Motoring Discussion > Dinitrol versus Waxoyl, anything else out there. Miscellaneous
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 Dinitrol versus Waxoyl, anything else out there. - -
This was going to be a reply to Madf in Technical on Zookeepers rusty tie rods thread, however i got a bit carried away, unusual i know..;) and thought i'd better start a new thread as i'd really like to know if Dinitrol is worth the extra and where to get it if it is, and how best to use it, or is there anything else affordable and easy to buy.

I know our old and much missed mate Oilrag used to use Castrol CL waterproof grease, which although does a good job where it's put is obviously for painting only and presumably not good for rubber parts, so you can't just slosh it about willy nilly.

Keep hearing Dinitrol mentioned, and to be fair Waxoyl's underseal compound which contains Waxoyl isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread, it's only reasonably weatherproof IMO, but it and normal Waxoyl are the only thing i've used in volume.

I often buy the Lidl's anti rust aerosols when they are on sale, cheap as chips and useful for an instant powerful jet to get to awkward places without having to set up the full Waxoyl spraying kit, probably not in the least weatherproof but not bad as a temporary quick fix and certainly better than nowt, when for instance you get your mitts on a daughters car for the ten minutes she thinks a full service, inspection and reline take..;)...i managed to get it for 30 hours this time, amazing.

Is Dinitrol good for hand painting/sloshing in and around as well as spraying?, if so where's the best place to buy it and which version and how best to use it please?

Most of the professional rustproofers use Waxoyl, price or knowledge?.

Anything, including a good painting with Hammerite on the heavy wear parts is better than nothing, some of pics i see on various forums of car underbodies, where owners of often expensive modern cars are showing shocker leaks etc are truly shocking for the amount of rust.

Suspension wishbones and steering components, springs, brake calipers, brake proportioning valves particularly, axles, subframes, shocker mounts all rusted to hell, not to mention rusted exhausts that could have their life prolonged with a rub down or wire brushing and bit of paint over the welds.

Yet they show topside pics of their pride and joy and it's polished till the pips squeak, clayed then waxed with the most expensive available and lovingly wiped over with the finest microfibre, even taking pics of water beading to show how good the protection is.

Meanwhile underneath in the important bits there is total neglect except for the polished plastic engine cover..;), the poor car never gets a wash down underneath after the winter's salt is gone, the wheelarches are full of salty mud, the brake pipes are corroding constantly...i just don't get it....some MB air suspension shocks are a grand apiece apparently.

Anti rust treating for us home mechs has changed over the years, we didn't need to bother too much with suspensions on old stuff, they were relatively simple and heavily made things, it was the bodies and separate or integral chassis/sills that rotted and scrapped the car.

Not saying that normal underbody suspension corrosion will scrap a car, but we can make our cars much easier and cheaper to maintain with a bit of waxoyl type stuff protecting it, everything won't be seized solid and half the bolts won't snap off causing all sorts of headaches, and you won't have the task of fitting a new brake pipe over the rear suspension which can mean dropping the whole subframe on some.

Indeed another question, does anyone bother anymore, i can understand those who buy new often not doing anything like this and obviously company car drivers.

Why do owners of long term self paid for cars not bother to look after them?
 Dinitrol versus Waxoyl, anything else out there. - Old Navy
I have no personal knowledge of them but have seen this outfit recommended in magazines and on forums.

It seems to be more about preparation and application than the product used.

www.jrclassics.co.uk/
 Dinitrol versus Waxoyl, anything else out there. - -
Thanks Navy, i've seen them before and indeed have decided to give them a try if we go down the pro route again.

From their site they use Waxoyl as the default product, but will use Dinitrol if the customer requests.

If you recall we had the pick up pro rustproofed, a daunting home task given the size of the chassis and underbody involved, i thought we might be the only ones to consider such a thing these days, but the few places that do this work are surprisingly busy, and it's not all classic or unusual cars either, a goodly number of vans and especially motorhomes get rustproofed too.
 Dinitrol versus Waxoyl, anything else out there. - Dave
No waxoyl available here, only Dinitrol ans some other unknown (to me) brands.

