panel corrosion protection inside the rockers and boxsides. Will be the doors next.

 

[moosem]

I had a 2015 GMC SIERRA SLE before I got my 2019 Big Horn. The frame was a total rusted mess in less than a year. My neighbor has a 2015 DENALI...same thing. Actually, his was even worse than mine. His was totally covered in rust with 3000 miles on it! I will NEVER own a GM product again as long as I live.

 

[Yedi]

I had a 2015 GMC SIERRA SLE before I got my 2019 Big Horn. The frame was a total rusted mess in less than a year. My neighbor has a 2015 DENALI...same thing. Actually, his was even worse than mine. His was totally covered in rust with 3000 miles on it! I will NEVER own a GM product again as long as I live.

It's horrible. There is a bulletin about it from GM, but not much we can do to fix it. Once the rust starts it's junk. And that wax coating is useless to try to coat over, as nothing will stick to it. Every GM frame I've seen is rusting, it starts on the corners, and around rivets/boots and just creeps as that wax coating as zero adhesion to the metal. It's a joke.

 

[Jordan2929]

I hope you taped off the bolt heads or I'd hate to be the guy who has to work on it lol. But seriously, that looks awesome!

 

[Zinger]

I'm an auto body guy and see first hand all the rust/corrosion problems with vehicles.

I work at a GM dealership and know the horror stories of their truck frames rusting.

One thing I liked was that RAM uses a painted frame, GM had a bare metal frame dipped in a wax coating, that's it...

I masked off everything I could, scuffed what I could, cleaned, and spryed transtar "Mul-Tie" adhesion promotor, followed by 2 good coats of U-Pol Raptor liner.

I was dissapointed that there is no chip protection on the rocker panels. I fixed all that. Enjoy the pics, as you can tell I'm pretty picky and keep my vehicles for a long time. I also sprayed some inner panel corrosion protection inside the rockers and boxsides. Will be the doors next.

The area with the spot welds is something I definitely want to do something about. My Dakota developed rust in between the welds after a few years. It's really a bad spot and I don't know why they have not tried to address it after all these years.

I might do what you did and coat it with a POR-15 or something similar. Something I can easily brush on. The area next to that with the exposed holes I'll probably just spray fluid-film in there every year to keep the rust out of it.

Any suggestions on a coating for those of us who are not spray guys that work for an auto body shop?

 

[Jordan2929]

The area with the spot welds is something I definitely want to do something about. My Dakota developed rust in between the welds after a few years. It's really a bad spot and I don't know why they have not tried to address it after all these years.

I might do what you did and coat it with a POR-15 or something similar. Something I can easily brush on. The area next to that with the exposed holes I'll probably just spray fluid-film in there every year to keep the rust out of it.

Any suggestions on a coating for those of us who are not spray guys that work for an auto body shop?

I'd steer clear of anything "rubberized" they look good at first but eventually dry out causing cracks in the coating where moisture enters then it starts rusting behind the coating and you dont even realize it. An oil coating is good but it has to be reapplied every year. Personly I'm sticking with the wash-it-weekly method.

 

[syddog 2000]

Great job, I really have a hard time understanding some of the decisions made at GM. There new pickups are outdated before they leave the factory, now this?? At one time I was a devote GM guy. That is in the rear view and appears to be gone for good!

 

[Yedi]

I'd steer clear of anything "rubberized" they look good at first but eventually dry out causing cracks in the coating where moisture enters then it starts rusting behind the coating and you dont even realize it. An oil coating is good but it has to be reapplied every year. Personly I'm sticking with the wash-it-weekly method.

Somewhat agree.

On my wife's 2012 Ford escape, when we bought it new the first thing I did was spray 2 gallons of Transtar rubberized undercoating on the entire bottom side. 6 years later and almost 100,000 miles it's all still on there, no cracking. It does not dry hard, but you can touch it and it doesn't smear.

Oil is the best thing to protect against rust. They make aerosol coatings that are specifically made for inner panels that are self healing. Like the wurth stuff I used, it's more of a wax. There is a product called "Seal out" which is a thick yellow snot, this is the best possible thing and only needs to be applied once. I've used this on my 99' Tahoe, and it does not dry out over time. And stops rust before it starts, and slows it way down if it's already there.

Biggest issue is lack of chip gaurd on the bottom of these trucks rockers. You can wash all you want, if there are stone chips, and moisture and salt present, it's too late. And once the microscopic rust pits start, it's game over.