Why we hate road salt

Woody wrote: I had to pop for a new set of snow tires for the Tacoma this week. i pulled the winter wheels out of the barn and they are a mess. Salt got under the wheel weights and destroyed the aluminum. I tried looking for some 16" Toyota takeoffs, but its not a great time of year for finding that kind of stuff.

keep looking, i bought some from an amish lady of all people. going to see if they fit my avalanche, then put 235/85/16 tires on them and paint them black and keep my aluminum wheels out of the salt. i feel sick enough as it is having to drive the truck in the winter, what with going through the trouble of going down south to buy a rust free one.

my BRZ is already showing some orange spots on bolts and muffler (I wonder if the weekly winter car wash is doing more harm than good, washing off whatever greasy oily stuff was on the metal surfaces to begin with from the factory that may have been protecting it).

I spent a few weeks sanding, painting and greasing the bottom of the WRX while the drivetrain was out being worked on, there is a single perforation in the right rear fender where it meets the bumper and wheel-well.

the RS (I've only had it a few weeks) has the rear wheel arch fender rust. so I'm going to get creative and experiment with fiberglass/carbon fiber/kevlar by making up some DIY fender flares/widebody add-ons for it. for fun and profit. well, for fun. =D

I have Fluid Film'd my truck twice now. Amazon sells it.

Road salt is the berkeleying worst. It's 2013, how do we not have a better way to clear snow and ice off our roads by now?

Out here, Waukesha County experimented with some beet juice mixture: . Maybe that'll help if it catches on.

I grew up in Canada, but I wouldn't work on cars if I still lived there. The rustiest cars I see here in VA Beach come from Mannheim auctions in PA. My '75 Datsun looks like a new car compared to the rotor in the first pic! I love snow, but I don't know how you guys do it! Now I know why you all want winter beaters! I thought it was just an excuse to buy more cars!

I grew up in PA and ONT. Then for 20 years I lived all over; including CA, LA, IN, MT, NV, FL, and WA. Now I'm back in PA.

I bought a 1962 Cadillac SDV with over 500k documented miles in CA without a speck of rust. I also have bought a 1985 El Camino with 61,000 documented miles that had a hole rusted through the frame.

It is SO HARD to have grown up here in the restoration industry, then moved to the desert to complete my education.... THEN MOVE BACK TO RUSTVILLE. Jeez it hurts.

I just bought a cheap 02 Dakota with 80k on the clock for $2000. It was a steal, but it has rusty rocker panels. I was thinking back to that 1962 caddy that I bought with 500k miles for $1500 and zero rust.

I HATE rust. Hate it. I grew up with it, then moved to the desert, then moved back. That's like relapsing on Meth.

My buddy and I actually did the math and we figured we could break even if we took a 4-car wedge trailer of cars from the southwest to Carlisle shows.

But breaking even doesn't pay for the beer.

In reply to Tom_Spangler:

Salt is cheap and makes sure people keep buying new cars.

I lived in Chicago until 2008 and since moving to the south west I see cars all the time I havn't seen in like 15 years or more. I see Datsun 510s and things like that which I never saw back there.

Tom_Spangler wrote: I have Fluid Film'd my truck twice now. Amazon sells it. Road salt is the berkeleying worst. It's 2013, how do we not have a better way to clear snow and ice off our roads by now?

How has the Fluid Film been working for your vehicles?

Don't forget the other wonderful thing about salt and cold. Giant pot holes. So not only is your car being eaten alive it gets shaken apart too.

I picked up my '98 Chevy 1-ton van in February of this year. I've put less than 1500-miles on it since then, and it has rust bubbles popping up along the rockers that weren't there when I bought it.

In addition to Michigan salt, I drive 40.2 miles a day on dirt. I feel sorry for anybody that ends up with one of my cars.

Grtechguy wrote: on the other hand.... we don't have very many nasty bugs move into our projects.

Amen to that! Not to mention earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis and what not. Or animals that will eat you.

sethmeister4 wrote: Now I know why you all want winter beaters! I thought it was just an excuse to buy more cars!

Oh it is just an excuse to buy more cars. Just this time it's a good excuse :)

nocones wrote: In reply to ebonyandivory: Serious question what is used diesel? I thought it turned into ash and vapor when used.

I'm not sure what I was thinking there, I believe I meant he used the motor oil of his Powerstroke Diesel.

My mom bought an early 2000s Dodge full size van. The body was mint. 46K on the odo. The frame, steering, and suspension front of the driver's seat mount was made from graham crackers from the looks of it. I was going to replace shocks when I found the rust. I told her "instead of replacing the shocks, I'll sell it for you.
I'm contemplated moving out of MI just so I can have a vehicle for more than 10 years that's driven regularly.

paranoid_android74 wrote:

Grtechguy wrote: on the other hand.... we don't have very many nasty bugs move into our projects.

Amen to that! Not to mention earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis and what not. Or animals that will eat you.

Yeah, that's why I'm still here. There are sucky things about living in Michigan (namely, the proximity to Ohio ), but it's ok. Plus, go to the upper half of the state and it's beautiful!

A car native to the southwest will rust even faster in the north. Years of sand and sun thin the paint and 'sand blast' the under carriage. Now lots of bare / barely protected metal is exposed to the salt....

fasted58 wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: I have Fluid Film'd my truck twice now. Amazon sells it. Road salt is the berkeleying worst. It's 2013, how do we not have a better way to clear snow and ice off our roads by now?

How has the Fluid Film been working for your vehicles?

So far so good, but it's only been a little more than a year since my first application. Still, my then one-year-old truck had some surface rust on the LCAs and crossmembers last summer. I hit them with Rust Bullet and a quick spray of black Rustoleum before putting on the Fluid Film. When I crawled under it to do the FF again a month or so ago, they still looked good.

While I do hate winter and rust, I have to admit the lack of nasty creatures is a nice side benefit.

Over the last 8 years or so I have instituted a "wash the car once a week in the winter" policy and I have to say it really works. My SAAB has spent its entire life in the north, PA and OH, and it is in good shape. Almost 200k on it and the only rust is on the hood where rocks have chipped off the paint from the front edge.

A car or truck driven in the upper Midwest can last by just not driving it in the winter or at least not when there's snow/salt on the roads. A good example is my 1988 Ford E250 club wagon van. I bought it from a local race prep shop in 2002. They bought it new in 1988 and used it to haul their race trailer to local Midwest tracks to both race and permote their business. At 80K the engine (351 V8) needed an overhaul. After that they upgraded to a van with a bigger engine and this one became their "shop van". The van was driven very little in the winter and it was parked indoors. After I bought it, it had always been parked outdoors but not driven at all in the winter. To date the paint is faded but the only rust through of the body is at the bottom of the sliding door in two places, both are no bigger then a quarter. The rest of the van is solid.

curtis73 wrote: But breaking even doesn't pay for the beer.

How is that "breaking even" then?!

curtis73 wrote: My buddy and I actually did the math and we figured we could break even if we took a 4-car wedge trailer of cars from the southwest to Carlisle shows.

The guy I bought my truck from back in 2007 had a line of pick-up truck beds on his lot. When I asked about them he said, "yeah... once every year or two, we make a trip out West to junk yards and bring back a half-dozen rust free beds and sell them here (bumble-berk western PA) for 3x as much."

My next project car comes from AZ, no exceptions. I will rebuild a transmission with a stubby screwdriver and an ice pick before I do rust repair again.