Line-X Valugard Protection from Rust on New 2023 4Runner

[mouellette012]

Looking to see if anyone from the Rust Belt areas where they use lots of salt to melt snow eat away at your rig has experience with Line-X Valugard; and . I just purchased a new 4Runner and I am thinking about having this applied to my undercarriage. They use a wax base formula to protect which claims to be superior to rubber encapsulation and will not cause rusting from the inside out. So far I have found no reviews online from anyone and if it has worked for them long term. Here is something from the manufacturer explaining it Videos | ValuGard: Rust Inhibitor Spray.

 

[MazeVX]

Looking to see if anyone from the Rust Belt areas where they use lots of salt to melt snow eat away at your rig has experience with Line-X Valugard; and . I just purchased a new 4Runner and I am thinking about having this applied to my undercarriage. They use a wax base formula to protect which claims to be superior to rubber encapsulation and will not cause rusting from the inside out. So far I have found no reviews online from anyone and if it has worked for them long term. Here is something from the manufacturer explaining it Videos | ValuGard: Rust Inhibitor Spray.

I'm living in a rust and salt country... while I do not have experience with this particular product as our market is dominated by others I can tell you about my experience with wax and rubber based coatings.

Wax is far superior to rubber based in any application.
Usually applied in two stages where the first is a penetrating component which you let dry up and then cover it with the more resistant wax coating which is application specific.
Some have higher abrasion resistance, some have higher temperature resistance, natural or black color.

 

[wigsajumper]

Live just a bit north of you in Maine. I am not a big fan of line-x or the like for rust prevention. I have seen too many instances where salt and moisture got into the metal via a chip or crack of the line-x and then rusted away the metal and could not even see it.

I much prefer the wax / oil / lanolin rust prevention. Yes it needs to be reapplied every year BUT it definitely helps keep things under control.

 

[mouellette012]

Live just a bit north of you in Maine. I am not a big fan of line-x or the like for rust prevention. I have seen too many instances where salt and moisture got into the metal via a chip or crack of the line-x and then rusted away the metal and could not even see it.

I much prefer the wax / oil / lanolin rust prevention. Yes it needs to be reapplied every year BUT it definitely helps keep things under control.

I have seen this with the Rubber coverings but not with Valugard which is wax-based and is supposed to be self-healing. Thanks for that input.

 

[wigsajumper]

I have seen this with the Rubber coverings but not with Valugard which is wax-based and is supposed to be self-healing. Thanks for that input.

I just saw line-x and assumed it was the old school hard stuff (Thats what I get for posting/reading at work). Now I am intrigued.

 

[mouellette012]

I just saw line-x and assumed it was the old school hard stuff (Thats what I get for posting/reading at work). Now I am intrigued.

Yes, but you bring up a great point and it is always a big concern. I need to find out if I can bring the car through a car wash and have the undercarriage lightly power washed. In the past, this has helped in keeping the salt and rust at bay.

 

[MazeVX]

I just saw line-x and assumed it was the old school hard stuff (Thats what I get for posting/reading at work). Now I am intrigued.

Yes, but you bring up a great point and it is always a big concern. I need to find out if I can bring the car through a car wash and have the undercarriage lightly power washed. In the past, this has helped in keeping the salt and rust at bay.

This is no problem, the products we use stay for several years unless you have extreme mud and gravel. There are however products for temporary protection like fluid Film and lots of Lanolin products. Not sure which brand is available in the US though...

 

[Patrick4R]

Looking to see if anyone from the Rust Belt areas where they use lots of salt to melt snow eat away at your rig has experience with Line-X Valugard; and . I just purchased a new 4Runner and I am thinking about having this applied to my undercarriage. They use a wax base formula to protect which claims to be superior to rubber encapsulation and will not cause rusting from the inside out. So far I have found no reviews online from anyone and if it has worked for them long term. Here is something from the manufacturer explaining it Videos | ValuGard: Rust Inhibitor Spray.

I recently purchased a new 4Runner and have just had Line-X do the undercoating with ValuGard. It's very fresh so I do not yet know what the fully cured result will be, I was told it should take about a week. It's "tacky" to the touch in areas where extra material gathered or where droplets were forming off the bottom of the frame. It's indeed like a waxy feel, its not the hardened bedliner spray people can think of. I'll see if I can get some pictures. I was like you and there were no reports i could find on it. Line-X said that ValuGard is guranteed for life, no reapplication needed. If there's any corrosion where its been applied, a detail is sent to ValuGard and any repair/detailing work would be covered. Time will tell whats what. Having recently replaced the frame on my old Wrangler that spent 25+yrs on MN streets with the amount of crap that's applied in the winters here, from what I can tell of the product so far, I'm glad I went ahead with the ValuGard. I think its better than nothing and I do not want to have to reapply each season.

 

[mouellette012]

I recently purchased a new 4Runner and have just had Line-X do the undercoating with ValuGard. It's very fresh so I do not yet know what the fully cured result will be, I was told it should take about a week. It's "tacky" to the touch in areas where extra material gathered or where droplets were forming off the bottom of the frame. It's indeed like a waxy feel, its not the hardened bedliner spray people can think of. I'll see if I can get some pictures. I was like you and there were no reports i could find on it. Line-X said that ValuGard is guranteed for life, no reapplication needed. If there's any corrosion where its been applied, a detail is sent to ValuGard and any repair/detailing work would be covered. Time will tell whats what. Having recently replaced the frame on my old Wrangler that spent 25+yrs on MN streets with the amount of crap that's applied in the winters here, from what I can tell of the product so far, I'm glad I went ahead with the ValuGard. I think its better than nothing and I do not want to have to reapply each season.

Me too Patrick! We had this done shortly after our 4Runner purchase. It really stunk badly and even now after a few weeks since it was done the product is still off-gassing a bit. Next on the list of vehicle mods will be Llumar paint protection. This will be a bit costly but from what we were told it will last 10+ years if not a lot longer.

 

[Patrick4R]

Me too Patrick! We had this done shortly after our 4Runner purchase. It really stunk badly and even now after a few weeks since it was done the product is still off-gassing a bit. Next on the list of vehicle mods will be Llumar paint protection. This will be a bit costly but from what we were told it will last 10+ years if not a lot longer.

We did get a couple minor 2mm-ish rock chips on the hood bringing the 4R back from CO. Wish it had been the bumper, but I could also wish work trucks would wash off their equipment before hitting the highway as well. Anyway, that front end is such a sail it could catch anything. We're going to look at some sort of film as well, but right now trying to be mindful on what budget has already been spent. I did the 1000mi break in oil change yesterday, an area dealer was selling (TYO) quarts at $5.90ea plus gave me 10% off additionally. I may need to stock up more than the two changes worth I picked up. I'd rather do my own 5k changes than have a dealer strip out the skid plate bolts during one of their "freebies". Speaking of skid plates and Line-X...

FWIW, I have the off road premium trim and I pulled the front two skid plates prior to Line-X doing the spray. Took them in with the vehicle and and they did the three pieces with rust proofing and were going to dust on some ValuGard just for a color match. I didn't care about the color match, just not added material for attaching and two of the three have to be taken off with each oil change anyway. They were super wet when I went to pick up, I was not pleased. (They are keeping them a bit longer ;)
(Sigh) Like anything nowadays, if you don't do it yourself...
Anyway, its my first 4Runner and I really like the truck. Makes paying for a really over-priced, outdated vehicle more enjoyable. :)