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Rust Protection
- Thread starter natsmart
- Start date
Hi natsmart,
I picked up a GXL 200 a couple of weeks ago, this is my first post, I thought I should speak up given my troubles with rust protectors and some local 4x4 shops and brands…
I do a lot of beach driving, and had a couple of different systems on different vehicles; while I'm not 100% convinced that electronic stuff works as good as they advertise, there’s been failed court cases in the US I hear, but I still use it. During the last 4x4 show in Brissy I couldn’t help but notice the rust proofers weren’t a very popular stands. But if I take all the precautions and I get only little surface rust I'm happy. That said I’m the guy that crawls under his car with led and hose in search of sand on the weekends.
I’d suggest you stay away from the 4x4 shops on this one and go to a place that does purely rust proofing. Some shops will say all the units are the same, and lead you to believe the unit is all you need. I’m on the northside or brisbane and have used Downey Street Rustproofing (http://rustproof.com.au/) on two of my cars, a Ford Ranger and a 200 Series. They’ve given me a couple of tips on cleaning and rust that have been spot on, they also pointed out a failed unit for me and found the pads where installed to the wrong parts of the vehicle. There’s also a place on the southside but I’ve not been there. Downey street also do underbody washes using a hoist, costs about $100 but I’ve never seen a better beach clean. The place doesn’t look flash but the they do good cleans and good installs; and I’ve not had any problems like apprentice mistakes and the price is better than you’ll get anywhere else too.
I've used both ERPS and Couplertec the more well known of the ones available, I also had an unknown brand years back and didn’t have a single problem. For me however I switched to Couplertec after having an ERPS system fail on my Ranger, the problem I see with the ERPS is that you have a single wire pass thru all of the pads, if the wire breaks between the pads and the unit then the entire system is disabled.
In my case I had two problems with ERPS, the ERPS did not have pads installed to the chassis rails, and the fuse built into the wiring harness of the unit failed within 2 years of usage, the fuse was one of those silicon jobs that just wore from vibration. After having my ERPS fail and a pretty average response from the 4x4 shop I found Downey Street and had them install another unit, a Couplertec Extreme system. The key to these type of systems is having all the surfaces of the vehicle linked up to the unit, body work and chassis; so make sure they do 2 pads on the chassis, two in the engine bay and two in the rear. The guys at Downey Street will do this by default tho.
The Couplertec has a mini blade fuse, the unit only comes with one fuse, so you’ll need a spare. You can get spares from Jaycar Aspley on Gympie road, you’ll be hard pressed to find a 2amp mini blade fuse in an autobarn or supercheap, car audio shops are a good bet too. The Couplertec also have a wire for each pad, so there’s no single point of failure between the unit and the car. I’ve also noticed the Couplertecs have bigger pads then the ERPS too.
If you talk to the guys at Downey Street they’ll show you a wall of shame of the units they’ve removed from other vehicles and replaced with Couplertecs, my ERPS is probably up there now. They’ll even show you the unit itself you want installed.
I really think electronic stuff is only half the story, if you really want to stop all rust, then give it a good clean and/or look at getting some rust spray on coating under there. The guys at Downey Street generally do a deal of around $1550 for an extreme couplertec unit (6 pads), and spray on underneath and engine bay protection. The spray on stuff stinks for a couple of weeks and is sticky but is really the only way to get good overall protection, the smell goes and then you really just look for anything that’s not black to wash.
When you get home crawl under the car with a hose and spray everything, put the hose in every hole you find and move it about, flood the chassis rails until it runs clear, shove the hose into the rails to move anything from inside the rails, any dirt or sand stuck against the car will cause rust, sand contains salt, and salt and sand is the perfect place for rust to grow. I’ve seen side steps rust on a car with electronic rust protection; this was caused by a couple of handfuls of sand.
I think of electronic protection as an aid to a good wash. I suggest give the car two good washes underneath, wash it once with soapy water then clean then hit it the next day, take a headlamp and you’ll see the parts you’ve missed, apply something like lanox (bunnings, supercheap etc) after the wash. I use to be a believer in wd40 but lanox is a little bit sticker and holds better, it also makes the car look great underneath too, nice and black and clean. At the moment I apply it after the car is clean and dry underneath, it gives it a barrier for when you hit the beach next, then repeat when you get back.
A mate of mine is a big believer in rust converter, then priming, then painting; helps keep it looking good, the alternative is to get someone like downey street to do that sorta thing for you. My method has been downey street plus good baths and drowning the chassis in lube.
