General Category > General Discussion
Road Salt
Two Checks:
What really eats car bodies is the calcium chloride they must add to salt when temps get really low. Salt becomes ineffective below certain temps.
When I worked at MODoT in the 70s I saw a bridge I beam eaten clean through by the stuff.
Rough Edge racing:
97 and 99 Jeep Cherokees....99 is from Maryland and more or less not rusty and not driven much in the winter.The 97 has escaped the worst of the rust still is solid underneath.
New vehicles last a lot longer than they used to. When I moved to western NY state in the mid 70's, Japanese cars had holes after two winters along with some other well known rusters like Vegas,many Ford cars and Dusters. GM vehicles seem to rust more gracefully so to speak....
Even today when you see an 80's total rust bucket still on the road it has a GM nameplate....Everyt hing else is long gone...
Nic in Western NYS:
Daily driver is 2007 Ford 500 - 151000 miles, has had fender work for rust, will need more this spring. That car was bought new and cared for well but in north central MA, where the winters are harsh. We bought a used 2005 Ford Freestyle, which is the wagon version of the Ford 500 which had been owned and cared for well in southern CT, a much milder climate. No rust issues at all at 105k miles.
My 2002 Ford F150 of questionable pedigree is also known as "Dad's Rust Bucket" - it has 84K miles and spent its rough youth in Maine.
Sasquatch Jim:
Rock salt use is promoted by auto manufacturers to shot peen undercoating from vehicles and corrode them faster.
That way they sell you a new vehicle sooner. It is a method perfected in cleveland because they have at least two major auto assembly plants nearby and a salt mine under the city. By the way they also have a large number of bridges condemned because of corrosion.
GearheadGrrrl:
I've got a '97 Ranger in Minnesota, same problem- spare tire hasn't fallen off yet, but I carry it in the bed now just in case. The cab looks like new except for some surface rust on the bottom of the doors, but all kinds of brake parts have rusted out and I've thus replaced most of the rear brakes, lines and all. While I had the bed off to fix the brakes I repainted the frame and bottom of the bed with Rustoleum primer, so far it will pass the Toyota "ball peen hammer test". When I hooked the chain from my hoist into one of the bolt holes in the bed it started to tear through the rusty metal, so I think I'm going to put some treated plywood on the floor to make sure nothing falls through. At this point I suspect the Ranger has only a couple years use left in the frame, kind of a shame 'cause it's only got 90k miles on it. BTW, a lot of pickups in the rust belt have this problem, and old pickups tend to be money pits... I'm debating if this one is worth some cheap new tires!
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