Finding Better Auto Service

Use Bed Liner Paint To Undercoat Your Vehicle

If you want to protect the underside of your vehicle from getting rusted out, you need to apply an undercoating to your vehicle. You can use bed liner paint to undercoat your vehicle and protect it from rust.

Elevate Your Vehicle

In order to paint the underside of your vehicle, you are going to need access to it. You will need to use either jack stands or a vehicle ramp to give you the access that you need to paint.

If you choose to use jack stands, make sure that you lift up one tire at a time and securely place the stand under the axle before moving on to the next tire. If you choose to go with a vehicle ramp, make sure that the emergency brake is engaged.

Protect Components That Don't Need To Be Painted

Next, you need to remove any hardware that is detachable from the underside of your vehicle. Some examples of hardware that you may want to remove include tubes, electrical lines and filters. Use the appropriate tools to remove any detachable hardware and place it aside in a secure location.

For any hardware that you can't remove, but that you don't want to get paint on, you'll need to cover. You need to cover up the following components:

• Engine compartment
• Wheel wells
• Filters
• Electrical lines
• Tubes
• Access holes that lead to the body of the vehicle
• Drive axle in rear drive vehicles

Cover up these components with newspaper or a tarp, and use either masking tape or painters tape to keep the covers in place. For electrical tubes and lines, wrap all the way around them with newspaper and tape.

Sand Down The Undercarriage

Now that you have covered up all the important components under your vehicle, you need to sand down the undercarriage. You will want to sand down the entire undercarriage, starting at the front and working your way back. This will roughen it up enough for the paint to stick to it.

Clean The Undercarriage

After you have sanded down the entire undercarriage, you need to clean it off. You don't want all the debris from sanding to get in the paint that you are going to apply. You also need to remove any grease that could get in the way.

Clean the area with a degreasing cleaner. You may need to use a stiff brush to remove any built-up grease. Rinse it off with water.

Paint The Undercarriage

Now you are ready to paint the undercarriage. Take the spray can with the bed liner paint, and hold it back from the undercarriage about half a foot or so. Spray it evenly across the undercarriage, working back and forth. You should only need to apply one coat.

Once the paint has dried, you can remove all the covers and reattach any components that you removed before painting. After that is done, you can lower your car and enjoy a protected undercarriage that should remain rust free.

For more information, contact Dean's Automotive Service Center or a similar location.