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SkyKing

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The purpose of this thread is to provide information about my experience with professionally rust proofing my 2021 Bronco Wildtrak. This is an update to some earlier threads I started here:

Worried about rust on your Bronco? You should be. Here's why.

Startling video about why you should be worried about RUST!

Background: I live in New England where they heavily salt the roads. My previous car (2006 4Runner recently had to be towed away for parts at 140K miles because the frame had rotted beyond repair – otherwise it was in great condition. This experience jaded me so I was particularly eager to avoid a recurring situation. Disclaimer – my 4Runner was one of the ones (like Tacomas which were recalled for frame rust) that Toyota outsourced the frame to a 3rd party that failed to properly treat for rust. I am now part of current litigation pursuit for 4Runners. That said, I’m now hyper-sensitive about rust and I keep my cars for a long time. This is my daily driver.

My Wildtrak Bronco is a Dirt Mountain POW, delivered on Dec 23, 2021. The day I got it, the roads were heavily salted. In less than 2 weeks, with only 250 miles on it, there was already a strange amount of rust build up on some parts. For comparison, a friend of mine, also in MA, has been driving his bronco since August (not from Dirt Mountain) and the parts on mine that are rusted are still pristine on his (did something happen at Dirt Mountain????).

So, I brought my Bronco to Alpha Cars in Boxborough, MA to have it treated for future rust avoidance. This is a high end shop of perfectionists that restore/sell exotic cars, and provide services such as detailing, body work, performance mods, exhausts, stereo, engine/suspension upgrades, ceramic coatings, PPF, detailing, etc. This shop provided some insightful pics and video of before and after.

Who should keep reading:
  • Anyone who wants to see what the Bronco looks like underneath
  • Anyone who lives in areas where they salt the roads, who wants to learn more about rust protection approaches with before/after video
  • Anyone who wants to understand what Ford has/hasn’t done to protect Bronco’s from rust
  • Anyone in New England who is considering professional rust protection
About this vendor, pricing, and products used:
  • This is a high-end vendor. They are meticulous and the shop is like a museum. There are surely less expensive vendors that offer rust protection services. Personally, I was worried about finding someone I trust, because I am a skeptic on pretty much everything and the value/effectiveness of rust proofing has been debated for decades. This vendor left me confident that they did as very comprehensive job. They did a combination of cleaning/prepping the undercarriage, sanding rusted parts, treating them with rust converter, adding multiple coats of “hard wax” to the undercarriage, and spraying “Waxoil” into the frame and body cavities. They removed wheel wells and other parts. The treatment is intended to last for the lifetime of the car. There are other products that other vendors and DIY consumers use including Fluid film, NH oil, tar-like undercoating, and other products, which all have pros/cons and price implications. If your car is already heavily rusted, the cost would be more because it would require more preparation. For my vendor, with my "new" car, it was around $1200 to clean, prep and apply 4 coats of hard wax to the undercarriage. I had them go further to get inside the frame, rocker panels and other areas with Waxoil, for a few hundred more. If you choose to do business with Alpha Cars, and mention my name (Jeff Abbott), they will give you $100 off your service. No I don’t work for them. (978) 237-5906. Ask for Jacob. They are good guys.
Before you tell me that I wasted my money:
  • I understand that my Bronco is new and barely had any rust on it. However, I was alarmed at how quickly rust had already formed on some hardware and other parts in less than 2 weeks and it makes me cringe. I plan to keep my car for a long time and again, my 4Runner was just hauled away for parts from frame rust. Not going to let that happen again.
  • I understand that there is a realistic chance that I could have ignored this issue and I may never have a mechanical problem from rust ever.
  • I understand that there are DIY products that cost less and will help protect from rust, each with pros and cons.
  • I understand that rust proofing, ceramic coating, and other things are associated with snake oil salesmen, and some people feel that rust proofing doesn’t do anything at all, isn’t needed, or even makes things worse. I chose this vendor because I believe that they have integrity and expertise and the best products and processes, and will stand behind their work. Can I prove that it was worth it? Not yet.
Jeff, I don’t want to spend the time watching these videos. What are the key takeaways?
  • According to Alpha Cars, compared to most other cars, the Bronco has very little rust protection from the manufacturer. For example, the body panels have between 5 and 9 mils of paint thickness. FYI, a mil is a thousandth of an inch (not a millimeter). The Bronco frame has only 0.5-1.0 mil of paint, which is nearly nothing. For comparison, Alpha Cars tells me that most American cars have between 1-2 mils on the frame, and European cars usually have have more. Some places on the Bronco have no paint at all where they should.
  • Different products have pros/cons. Hard wax is for the undercarriage and it is more resilient to the outside world. Unlike oils, hard wax is designed to stay on the car for life with little to no maintenance. Unlike the old-school tar-like undercoatings, hard wax doesn’t gum up your undercarriage to the point to where you couldn’t get a wrench on a nut. The hard wax was applied over several days in 4 coats. Waxoil, is more liquid-like and is sprayed to the enclosed areas, where it can travel to hard to reach areas and penetrate. Also, DIY versions of these exist, and other people will use Fluid Film, NH oil, spent motor oil, or even WD-40, but these require annual reapplication.
  • It’s up to you as to how thorough you want to be, and it comes with a price. In my case, they not only treated the undercarriage and frame, but they also removed the wheel wells, flares and plugs in the frame/rockers to access many enclosed areas, including the entire inside of the frame. In the case of the Bronco, there are so many built-in holes in the frame, they did not need to drill the frame to access everywhere. In my case, they also sanded and rust treated the drive shaft and axle shafts. I may paint them too – really just for cosmetic reasons. My yellow Bilstein shocks are now black :(.
  • I am very pleased with the service and quality from Alpha Cars in Boxborough, MA. I believe they did this as thoroughly as possible and they clearly take pride in their work. Again, if you give them my name (Jeff Abbott), they will take $100 off your service. And again, they do lots of other stuff that new Bronco owners would be interested in.
Okay, enough already, show me the Before/After Videos:

