Have KDSS? Check this out!

[Dianna]

I have a 2014 Trail Premium. I live in NE Ohio where they use salt brine and it's extremely corrosive but I wash my truck religiously in the winter and I use a couple of gallons of WoolWax on the undercarriage before the snow flies. I read a post here about someone having a leak near the KDSS module because it was packed with mud so I had planned on pulling the module cover and checking mine when I was prepping to apply the WoolWax. I am horrified at what I found! I'm going to POR15 the lines and coat everything down with WoolWax and check it every few months from now on. I wish I could give credit to whomever posted about the rust issue under the module cover, but I read that a while back and am not kicking myself for not checking mine sooner. I assume this is galvanic corrosion caused from two dissimilar metals. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. The module is made of aluminum and the cover is steel, but I think the void being filled with dirt/salt allowed the metals to be "in contact." Anyway, I urge y'all to take that cover off, it's just 2 12mm bolts under the drivers door and keep that area free of mud, salt, the remnants of the animal that darted under your wheel... should be part of your regular maintenance!

 

[JoeBand]

Damn! I hope that cleans up well for you.

I can second that taking the cover off should be easy to keep an eye on it. when i removed mine to put on my sliders, it took just a minute.

best of luck.

 

[02SE]

There is such a thing as galvanic corrosion, but that's dissimilar metals in contact with each other. You can see where they were in contact isn't too bad.

This is just salt left to sit in the area for extended periods of time.

 

[Matt831]

That is one of the worst I have seen posted.

I make it a habit to take off the cover twice per year and wool wax the unit when doing the rest of the truck.

I believe Wool Wax also recommends to not do any undercarriage high pressure cleaning in the winter when their product is applied.

Hopefully you get that cleaned up and protected before there is a problem. I imagine that there are many trucks out there in similar conditions with owners that have no idea.

 

[Dianna]

I haven't had an issue with the WoolWax washing off with a high pressure undercarriage wash. One of the reasons why I prefer it over Fluid Film.

 

[Jivewalker]

In the Land Cruiser world we cover the valve and body with marine grease.

 

[baldrik78]

I've pulled the cover off my KDSS module a number of times and it looks nothing like that. But I also don't live in the rust belt.

 

[bluebullet]

That happened to me on my 2011 Trail. They suggested I apply dielectric grease to the contacts. Repair estimate was $3K for a $1.7K option. I traded it in for a 2020 ORP and just purchased the 10 yr (3 +7) warranty for $1,360 ($0 deductible) before the 3 year warranty expired. Next time it will be on Toyota.

Pretty hard to fight the mag. chloride here in NW Montana. Drives the truckers crazy.

 

[CutthroatSlam]

Those lines are toast. Such a bad design.

 

[Dianna]

Shush, lol. POR15 is saving those lines!!! Fingers crossed...

 

[Dianna]

I thought for a sec about trading this in for a new one until I just looked up current MSRP, and nothing available near me. Everything is "in transit." So many other things I'd rather spend 25k on that isn't any different (other than this KDSS mess) than what I have!

 

[baldrik78]

I thought for a sec about trading this in for a new one until I just looked up current MSRP, and nothing available near me. Everything is "in transit." So many other things I'd rather spend 25k on that isn't any different (other than this KDSS mess) than what I have!

If it was me, and my KDSS system looked like that, I'd ditch the system entirely and get a local fabricator to install an antirock in the rear and call it a day.

 

[Ripper238]

Well that certainly doesn't look great, impressed no issues with it looking like that though. Ill make sure I check mine now and then.

My question is what the hell is WoolWax??? Is it from sheep's wool? lol

 

[Jivewalker]

My question is what the hell is WoolWax??? Is it from sheep's wool? lol

Lanolin based corrosion protector. FluidFilm is a popular brand name, I spray the underside of my LC with it annually. It smells for a while but does a great job and is easily washed off if needed.

 

[Turfboy]

Let’s see the after pics :becky:

 

[Matt831]

Well that certainly doesn't look great, impressed no issues with it looking like that though. Ill make sure I check mine now and then.

My question is what the hell is WoolWax??? Is it from sheep's wool? lol

Welcome to Woolwaxusa - WoolWax Lanolin Auto Undercoating

 

[Dianna]

Well that certainly doesn't look great, impressed no issues with it looking like that though. Ill make sure I check mine now and then.

My question is what the hell is WoolWax??? Is it from sheep's wool? lol

WoolWax is made by the same manufacturer as fluid film but is thicker. You can see the product in the surrounding area in my pics and that was applied a year ago. Great stuff! And yes to sheeps wool, lol, kind of... it's lanolin based

 

[Dianna]

Some advice please!

Well the lines look pretty good, I was pleasantly surprised, but I'm pretty horrified at how much aluminum is missing from the module where that front line enters. I would like to add some material there, what do you suggest? Looks like JB Weld Water Weld epoxy putty might work pretty well.

 

[Turfboy]

Is the aluminum eaten away on the left side so much it is exposing additional threads? If so Wow! :fear: Otherwise it cleaned up nicely .

 

[02SE]

As long as you can keep the aluminum from corroding any more, I'd leave it alone.