So life took me away, then slapped me upside the head! On 1/21/2021 my 2013 chevy silverado 1500 failed a NYS safety inspection due to severe frame rust through! ... In spite of the fact that when I bought it, I also bought ECP AUTO ARMOR paint/rust protection. As a matter of fact, it was sprayed 3 separate times. Making matters worse, I submitted the claim the same day but because the warranty expired 2 days before, they denied my claim! ... Even though rust through of heavy frame steel just doesn`t happen in 2 days (so the damage clearly happened while under warranty).
Anyway, folks at my garage indicated that due to the condition of the frame, a repair would just be a bandaid, so a search began to find a good used southern frame. after 2-3 weeks, all we came up with were frames too rusty or bent from collisions. I bit the bullet and had them order a new frame from GM.
It may seem nuts to some to put around $8k into an 8 year old truck, but with 50,700 miles, and an excellent engine, tranny, and body, I had little choice as I couldn`t drive it, sell, or trade it like it was!
So a new frame was installed or should I say, my truck was tore down and rebuilt on top of a new frame. They did an awesome job and I`m back on the road again...and this time, the frame, axles, under body and inside panels were all well treated with FLUID FILM, that I will update annually.
So with my new, old truck, and a renewed sense of `new car fever`, I`m back here to show `n tell and learn.
regards, ~Mike V.
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I just started spraying fluid film & cosmoline Based products commercially this year! I don’t have a lift so I did mostly municipal, fire company larger vehicles that I can crawl under. I mainly do the cosmoline stuff but I get a lot of requests specifically for fluid film. It’s has cult like following upstate NY and MA
fluid film is great stuff even if you go off roaming and rub on frame all the fluid film around the abraded area creeps and covers it really neat stuff. But yea got to spray every year can probably do yourself with a few cans fairly inexpensive stuff they also sell dyed black stuff if you want to have clean look.
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So life took me away, then slapped me upside the head! On 1/21/2021 my 2013 chevy silverado 1500 failed a NYS safety inspection due to severe frame rust through! ... In spite of the fact that when I bought it, I also bought ECP AUTO ARMOR paint/rust protection. As a matter of fact, it was sprayed 3 separate times. Making matters worse, I submitted the claim the same day but because the warranty expired 2 days before, they denied my claim! ... Even though rust through of heavy frame steel just doesn`t happen in 2 days (so the damage clearly happened while under warranty).
Anyway, folks at my garage indicated that due to the condition of the frame, a repair would just be a bandaid, so a search began to find a good used southern frame. after 2-3 weeks, all we came up with were frames too rusty or bent from collisions. I bit the bullet and had them order a new frame from GM.
It may seem nuts to some to put around $8k into an 8 year old truck, but with 50,700 miles, and an excellent engine, tranny, and body, I had little choice as I couldn`t drive it, sell, or trade it like it was!
So a new frame was installed or should I say, my truck was tore down and rebuilt on top of a new frame. They did an awesome job and I`m back on the road again...and this time, the frame, axles, under body and inside panels were all well treated with FLUID FILM, that I will update annually.
So with my new, old truck, and a renewed sense of `new car fever`, I`m back here to show `n tell and learn.
regards, ~Mike V.
Glad it all worked out. That really stinks about the claim denial and it would be a company I would be sure to excoriate on the forums and net. I was going to get Ziebart undercoating earlier this month, but decided not to do so. But I have heard good things about Fluid Film. Only thing is I would look to have it done by a shop as I don`t have the lifts to raise my car to do so.
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I might point out that my truck had 30,100 miles on it when I bought it and in 6 years I`ve put on 20,600 miles...so it sits in the driveway a LOT. So not a daily driver or a garage queen. But when you look at it, it still looks like a new truck. Note: these truck pictures taken yesterday 3/22/2021...
(Notice the black Fluid Film on the new frame!)
I was reluctant to get the undercoating on a used truck, but was assured that it would protect the truck...yea, sure! So I bought the truck in January and it was sprayed with ECP AUTO ARMOR on 1/19/2015. But in the spring, I noticed surface rust on the frame, so I had it sprayed again. It was sprayed again in the fall of 2017. The product and/or application was an epic failure!
So the damage was discovered just 2 days after the 6 year warranty was up. I filed a claim that same day. The claim was denied even though the damage clearly occurred during the warranty period and my contract indicates I have 60 days from discovery of damage to file a claim. They maintain that they only accept claims if the warranty is still in effect. I filed a complaint with the better business bureau to no avail. I also filed a complaint with the NYS Attorney General`s Consumer Fraud department and they are acting as a mediator.