Hope this all helps
Matt
I picked up a GXL 200 a couple of weeks ago, this is my first post, I thought I should speak up given my troubles with rust protectors and some local 4x4 shops and brands…
I do a lot of beach driving, and had a couple of different systems on different vehicles; while I'm not 100% convinced that electronic stuff works as good as they advertise, there’s been failed court cases in the US I hear, but I still use it. During the last 4x4 show in Brissy I couldn’t help but notice the rust proofers weren’t a very popular stands. But if I take all the precautions and I get only little surface rust I'm happy. That said I’m the guy that crawls under his car with led and hose in search of sand on the weekends.
I’d suggest you stay away from the 4x4 shops on this one and go to a place that does purely rust proofing. Some shops will say all the units are the same, and lead you to believe the unit is all you need. I’m on the northside or brisbane and have used Downey Street Rustproofing (http://rustproof.com.au/) on two of my cars, a Ford Ranger and a 200 Series. They’ve given me a couple of tips on cleaning and rust that have been spot on, they also pointed out a failed unit for me and found the pads where installed to the wrong parts of the vehicle. There’s also a place on the southside but I’ve not been there. Downey street also do underbody washes using a hoist, costs about $100 but I’ve never seen a better beach clean. The place doesn’t look flash but the they do good cleans and good installs; and I’ve not had any problems like apprentice mistakes and the price is better than you’ll get anywhere else too.
I've used both ERPS and Couplertec the more well known of the ones available, I also had an unknown brand years back and didn’t have a single problem. For me however I switched to Couplertec after having an ERPS system fail on my Ranger, the problem I see with the ERPS is that you have a single wire pass thru all of the pads, if the wire breaks between the pads and the unit then the entire system is disabled.
In my case I had two problems with ERPS, the ERPS did not have pads installed to the chassis rails, and the fuse built into the wiring harness of the unit failed within 2 years of usage, the fuse was one of those silicon jobs that just wore from vibration. After having my ERPS fail and a pretty average response from the 4x4 shop I found Downey Street and had them install another unit, a Couplertec Extreme system. The key to these type of systems is having all the surfaces of the vehicle linked up to the unit, body work and chassis; so make sure they do 2 pads on the chassis, two in the engine bay and two in the rear. The guys at Downey Street will do this by default tho.
The Couplertec has a mini blade fuse, the unit only comes with one fuse, so you’ll need a spare. You can get spares from Jaycar Aspley on Gympie road, you’ll be hard pressed to find a 2amp mini blade fuse in an autobarn or supercheap, car audio shops are a good bet too. The Couplertec also have a wire for each pad, so there’s no single point of failure between the unit and the car. I’ve also noticed the Couplertecs have bigger pads then the ERPS too.
If you talk to the guys at Downey Street they’ll show you a wall of shame of the units they’ve removed from other vehicles and replaced with Couplertecs, my ERPS is probably up there now. They’ll even show you the unit itself you want installed.
I really think electronic stuff is only half the story, if you really want to stop all rust, then give it a good clean and/or look at getting some rust spray on coating under there. The guys at Downey Street generally do a deal of around $1550 for an extreme couplertec unit (6 pads), and spray on underneath and engine bay protection. The spray on stuff stinks for a couple of weeks and is sticky but is really the only way to get good overall protection, the smell goes and then you really just look for anything that’s not black to wash.
When you get home crawl under the car with a hose and spray everything, put the hose in every hole you find and move it about, flood the chassis rails until it runs clear, shove the hose into the rails to move anything from inside the rails, any dirt or sand stuck against the car will cause rust, sand contains salt, and salt and sand is the perfect place for rust to grow. I’ve seen side steps rust on a car with electronic rust protection; this was caused by a couple of handfuls of sand.
I think of electronic protection as an aid to a good wash. I suggest give the car two good washes underneath, wash it once with soapy water then clean then hit it the next day, take a headlamp and you’ll see the parts you’ve missed, apply something like lanox (bunnings, supercheap etc) after the wash. I use to be a believer in wd40 but lanox is a little bit sticker and holds better, it also makes the car look great underneath too, nice and black and clean. At the moment I apply it after the car is clean and dry underneath, it gives it a barrier for when you hit the beach next, then repeat when you get back.
A mate of mine is a big believer in rust converter, then priming, then painting; helps keep it looking good, the alternative is to get someone like downey street to do that sorta thing for you. My method has been downey street plus good baths and drowning the chassis in lube.
Hope this all helps
Matt
Electronic Rust Proofing works after I detailed my car in nearest detailing shop here in brisbane. In my experienced going to the detailing shop is better idea to keep away from car damages. They can be reached through their website https://ceramicprotection.com.au/electro....rust-proofing
