Undercoating - Blaster Surface Shield - Quick Guide

Yay, my frame is now shiny-looking! haha. My fall was swamped so this was a bit of a rush job and we're into December so it's less than ideal, but we've only had one light snow in Kansas and I never saw a salt truck so I feel clear. In the end, with the busy fall I definitely didn't do this perfectly, but maybe next year I'll remove & redo, we'll see.

• Stinkin' mess: Surface Shield seemed unscented compared to many remarks I've read from other folks about other undercoating options. My clothes washed easily, and also I laid tarp out preparing for a mess, but there really wasn't much mess even with overspraying certain sections and slight dripping.
• Bad aerosol reviews? Heat the cans in a bowl of water and shake often. If a can cools down while using it swap cans. It makes an enormous difference and solves almost all the problems in the negative reviews.
• Indoors/outdoors: Because there wasn't much mess or scent I honestly think you could use SS indoors. Plus then you could easily light up the underside of the truck. If you do it outdoors pick a cool & less windy day.
• Visibility: I did mine close to sunset so it made visibility difficult laying under the truck looking in that direction. Now knowing that it's not a stinkin' mess I'll opt for indoors and I'll use a bunch of shop lights for better visibility.
• Frame interior nozzle: below is the specific 360 spray nozzle and it worked well enough. There was a fair amount of "gooping" that would bleed out from under the nozzle top, but warming the cans back up helped. This was the messiest part but still not bad. However, I made one big dumb mistake was that you need to make sure the SS cans you buy are compatible with it. The nozzle is made for cans with no stem, but some SS cans I think are still sold with a top stem. You'll understand what I mean when you see it. (BS Coatings 75015 36" Cavity Wand with 360 Degree Spray Tip)
• Damaging rubber: B'Laster says SS is safe on rubbers/plastics, the internet seems to agree. It's my first coating so I don't know, but I didn't try to seriously avoid anything. Naturally wasn't trying to waste product so I was aiming just for metal.
• Paint/rust reform: ideally I would've had the time to go through with a fine tooth comb and reform any rusty patches, but that's not reality this year. Maybe next year I'll knock this coating off and redo with more time and make sure to take care of the rust.
• Tricky/missed spots: there are a few parts where there's very tight gaps, I found around the gas tank to be tricky. But between spray-straws and the 360 nozzle it seemed easy enough to get most everywhere. I haven't hit inside the doors or fender wells or anything like that yet, but I'll be exploring that maybe get to it this winter or next year.
• Lift it or no? I did my surface coat with a tire rotation so I lifted the whole truck and removed all wheels. Maximum visibility and freedom for movement. If I had access to a post-lift that would've been a dream. Definitely should drop the spare tire of course. I currently only have an oil pan skid plate which I didn't remove for this rush job, but next year hopefully I'll put on RCI skids and I will be taking off all skids for the next round.
• How many cans? I think I used 5 aerosol cans and I wasn't very careful, overspraying at times and running a long time inside the frame, etc.
• Time: probably took about 3ish hours moving safely & slowly to lift it up, remove the tires, look for every corner I missed, etc.

All in all, with a 10-year-old truck in the Midwest I'm shocked at the cleanliness of the frame, thankful to whoever the previous 7-year owner was, and this now makes me sleep all the better.

Would love to hear any tips from anybody else!

 

Nice write-up, thanks!

 

Definitely looks better, and you're right it didnt look that bad to begin with honestly. How did you get inside the frame rails?

 

The frame interior nozzle part is the answer to this!

 

hopefully it helps!

 

Update advice: keep a can or two laying around and get it warmed up every time you plan to wrench! Seriously. Between oil changes, doing my diy rear diff breather, etc. I continue to find spots that I missed. Originally I had not done anything inside body panels either. Since then, I’ve now removed kick panels inside the door and added some and I added a light bit inside the doors at the lower drain holes too. Not too much but enough hopefully to avoid rust in the corners. Still haven’t done inside the fender wells technically, but I’m sure I’ll get around to that eventually.

 

Bump in case it helps anyone this time of year!

 

I just purchased 3 cans, looks like I might need a few more. Thanks for the write up.

 

You're welcome. I hope it helps. You can get by with 3, but 4-6 is probably ideal, especially to keep that extra can lying around for every time you look under the truck.

 

So, after application, is this stuff a mess to touch? I guess what I'm asking is if I'm doing something underneath am I going to end up a mess afterward?

 

Basically, it will stay "slimy" until it collects enough dust to become "dry but tacky." If you click this YouTube link, it will start when he starts wiping away the coating that has been applied for some time. YOUTUBE LINK. You can clearly see the texture in this video! And look at that beautiful frame + hardware under the tacky

 

You will only end up with it on you if you touch it.

 

The transparent shiny layer will disappear and become a matt black layer due to dirt.
My 4Runner has fluid film on it for a year now. Last weekend i just bled the brakes, in a old clean sweater.
Yes, always wear old and long clothes under your 4Runner.
And never get the idea of just doing something quickly without changing your clothes.

 

Yes, which is why you want to use Cosmoline 342 black. It gets hard like candle wax.

 

Yes, I always forget to change clothes before starting work haha. Whoops.
Also, we should start a separate thread for the undercoat product debate, this was really just intended to be a brief instructional post for those interested.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not in a heavy snow area so it's not something that I HAVE to have (we have years with not a bit of snow). I was thinking about doing it for a little extra protection for wheeling. I think the messiness after application might make my OCD shut my brain down.

 

Well, driving down a dusty road after you spray on a lighter coat will pretty much solve any "messy" problems. I recommend watching the YouTube link that I shared above. However, I'll additionally say that you could also just coat the inside of your frame (I shared how in the original post) for longevity's sake + peace of mind, and you'd never have to see it! Possibly a win-win for your OCD mind.

 

Good call on just coating inside....

 

A few years ago I drove down to New Orleans, I have never seen any of my vehicles with so much “salt” or “road chemicals” covering it in my life, and I’ve lived all around Maine. Think about any freezing rain or any treatment they may put on the roads down that way. Or any planned or unplanned travel you may end up doing in the winter months. Oh, and my sliders started to show signs of rust after that trip. Which would be worse for your OCD, rust spots or a treated frame. I’ve used Fluid Film, Woolwax and surface shield, surface shield in my opinion is the cleanest of the 3, and probably the best.

 

I think cosmoline would have been my second choice if I hadn’t done Woolwax, for that reason.

That said, my woolwax has set up much like an actual wax coating once it got saturated with dust/dirt. The other benefit with woolwax is that it doesn’t have solvents, and isn’t really toxic. Same with fluid film. They both have a bit of a “barnyard” smell, woolwax less so. But neither have the solvents that would require using a respirator. Maybe a simple mask if you are spraying, and you don’t want to inhale suspended lanolin particles.

I’ve also tried out a can of surface shield for touch ups. It’s not a horrible smell, but it’s definitely wafts of petroleum distillates. If I were doing a whole vehicle, I’d rather do it oustide, with a respirator.

 

I hope everyone will get involved on the new thread: https://www.4runners.com/threads/ultimate-undercoating-argument-thread.42242/