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Glad you got it fixed but that’s criminal. Realize the squeaky wheel gets the oil so they will try to ignore you and deny claims etc. You’ll likely need to get a lawyer involved to get anything, at least based on a similar situation my dad had. Good luck.
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I might point out that my truck had 30,100 miles on it when I bought it and in 6 years I`ve put on 20,600 miles...so it sits in the driveway a LOT. So not a daily driver or a garage queen. But when you look at it, it still looks like a new truck. Note: these truck pictures taken yesterday 3/22/2021...
(Notice the black Fluid Film on the new frame!)
I was reluctant to get the undercoating on a used truck, but was assured that it would protect the truck...yea, sure! So I bought the truck in January and it was sprayed with ECP AUTO ARMOR on 1/19/2015. But in the spring, I noticed surface rust on the frame, so I had it sprayed again. It was sprayed again in the fall of 2017. The product and/or application was an epic failure!
So the damage was discovered just 2 days after the 6 year warranty was up. I filed a claim that same day. The claim was denied even though the damage clearly occurred during the warranty period and my contract indicates I have 60 days from discovery of damage to file a claim. They maintain that they only accept claims if the warranty is still in effect. I filed a complaint with the better business bureau to no avail. I also filed a complaint with the NYS Attorney General`s Consumer Fraud department and they are acting as a mediator.
Wow, that`s incredible damage. It`s a wonder that car was still able to be driven. My little bit of investigation into undercoatings is that they need to be inspected and maintained/touched up yearly. Did they not see the rust at when it was recoated? Apparently, they did not do proper rust mediation and simply applied the coating over the existing rust, they encapsulating it under the coating and making matters terribly worse. I agree, with dgage and get a lawyer as this is 100 incompetence and negligence on the installer/company`s part.
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"Did they not see the rust at when it was recoated? Apparently, they did not do proper rust mediation and simply applied the coating over the existing rust, they encapsulating it under the coating and making matters terribly worse."
I`m convinced that there was little if any prep work and they just sprayed over the rust. In addition, I suspect that the product plugged drain holes in the frame allowing rust from the inside out.
If I don`t get anywhere with the NYS Attorney General`s Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Protection mediation I will either file a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General`s office or file a suite in small claims court as I don`t think they have a leg to stand on. Sure I filed the initial claim the day it was noticed which was two days after the warranty ended, however, it`s obvious that that kind of rust through damage happened while it was under warranty. Besides, it never should have rusted like that in 50,700 miles (20,600 since being `protected`)!!!
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That’s a bummer. Unbelievable how quick that frame deteriorated. Do you live on a dirt road that they spray with chemicals to keep the dust down? I grew up watching that “stuff” destroy cars.
I had a customer in KS who had a spotless pickup, Nissan I believe, that had it’s frame replaced under a factory agreement. He bought it new and is an Autopia type of guy. The sheet metal under it looked great. The frame was made with some bad metal content that “decomposed” like your’s.
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That’s a bummer. Unbelievable how quick that frame deteriorated. Do you live on a dirt road that they spray with chemicals to keep the dust down? I grew up watching that “stuff” destroy cars.
No I live on a main state road in Central New York, but on a hill that gets it`s share of salt for safety. Then again, as evidenced by only 20,000 miles in 6 years, the truck sits in the driveway much of the time - it has a pretty easy life and didn`t deserve the rot! But she`s got herself a brand new frame all coated up with Fluid Film and with some other bits that were replaced as part of the process, she`s my NEW, old truck. You wouldn`t think from the pictures above she was 8 years old. :-)
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No I live on a main state road in Central New York, but on a hill that gets it`s share of salt for safety. Then again, as evidenced by only 20,000 miles in 6 years, the truck sits in the driveway much of the time - it has a pretty easy life and didn`t deserve the rot! But she`s got herself a brand new frame all coated up with Fluid Film and with some other bits that were replaced as part of the process, she`s my NEW, old truck. You wouldn`t think from the pictures above she was 8 years old. :-)
Did you apply the Fluid Film or get it done elsewhere?
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My brother lives up in Hector. I’ll have to ask him if he’s had any cars rust out up there. Pretty wild how quickly that happened and especially to that extent.
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glad you got it back on the road and welcome back
Originally Posted by MiVor
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