how to protect your rig from salt damage??

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strutaeng

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I asked why a coating isn't the best option on the garage journal forum and guys up north mentioned the rock chips. I guess that's a valid point...they seem to prefer a wax-type of coating, but the issue I see is you have to constantly be reapplying it. I've watched videos and guys say it takes up to 2 hours for a thorough job and really messy. Yikes.

We don't have rust here (mainly just surface oxidation), so I can't speak from experience, at least not automotive.

I do deal with corrosion on buildings at my job. Either steel framing, or rebar corrosion. In that industry, coatings are what we specify: epoxies, 2k, alkyd, and other specialized coatings. Obviously, we can't have a contractor apply a wax annually or whatever. Service life is typically 20 years, but may more than 50 years. Some buildings I've looked at are like from the 1920s.

I was watching a Nova show on the Eiffel Tower recently. They mentioned it had 19 coats of paint since it was built, average like 6 years per coat, or something like that! Imagine applying fluid film on that thing twice a year, LoL.

Sorry if this doesn't really help much...but here's the video if anyone wants to watch it. I found it fascinating, especially since it was built...like 135 years ago!

 
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Jocko PDX

Jocko PDX

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Here in Oregon, I believe the liquid and salt is only used in the passes and higher elevations where there is enough traffic. I hardly ever go thru the passes, so I don't worry about it. I do warn the people that I work on cars/trucks for, if there is rust caused by the salt or whatever it is, I do not guarantee that I might have to deal with it and charge accordingly. If you live at the coast around here, there is salt in the air and that leaves surface rust on all kinds of surfaces.
The city of Portland uses salt now as well. That is where I live. The following is from KGW news article:

There was indeed a time not that long ago when PBOT and ODOT both avoided putting down road salt, mainly for environmental reasons. Salt can damage roads and bridges or build up in streams and rivers, and it's not great for cars either.
Oregon's relatively mild winters made it easier to get by without salt, but ODOT began testing salt in 2012 in response to more frequent snow and ice events.
PBOT eventually followed suit, and a big catalyst for the change was the exceptionally strong winter season in December 2016 and January 2017, when icy gridlock kept the roads clogged for days and public frustration with the saltless city reached a fever pitch.
Not long after, then-Commissioner Dan Saltzman announced that he was revamping PBOT's winter storm strategy to add more plow routes and expand the use of road salt for future weather events.
Today, salt is a regular tool in Oregon's winter weather toolbox. When a major ice storm was closing in on Portland in 2022, PBOT and ODOT both told KGW that they would have salt ready to deploy along specific routes, along with magnesium chloride deicer and sand.
During the February 2023 snowstorm, PBOT said it had responded to the current winter storm by applying 45 tons of salt, plus 8,000 gallons of deicer, along the city's priority snow routes.
The city has also published an FAQ for residents and business owners about how the help minimize the environmental impact of wintertime salt.
 

OR VietVet

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Politicians do not mind damaging your vehicles with the salt. Suttle references about climate problems stroke the very liberal Portland politicians with nary a care for Oregon vehicles. Effffffffing idiots.
 
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Jocko PDX

Jocko PDX

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Politicians do not mind damaging your vehicles with the salt. Suttle references about climate problems stroke the very liberal Portland politicians with nary a care for Oregon vehicles. Effffffffing idiots.
yes I think it is silly to use salt on roads in PDX when we get only a few days of snow every year. The big problem is that Portland drivers suck..
 

StephenPT

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yes I think it is silly to use salt on roads in PDX when we get only a few days of snow every year. The big problem is that Portland drivers suck..
I think it was about 2016 - I made it to the office and there was no snow, as the day went snow started to accumulate. By the time I got out of my meetings, the Fremont was complete grid-lock. I had to go home via the St. Johns bridge and my normally 35min commute home took 3.5hrs. Some other co-workers didn't get out as soon and ended up sleeping at the office.
 

WalleyeMikeIII

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This is why I live in MN!
Yes, they salt the heck out of the roads, but we can get 14-16 inches and 24 hrs later everything is cleared. And, people actually learn how to drive in snow. Now, about the corrosion…fortunately it slows way down when the temps are -10 or -20!!

Yukon 4WD and some Blizzaks and you can get through most things…Wash often in the winter. Figure 8-10 years max on a vehicle and trade it…
 

OR VietVet

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yes I think it is silly to use salt on roads in PDX when we get only a few days of snow every year. The big problem is that Portland drivers suck..
I am well aware of Portland driver habits. I live in Eugene. I absolutely hate driving around here and stay the hell away from Portland altogether. Freakin' idiots up there. Not you though, I am sure.
 

OR VietVet

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I think it was about 2016 - I made it to the office and there was no snow, as the day went snow started to accumulate. By the time I got out of my meetings, the Fremont was complete grid-lock. I had to go home via the St. Johns bridge and my normally 35min commute home took 3.5hrs. Some other co-workers didn't get out as soon and ended up sleeping at the office.
Came from KC, Mo. area and learned a long time ago how to drive in ice and snow.
 

NothEastTahoe

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NH Oil, and if you can't find that, get fluid film. Re-apply every 1-2 years. Your truck will be brand new underneath, besides your exhaust, forever. Yes it is messy to work on, but lets be real, you ain't working on your yukon, and neither is anyone else with a new model on this forum. Application is messy as well. There are guys who will do it in their driveway, and companies as well. I would recommend that. I wouldn't personally do it myself due to the mess and disposal of all the product after. Let the tech deal with it.

In Mass, where things are expensive, it cost me $250 dollars for my Yukon and same for my truck. They did raise their prices two days after I got it done again to $280.

Rubber coatings are bad and will destroy your frame, as another poster mentioned. Do not ever do that. Anyone thinking it was smart, go take it off your truck right now, you were lied to.

https://nhoilundercoating.com/ this is the NH oil the place I go to uses. Woolwax is another very popular brand.


you can mail me $10 for these wonderful life lessons if you feel like it.
 
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