Under body coating and its purposes
UNDER BODY COATING
The under body protective coatings is used to protect the vehicle chassis from external environment to ensure the integrity and safety of cars. The use of under body protective coatings plays a very important role in the service life of the vehicle. In general, it is required to spray such a protective coating in the manufacturing of the new car. Some car manufacturers already offer some underbody coating straight out of the factory which is usually sprayed inside the wheel arches and under the floor board of the car. Due to the highly competitiveness of new car sales, car producers need to reduce the manufacturing cost, so that they reduce or even completely eliminate the use of under body coating. As a consequence, our car service life will be greatly reduced.
For a collision body repair, usually metal part need to be re-shaped or replaced to some of the parts. These new parts also need to be treated against rust and anti-stone chip. So it is still mandatory to spray a under body protection coating on the repair car. Because it doesn’t need spray gun and compressed air, aerosol under body protective coating seems to be more suitable for small area repair.
Purposes of Under Body Coating:
- Dust prevention
There are thousands pieces of stones on the road, and they are constantly hitting your car on the under body, wheel arches, sills and the trunk lower part while driving on the road. In some cases, the under body might be scratched by uneven road. As such the thin corrosion protection coating on the metal sheet will be destroyed and leave the bare metal exposed to the air, which will soon come to corrosion when contact with the moisture in the air. Under body coating is a thick elastic layer which could not be easily damaged by stone chipping or scratch, therefore could protect the metal sheet of the under body.
- External influence
External environment, such as the baking from the hot road in summer, anti-frozen gent in winter, raining water and the salty water in the atmosphere, will attach the under body of a car. Particular in coast areas, the wind from the sea will bring more salt to the air, which will accelerate the corrosion and reduce the service life of a car. While the under body is covered by the thick and tight layers, it would act as a strong barrier to prevent these external substances attaching the metal sheet.
- Keep the value
A car could keep a high value while it is well maintained. It means that if a car is well treated on under body protection, it could keep the car in a good condition and extend the car’s service life.
- Improve driving comfort
After curing, the under body coating becomes a thick elastic coating covering the whole under body, which could act as a good dampening material, significantly reduce the vibration of the metal sheet and reduce the noise inside the car.
- Easy maintenance
A uniform black underbody coating gives a car a clean look. It also makes the car easier to maintain by just hosing the underside down. You can be confident that slush build up won’t lead to rusting easily. Most underbody coats these days come with a five-year warranty, which is the lifetime of such a coating.
Downsides to Under Body Coating:
- High cost
Cost of under body coating has come down, but is still expensive. This is because underbody coating offered by a car dealer is one way in which they make money off the customer.
- Risk of damage during application
Care must be taken while applying under body coating. This thick rubberized paint if not applied properly, can get into moving mechanical parts and cause premature failure – such as into the U-joint or CV joints in a cars propeller shaft or drive shafts. They can also hinder smooth movement of suspension components, if applied incorrectly. And there’s also the risk of overspray on to the car’s paint finish on the lower edges of the car.