BEFORE VIDEO
with evaluation. This has a great analysis of the paint thicknesses, and shows where Ford did, and didn’t, protect the Bronco from rust:


AFTER VIDEO showing everything they did.



And here are some BEFORE pics (keep in mind this is from less that 2 weeks of ownership so it's obviously still in great shape overall and there is no rust on frame yet, but...):
Ford Bronco Professional rust proofing my Bronco - BEFORE/AFTER with pics and videos IMG_0127.JPG

Ford Bronco Professional rust proofing my Bronco - BEFORE/AFTER with pics and videos IMG_5485

Ford Bronco Professional rust proofing my Bronco - BEFORE/AFTER with pics and videos IMG_5486

Ford Bronco Professional rust proofing my Bronco - BEFORE/AFTER with pics and videos IMG_5488
Ford Bronco Professional rust proofing my Bronco - BEFORE/AFTER with pics and videos IMG_5538


And here are some AFTER pics (between 3rd and 4th coats):
Ford Bronco Professional rust proofing my Bronco - BEFORE/AFTER with pics and videos IMG_5586

Ford Bronco Professional rust proofing my Bronco - BEFORE/AFTER with pics and videos IMG_5613

Ford Bronco Professional rust proofing my Bronco - BEFORE/AFTER with pics and videos IMG_5614

Ford Bronco Professional rust proofing my Bronco - BEFORE/AFTER with pics and videos IMG_5615
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Jason

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Please be a hero and come back to this thread once a year to post an update with pictures. I’m very curious to see the results!
 

indio22

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Nice writeup, thanks for sharing. Waxoil has been used to good effect, for years in the old Land Rover community, to help prevent rust in the frame internals and other hard to reach places where water can collect. I'm a fan of those type of coatings, and sprayed my Jeep Wrangler frame rails with WoolWax (similar to Fluid Film).

Did the rust proofing guys mention anything about frame rail water drainage on the Bronco? I ask because an Achilles Heal of some Jeep frames such as the Wrangler TJ, is lack of adequate drainage holes on the bottom of the frame rails. That allowed water to get inside and not drain out, causing rust from the inside out of the boxed frame rails. Major fail by Jeep. I wonder if Ford accounted for that on the Bronco, or if it would be worth drilling some drainage holes.
 

CO-Bronco

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One last kick in the nuts from Dirt Mountain.

