Underbody Coating

In Indian road conditions, a cars underbody is most prone to corrosion. Underbody coating provides long term protection from corrosion to car’s underbody. It also protects parts like internal body panels, frame rails and other inner cavities that are not physically accessible but are prone to corrosion.

Benefits

• Minimizes Sound: It minimizes the sound from underneath the car resulting a noiseless, smooth driving experience.

• Heat Insulation: It insulates the interior of the car from extreme temperatures from beneath the vehicle providing a comfortable cabin experience.

• Anti-chipping property: If any stone hits the coating it does not get chipped away hence protects the underbody from exposure to water.

Rust protection

Ideally any additional underbody coating should be applied when the car is brand new and clean. Car manufacturers use thick paints and sealants for the underbody, but adding an underbody coat especially in coastal cities is useful. Salt water tends to corrode cars really badly.

On bad roads, flying stones and pebbles can chip off the original underbody coating and leave the metal exposed. Using an aftermarket underbody coating offer extra protection.

Sound insulation

The thicker underbody coatings used on cars also act as effective sound dampeners. They can reduce road noise and tyre noise and make the cabin seem quieter – due to the sound absorptive nature of rubberized paints.

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.

Here are some of the downsides to underbody coating:

High cost

Cost of underbody 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 underbody 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.

3M is a well known brand that provides underbody coatings.