Rust Inhibitor Spray

[BOKBEFOK]

Hey all.
Got my 2021 and looking to do the Linex bedliner. I've been told to get the rust inhibitor spray (annually) as well. I have couple questions:
1. Is this really needed?
2. Ford has an aluminum body. Again, is this then needed?

I heard of people saying they sometimes get spray inside the door frames and sometimes drill plug holes in your body at the bottom to fill it... scary stuff.

Location: Ontario, Canada.

Some input would go a long way here.

Sponsored

 

[BCP28]

The body is aluminum, so you don't really need it for the body (though aluminum can still corrode, especially if it's in contact with dissimilar metals such as steel or iron). You shouldn't have to drill into the body or doors to fill any voids like you might have had to with older steel-bodied vehicles.

That being said, the frame and suspension are all still steel and will rust if there's any perforation in the factory coating (which has already been a notorious issue on these 21MY trucks). I do spot treatments of the suspension, frame welds and any area that looks vulnerable underneath with Fluid Film to hopefully slow down and mitigate as much rust as possible (2 spray cans seems to cover the essentials). In the past this kept my Tacoma and my Ranger fairly rust-free, so hoping to do the same with the F150.

I live in Michigan, so salty winter roads and rust are inevitable and unfortunate facts of life. My goal is to at least prolong the inevitable.

 

[67440dodge]

First off, aluminum doesn’t rust, it corrodes, especially when it comes into contact with dissimilar metals. (That why you’re supposed to use anti-seize when screwing metal parts into aluminum). Since you are in Ontario I know the procedure up there as I looked into getting it done on my Ram while in Chatham. If a door does not have drain holes they will drill underneath to spray in. If it does, then they spray inside the drain holes. As for the bed, someone can correct me if I’m wong but since it’s open bed they just spray the area with the inhibitor.

After talking to a few places in Ridgetown and Chatham seemed all the “inhibitor” consisted of was used oil and transmission fluid with an additive to thicken it up.

Since Ontario tends to get a decent amount of snow and they use a buttload of salt on the roads, look at other F150’s (esp contractor vehicles that) from years when Ford first started aluminum bodies. That’ll give you an idication of how well they hold up…

To me, it sounds like a money grab. You can easily coat the steel parts yourself with over the shelf products

 

[Jack Miter]

My 2016's frame was rusting through in a few places, so I researched undercoating for my 2021. I settled on Blaster's Surface Shield (I could only find it at Home Depot). It took four cans to spray liberally everything I could reach with a spray can. I have a friend who has a lift so it was relatively easy. I wiped everything down with microfiber towels first... and then applied the Surface Shield.

Here is a link to why I went with Surface Shield...

Sponsored