My pickup came from the docks with extra dinitrol, and they seem to have done a pretty good job, as there's evidence of it in all the right places. They also do the underneath in a shiny black that I've not been able to find in the shops. The main problem is they apply it to the standard thai paint underneath, which in itself isn't very good at sticking to the metal. The truck has only seen one winter, before being stored for subsequent winters. and did ok. But quite a few places needed touching up.

Ii also did my Landcruiser myself with Dinitrol. It wasn't the easiest job, as there was some flaky rust and peeling underseal. On the rustyish stuff I used a very thin dinitrol, bit like WD40, which is supposed to get into the rust, ready to be oversprayed with another dinitrol product. For the low impact areas I used Kombi wax 77 ( I think), and the high wear areas a thick matt black product that sticks like poo to a blanket. Again, it doesn't see any salt now, but has held pretty well. Plenty of touchup has been required, but only for areas that got missed, flaky rust, or flaky original underseal.

However, I've used the clear dinitrol stuff in a number of exposed, but not high wear places, and it doesn't appear to have performed very well. I fitted a nearly new 2nd hand towbar, that obviously hadn't seen a winter, to my rusty skoda winter car. So it had good quality nuts and bolts, and coated them all with the clear dinitrol. At the MOT yesterday, which it passed with flying colours (god knows how), all the towbar bolts were pretty rusty. I also had the same thing happen with cheap over centre locks I fitted to the trailer, although much worse. So my thinking is that cheap metal is already on it's way to rust. Although I would have thought that a good layer of wax would have prevented moisture getting there and allowing further rust.

On the way home from the MOT I stopped at the car place and bought a tin of black wax from a company called Hagmans. It was extremely thin, like WD 40 almost, and sprayed the towbar bolts again.

A couple of things to note though. I tried the dinitrol through a sprayer, and it was a mess. It sprays ok, unlike waxoyl, but it's much easier, and no more expensive, to just buy the aerosols. Nothing to set up, clean etc.

Also, the winter environment here is extremely tough. On the main roads, they use a salt slurry (no grit) mixed with something else (I think something like molases), to help it stick around longer and not get washed away. The result is it's very diffiult to get off the car - plain wated just doesn't wash it away. Also, for at least 3 months it's well below freezing day and night, so the stuff is on the car for a long time. Another factor is the studs on the tyres throw up dust from the stone used in road material, and it sets like concrete underneath the car. So basically, the salt and muck is stuck to the metal for at least 3 months. Stuff that would slowly rust over few years or so in England, is red wet rust in a few months winter use here.
 Dinitrol versus Waxoyl, anything else out there. - madf
I use Dintrol 4941 like this:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DINITROL-4941-UNDERBODY-COATING-1-LITRE-BRAND-NEW-/380364579534?pt=UK_Body_Shop_Supplies_Paint&hash=item588f7ee2ce

But I thin with white spirits and apply by brush. It hardens and becomes rather like a coat of very strong chewing gum!

I have used the aerosols but they are much thinner and in my view more expensive.

(I always immerse the can in hot water or place in sun if it's cold.. before using).

Edit:

I have also used black sprayable Waxoil and that seems more durable.. coated the yaris filler pipes in it - under the rear arch and subject to rust/stones etc...Lasted 2 years OK so far.

Last edited by: madf on Tue 18 Oct 11 at 14:01
 Dinitrol versus Waxoyl, anything else out there. - -
Thanks chaps.

Dave your experiences of Dinitrol arn't convincing me it's the business to be honest, though take on board your findings with the pick up's chassis paint, if you can't get to the steel the coating is only as good as the original.
I ended up stripping and painting the prop shaft after one winter on the Hilux, that was made in South Africa presumably the chassis paint only as good the Thai stuff on your Isuzu, there seemed to be no undercoat or dip at all, simply a light application of also ran black paint to the whole underside..

The pro's used a very heavy black Waxoyl on my pick up underbody (clear very thin normal inside sections), good coating too, it only needed minimal touch ups around the heavy wear areas after the subsequent winter's...seeing other newer Hilux's recently it's definately worth doing to separate chassised 4x4's if you intend to keeping.
Not cheap in pure money terms, but then good quality work is valued not by cost alone.

