Painting the Chassis - Drive Shaft, Front Axle, etc.

[dPierce]

It is dissapointing that my $40K truck came from the factory with no paint on the driveshaft, front axle ends and a few other small places. When looking at my gorgeous truck from the side, you this big rusty drive shaft hanging down and it just doesn't look right.



My question is, what type of paint would be good to spray on these areas, assuming a do-it-yourself project in the garage. I have a compressor so I could get ahold of a spray gun, if that's better than buying spray cans.



Any guidance here would be appreciated. This is something I'd like to get done before winter and it get's worse from road salt.



Second Question, I have seen spray cans of undercoating at the auto parts store and thought of spraying it in the rear wheel wells and other areas. Is this product going to help or hurt my truck? I'v heard underscoating can trap moisture and cause more problems than it solves?

 

[FATCAT]

I get under my old 12-valver ever 4 - 6 months with a few cans of black Rustolium and spray everything I can reach. Has'nt hurt anything yet, but it does sure keep the rust at bay for the most part.

 

[nickleinonen]

tremclad [or krylon, or rustolium or other metal self priming paints] semi-gloss black will probably work well. . flat black would look best i bet, but when it gets dirty, it doesn't clean up well, so the semigloss will clean up better and not be too shiny

 

[Philip]

I would just use krylon spray paint from the cans. Look how long it lasts on the side of box cars on the rail roads. I see the same cars come threw here for a decade or so before they get repainted. LOL





The 3M rubber undercoating is a pretty good product. It sticks good for under body use. I have used it many times.

 

[Blakers]

Any good black enamel should work well. I would use a gloss so dirt doesn't stick to it as bad. Before you spray it, wax your truck so overspray doesn't stick to it. If you use a spray gun, keep the pressure low so you don't make so much fog.

 

[rbattelle]

I did this on my 03 a couple months back. I got a can of flat-black Rustolium and a spray can of the same color. I used a small model brush for the hard-to-reach areas of the front axle-ends and the spray can everywhere else. So far, so good. I did not paint the driveshafts or transmission. Having a rusty driveshaft doesn't bother me very much.

 

[Glen]

Do you think that there would be enough paint weight, drips and runs, to unbalance the drive shaft?

 

[dPierce]

Originally posted by Glen

Do you think that there would be enough paint weight, drips and runs, to unbalance the drive shaft?

I was actually wondering the same thing. It's part of the reason I asked the question, but didn't specifically say that. It doesn't seem possible that spray paint would weigh enough, but I have been wrong once or twice before.

 

[Blakers]

Originally posted by Glen

Do you think that there would be enough paint weight, drips and runs, to unbalance the drive shaft?

NO!

 

[wlowe]

I've used rustoleum for many years to paint my vehicles chassis. Never had it peel off, even on surfaces that were fairly dirty when I painted them. I always paint it first with the rustoleum rusty metal primer, then top coat with black, works great. I also painted the driveshaft on my Ram, no problems. I used spray cans, but brush works good for hard to reach areas. Probably one of the best bombs for the money.



Bill

 

[PCline]

I've had several driveshafts worked on by professionals and they paint them AFTER balancing, so I don't see a problem with painting your driveshafts. Just make sure it's an even, all around coat.

 

[Philip]

If your afraid of throwing the drive shaft out of balance with runs or drips. Just put the truck on jack stands. Start engine and idle in gear. Paint doesn't run very good on a spinning object.



The small amount of out of balance it would cause you wouldn't even see at normal road speeds.