Maine's rusty trucks (safe, oil, cars)

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by halfabuck

I bought my car new in 1997 (Chevy) and took very good care of it. I always had the undercarriage washed at the car wash. Initially I had the rust inhibitor put on when I bought it too. 13 years later (the car was still good) the rear axle broke in half one day because of what they use on the roads. I know the car was 13 years old but it worked fine except for the rust and corrosion.

A vehicle whose undercarriage was washed and that had rust inhibitor sprayed on it, and when it was 13 years old the axle rusted in two?

[halfabuck]

It did. I never looked much under there but after that happened I saw that the metal parts were all spotted with corrosion and the main axle in the rear, which looked pretty thin to begin with (front wheel drive) snapped somewhere towards the middle allowing the rear wheels to point outward. The vehicle was not driveable after that. The gentleman at the garage blamed it on the newer methods of salting the roads. He said it was happening to a lot of cars. I then had to buy a newer car which I was not planning on at the time.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by halfabuck

It did. I never looked much under there but after that happened I saw that the metal parts were all spotted with corrosion and the main axle in the rear, which looked pretty thin to begin with (front wheel drive) snapped somewhere towards the middle allowing the rear wheels to point outward. The vehicle was not driveable after that. The gentleman at the garage blamed it on the newer methods of salting the roads. He said it was happening to a lot of cars. I then had to buy a newer car which I was not planning on at the time.

Do you remember which brand name of rust inhibitor it was?

[halfabuck]

I remember the decal in the window with a red haired man. Does that help??

[BoxCar Willie]

Originally Posted by halfabuck

It did. I never looked much under there but after that happened I saw that the metal parts were all spotted with corrosion and the main axle in the rear, which looked pretty thin to begin with (front wheel drive) snapped somewhere towards the middle allowing the rear wheels to point outward. The vehicle was not driveable after that. The gentleman at the garage blamed it on the newer methods of salting the roads. He said it was happening to a lot of cars. I then had to buy a newer car which I was not planning on at the time.

Actually axles are very easy to replace. Any real mechanic can get one at a salvage yard and replace em in as little as 4 hour.

[Bigfish57]

We bought my wifes Honda civic 10 years ago and put 190K on it before getting a new jeep this year. No rust any where. Washed about 3-4 times a year wether I needed it or not. The little chit box cam from the factory with runbber undercoating. they even sprayed it over the fuel and break lines along the unibody frame.

I got into a fendor bender with my 3 year old F-150 and broght it in for an estamate. The guy showed me the truck up on the lift and 2 of the cab mount had compleatly rotted off all ready.

Don't get me wrong, I love Ford but seriously don't you think they chould spray it at the factory and charge 400-500 more for the truck if they had to so it would last?

That calcium is bad news!

[beltrams]

Originally Posted by halfabuck

I remember the decal in the window with a red haired man. Does that help??

Rusty Jones.

Rusty Jones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by beltrams

Rusty Jones.

Rusty Jones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is funny, I don't care who you are

I do not recall ever hearing of this product before. In this thread we have heard that by using an annual application of this product a vehicle axle rusted through after 13 years.

Wiki tells us that: They were popular in 1979. A director of marketing was quoted saying the company was "unbelievably profitable". But eventually their insurance carrier (who serviced the rust warranties on Rusty Jones treated vehicles) filed for bankruptcy, so Rusty Jones filed bankruptcy in 1988.

It sounds to me like it was cheap to make, it had a good advertising hook, it sold like hotcakes, and had a huge mark-up. Someone must have made a huge fortune for about 8 years. But it utterly failed to perform it's duties, as insurance claims dragged them down.

Gotta love capitalism

[snofarmer]

Originally Posted by 221B

Is this your first year of using the product, or have you had a few years of experience with it? I'm curious about the effectiveness of Fluid Film.
Thanks for the feedback.

I have tried fluid film a few times with limited results.
It is lanolin based.
It will not last a year and it will wash off.
There are much better products out there to under coat a car with than fluid film and it's over priced.


.

[7th generation]

Originally Posted by snofarmer

There are much better products out there to under coat a car with than fluid film and it's over priced.


.

Bar and chain oil is about as good as it gets. Anything to protect the under carriage is better than nothing I guess.