Underbody Coating

UNDER BODY COATING

Underbody coating is a thick cladding (typically made of rubber) that is placed uniformly to the car’s underside. When the automobile is fresh off the lot and spotless, it is usually sprayed or painted on. But it’s acceptable if you apply the undercoating after a couple of years.

A lot of attention is given to the coating and paintwork of the visible aspects of a vehicle but those unseen places tend to get overlooked. The underbody is one such place. Automotive underbody coating protects a vehicle from everything the road can throw at it and more: they provide a layer of protection between a vehicle’s more vulnerable underside and damaging forces such as corrosion and moisture ingress.

TYPES OF UNDER BODY COATING :

Wax-based

Bitumen-based

Resin-based

Wax-based: An excellent anti rust coating suitable for all substrates. The wax is applied soft and cures hard, either by brush or spray, and can be layered thickly. It cannot be top coated.

Bitumen-based: These car underbody coatings provide hard-wearing protection against stone chip damage and corrosion. They also have sound-deadening properties. Suitable across many substrates, but cannot be painted over. Can be applied by brush or spray, high build, and good for very tough conditions such as off-road.

Resin-based: Polyurethanes and rubber coating are popular because their elastomeric properties provide long-term stone chip damage and corrosion protection as well as sound deadening effects. These also have the benefit of being suitable for a wide range of substrates and they can be painted over. Can be spray-applied, high build, and particularly good for salted roads

BENEFITS :

• Prevents stone chip damage– A car underbody coating provides a durable elastic over the underbody and wheel arches which protects the substrate from stones, gravel, salt, and other debris which is thrown up by the road.
• Protects from corrosion– The automotive coating process consists of at least five layers of protective and decorative paint. However, the underbody only receives the first two layers – the layers that provide the corrosion protection. But if that is the case why would another layer of coating be needed to protect from corrosion? The initial two layers provide corrosion protection, but are not very durable. Stone chip damage may expose the metal itself, leading inevitably to corrosion.
• Prevents water ingress– By covering cracks in the paintwork or joints in the undercarriage of a vehicle, moisture or water from humid or wet environments is prevented from creeping into the underbody and causing corrosion.
• Minimises sound– The noise of debris hitting a vehicle, or vibrations from the road can be dampened by the application of a car underbody coating. They prevent vibrations and because they are elastic they make far less noise when struck than the metal underneath.
• Is easy to maintain – Giving the undercarriage of a vehicle a uniform appearance means cleaning it down is simpler and so is identifying possible problems