That salt mix where you are sounds pretty awful stuff, it'll be in the nooks and crannies forever unless an annual full hot steam cleaner is used.

Madf, the black Waxoyl does seem more durable, certainly takes some getting off your hair, eyes, skin, clothes, car seats and in house carpets..;)

The price of Dinitrol is quite eye watering, can get 5 litres Waxoyl for £20 to £25, so it's still my default choice at the moment, don't mind sloshing a fresh lot around the heavy wear areas annually when it's half or less the price.

Are you seeing that much better wear rate from Dinitrol to make it worth the extra?
 Dinitrol versus Waxoyl, anything else out there. - Dave
Yeah, the dinitrol seems to be better for inside out rust. But lets face it, not many cars rust from outside in, so I guess that's all it needs to do. But for cosmetics, it could be better.

Just had a look in the cellar, and the very thin pre-coat dinitrol is called ML, and certainly gets in the nooks and crannies, and seems to penetrate light existing rust well.

There's quite a few Dinitrol Centres here that will give a long warranty on rusting through. Although their warranty may be worth about as much as the manufacturers. But I know that Dinitrol provide them with extensive drawings and diagrams on all vehicles about where to put the stuff, drill extra holes into box sections etc.

The guy who owns the farm down the road has an old Jeep Grand Cherokee ('92/93 maybe). Now they're not exactly renowned for being rust free at that age, but his is still in really good condition. He does nothing to it, and drives it all year round. He had it Dinitroled at the local centre when it was new, so maybe it does work.

The reason new Isuzu's are dinitroled before delivery is that Isuzu imported pickups some 20 years ago, and within 5 or 6 years some rusted through the chassis and broke in half. Isuzu then withdrew from the market with a terrible reputation and only returned in 2008. Mindful of this, they went the dinitrol route as it is tried and tested in the marketplace.
 Dinitrol versus Waxoyl, anything else out there. - -
For chassis i don't think you can beat Hammerite sprayed onto bare metal, well unless you have the funds to go down specialist paint process routes.

Haulier i worked for some 25/30 years ago had by far the best maintained fleet in the county, well presented too, every year or two at the most depending on condition the truck chassis were shot blasted and spray painted with standard chassis black, you never see this now unless owner drivers have a truck they want to keep very long term.
I persuaded the gaffer to try one with Hammerite, which was duly shot blasted and sprayed, i drove that for about 3 years on and off road and the chassis still looked like brand new, a spin off from this was that road film and dirt didn't stick to the finish unlike the chassis black which soon became quite matt, a 2 minute blast with the pressure washer saw dirt simply fall off.
Hammered finish better than the smooth for this application.

Dinitrol sounds like it's doing the business from inside though.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Tue 18 Oct 11 at 15:55
 Dinitrol versus Waxoyl, anything else out there. - corax
I've never used this, but might be worth a try

www.frost.co.uk/automotive-rust-products/por15-rust-solutions.html

Also a few products here for rust removal and prevention. Their clay bars are good (sorry GB, but I do tend to the underneath as well - there's usually a more interesting view from there as well :) Never used them as my cars haven't been that bad.

www.bilthamber.com/search-products.php?cname=Corrosion%20Removal

I use waxoyl on brake pipes though. I found out the hard way the consequences if you neglect them on an older car. Saying that I had the starting of corrosion on the rear nearside brake pipe on my four year old (but high mileage) Avensis where it bends sharply after leaving the wheel arch. The plastic coating had been weakened and was peeling off.
Last edited by: corax on Tue 18 Oct 11 at 17:59
 Dinitrol versus Waxoyl, anything else out there. - -
Thanks for those links Corax, the Bilt Hamer rust converter stuff looks interesting, will have to do some more reading up.

Still a big price gap between Waxoyl and Dinitrol's products, i'd like to see some comparison tests, Bilt Hamer's bumf mention some test they were awarded a Best Buy on, i'll have a poke nose to see if the other two featured.

Good point about plastic coated brake pipes, a bit of the old underseal problem there, problems covered not cured, could easily be a difficult weekends work or indeed some danger lurking in hidden areas.

Just how many brake pipes/joints have you twisted up until you get to a pipe that will undo, i've ended up halfway round a neglected car for one dodgy pipe before now.
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