underbody coat, is it necessary?

With this Magnesium Chloride that they are spraying on the streets here in Denver/Aurora now, would it help to put a underbody coat on my truck? I've seen it do some real nasty shit to brakes. just need a little bit of your guys knowledge and input.

Undercoating is a catch 22.
In other words there are some advantages, and some disadvantages.

If you get it done it will stop some objects from hitting the paint and chipping it out. These paint chips will allow surface rust to form.

However if undercoating isn't applied properly it'll trap water and other unwanted garbage between it and the paint which will cause more damage in the near future.

In my opinion your better off to leave it, and in the summer when the weather is perfect spray all the under body down, and let it dry.
Next jack it up as high as possible, and stick it firmly on jack stands.
Take the tires off (It's a good time to rotate them) and examine the wheel wells, along with the rest of the undercarrage.

Grind, or sandblast all the rust off and treat these areas with POR-15.

Wear gloves, and old clothing plus a gas mask if possible. With por-15, once it's on you it has to wear off which takes a long time.

It's a good idea to take 1 day out every year and do this. Also spray out all the body drains the same day until the water runs slear.

well, it seems like undercoating obviously has pros/cons. and the cons win. it seems like it'll be too much upkeep, for something that really only comes to me a couple of times in the winter. just gonna go over to the folks' house and use their water.

at my dealer all our car get undercoated with a rubberized undercoat

I've had vehicles undercoated and not undercoated. My experience has been that it doesn't seem to matter much whether it was done or not. In Michigan, dump salt on the roads by the ton, so it's not uncommon to see 5 year old cars with "stage 1 body cancer". My two newest vehicles (both 99) have right around 100000 miles, were never undercoated, and look "normal" for their age. I do pretty much the same thing that overboardproject mentioned - spend a day in the summer touching up any rust on the underbody. It's worked well for me so far.

the best i can recommend is doin wheel wells and places the tire will throw salt...

the best i can recommend is doin wheel wells and places the tire will throw salt...

Since the late 80s, the BIG 3 have not advocated undecoating, much to the disdain of car dealerships and Ziebart (remember these crooks? They only guarantee a car covered under warranty, the warranty is voided by Ziebarts guarantee),who still try to peddle the junk, and apply pressure trying to bump-up their profit generating machine. They'll charge from $200-to $400.00 to spray the tar on, when you can DIY and buy the spray bombs for less than $30.00 - quite profitable.
Most cars today come with a 7 year/70k mile rust-out guarantee, which in the U.S.A. is the limit for recalls.
So this becomes a personal decision. If you feel better having it, go for it. Pay attention to the possible water traps mentioned above if you do it yourself .
Just don't let some finance guy at the Stealer/Dealer push you into buying an extended warranty-type of deal that protects you from rust that the manufacturer already covers.

I personally say that undercoating is good, but like he said, if its not done right, it can cause other problems

heh, why would the auto manufacturers want you to undercoat, it will make your car last longer, thusly you wont buy new ones as often.

personally i think the auto makers pay states to put salt on the roads, its all a conspiracy, they want you to buy more new cars. dont tell me they cant use something that wont cause massive corrosion.

I just sprayed the wheel wells, rails, and rearend with black truck bed liner that you can find at any pep boys

knocked off most of the rust with wire brush and angle grinder

Good Luck with that 95ride!

If it lasts for a while your luckier than most of us.