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SkyKing

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Nice writeup, thanks for sharing. Waxoil has been used to good effect, for years in the old Land Rover community, to help prevent rust in the frame internals and other hard to reach places where water can collect. I'm a fan of those type of coatings, and sprayed my Jeep Wrangler frame rails with WoolWax (similar to Fluid Film).

Did the rust proofing guys mention anything about frame rail water drainage on the Bronco? I ask because an Achilles Heal of some Jeep frames such as the Wrangler TJ, is lack of adequate drainage holes on the bottom of the frame rails. That allowed water to get inside and not drain out, causing rust from the inside out of the boxed frame rails. Major fail by Jeep. I wonder if Ford accounted for that on the Bronco, or if it would be worth drilling some drainage holes.
they did mention this to me. They said it looked like Ford did consider this (how water would drain). But I didn't press them on it so I don't have any specific supporting evidence.
 
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SkyKing

SkyKing

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How much does something like this run?
it's explained in the post, and depends but with my vendor, with a car that is basically new, it was about $1000 to prepare do the undercarraige with hard wax (and fix the areas that had already rusted (sand, add rust converter, etc. and clean entire undercarriage before starting the wax oil coats.. You could do it yourself or find a cheaper vendor but I doubt it would be a thorough as what I had done. I had them go deeper with waxoil sprayed into the enclosed areas (removed wheel wells etc.), which increased the cost further.
 

FlyingBronco

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it's explained in the post, and depends but with my vendor, with a car that is basically new, it was about $1000 to prepare do the undercarraige with hard wax (and fix the areas that had already rusted (sand, add rust converter, etc. and clean entire undercarriage before starting the wax oil coats.. You could do it yourself or find a cheaper vendor but I doubt it would be a thorough as what I had done. I had them go deeper with waxoil sprayed into the enclosed areas (removed wheel wells etc.), which increased the cost further.
That price actually seems reasonable for how well they coated it. I also plan to keep mine for a long time and live in an area where they salt the roads. Probably adding it to my list, thanks for the detailed write-up!
 

zgoods

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Thank you for this post! I also have rust and was not a DM POW, Michigan also uses tons of salt.
 

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Razorbak86

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This is how we do our rust-proofing and undercoating in the South. This patented, one-dunk method is licensed and approved by Larrry the Cable Guy.

Git ’er done!!! 🤪

 

bishop0577

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I'm shocked how fast that happen look like I my have to find a guy near me now. 😔 does anyone know someone that would do this in Oregon?
They don't salt the roads where I live in Oregon. But I did think about doing this, just for long term protection. I found one in Eugene, but they did a Rhino Liner type spray and I am not putting that under my Bronco. I am gonna wait it out and see if any rust develops. So far it is clear.
 

redone17

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In hindsight, I should have invested in this before ceramic. I did a driveway application of Fluid Film - but, seeing this makes me realize I could go much further. Did they remove the skid plates?

I had similar rust and I picked up in July. Applied FF back in October before the salt.

I still have a reservation in code 99. If I decide to keep the MY21 (leaning that way) I’ll be sure to get this done next year. If I move forward with a MY23, I’ll likely get this done as soon as it leaves the lot - because like you - I’m scared from rusted out VWs and plan to keep the Bronco until it’s unsafe to do so.
 

redone17

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Also. Screw the haters. It’s your money. In the end, your confidence and happiness is all that matters.

Thanks for the detailed write up. It was insightful and thorough.
 
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SkyKing

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In hindsight, I should have invested in this before ceramic. I did a driveway application of Fluid Film - but, seeing this makes me realize I could go much further. Did they remove the skid plates?

I had similar rust and I picked up in July. Applied FF back in October before the salt.

I still have a reservation in code 99. If I decide to keep the MY21 (leaning that way) I’ll be sure to get this done next year. If I move forward with a MY23, I’ll likely get this done as soon as it leaves the lot - because like you - I’m scared from rusted out VWs and plan to keep the Bronco until it’s unsafe to do so.
I have a Wildtrak and did not get the extra bash plates that would be standard on Badlands. I'm sure they would have removed them if it was required to access anywhere. they had planned on removing front and rear bumpers (and front steel bashplate that comes with the modular bumper) but said they were able to access everywhere without doing so.
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