What are members doing for undercarriage cleaning of road salt on daily drivers? The amount of sticky brine used in the Northeast is huge and it takes its' toll via corrosion.

How do you remove it?

Do you do anything pre-emptive before the season?

I've used a lawn sprinkler under the car in the past. Been thinking about connecting the sprinkler to warm water at the end of the season.

Thanks in advance...

 

Once the storm goes, I hit up a self service car wash with a wand.

 

its a daily replace every 10 years
Its a rare day i wash my daily in winter in Massachusetts, the very next day is likely to have the same accumulation under the car

 

My wife and I have car wash that we pay $30 each/month and we get the works, including under carriage wash and hot wax, we can wash once a day if needed. I do touch up the shitty frame coating twice a year from GM on wifes truck. Mine I have only done once in 3 years.

Pat

 

Touchless laser guided car washes here have high pressure undercarriage wash option. I take mine thru one of those every so often.

For years this part of Virginia didn't salt roads. Now if somebody says snowflake they're out with the brine trucks.

 

Lots of Fluidfilm.

 

I know, right? I've seen the salt trucks here out in the middle of a rainstorm.

I just hit the self-serve car wash every week or so (depending on the weather) and go around the perimeter of the vehicle with the pressure wand, reaching underneath and into all the nooks and crannies as best I can. Every other trip, I take it through the touchless wash with undercarriage rinse and wax/sealer. That's as good as it's going to get, and it seems like it's good enough, as my 2002 Dodge Dakota, 2005 Mazda Tribute and my wife's 2014 Mazda 2 all show no apparent signs of rust.

 

Ryobi has an attachment for a power washers that washes the undercarriage of many things including cars/trucks. I personally do not have this but plan to soon. Reviews on HD seem good.

Ed

 

First, get your daily treated annually with Krown or Corrosion Free. Do not use the other brand that uses driveway tar that begins with a Z.

Water can be just as bad as salt in certain areas.

Once it's properly sauced keep the water away from the chassis nooks and crannies until summer. Then crawl under it with the hose or put it on a lift and rinse the living schizt out of it.
On a pick-up keep the water out of the rear inner fenders. Look at all the 5-year-old trucks rotting in that area. There's a sponge-like material in all makes. I think it's done purposefully to keep you buying trucks.

A used vehicle should be cleaned real good before Krowning

https://www.krown.com/en/
https://corrosionfree.com/?v=7516fd43adaa

Here is my 11 F250 after a fresh saucing..that's 10 years fo driving in this schizt.. Note the added Ford plastic inner wheel wells. $130. Only the Platinums come with them standard???
You desert guys got it soo good!

 

Thanks everyone, lots of good info. The pressure washer attachment is now on my list.

drolsmorland I have an 11 F250 6.2L gas from northern Texas, it doesn't go out in bad wx. Its for pulling the RV. Thanks for the info and pics.

 

My friend's vehicle at about 10 years of daily use in this area. He say's he doesn't need no stinking rockers. On his Silverado even his rear end cover rusted through, I did think that was possible. Although my power steering reservoir and oil pan rusted through on my old Caprice at 10 years.
Regular washing can't seem to combat 3 times a day road salting. I've come to regard daily drivers as expensive disposables.

 

Damn. Glad I don't have to deal with that. Use early/mid nineties Buicks as daily drivers, good cars if they have the IRON Buick 90 degree V-6. The stuff that is discarded down here is simply amazing. Much of it could be easily fixed, and kept on the road.

 

Jeez, if I wanted to go to all that effort, I'd just drive my Oldsmobile year-round!

 

I'm immensely jealous of you guys in dry, snow-free climates! I guess the thread was started regarding cleaning. But for protection I've been using this CRC 06026 Heavy Duty Marine Corrosion Inhibitor. I believe it's basically a light amber cosmoline. Drys to a wax-like film. Doesn't wash away like some of the oil materials and has some abrasion resistance. Last purchase was for a case of 10 at about $10 each from a place that caters to boaters. I also use it on select areas of my Olds restoration like some of the black oxide suspension fasteners.

 

My current everyday driver, an 07 Grand Marquis, sat unused during the first 6 winters. For the past 5 years I've been using fluid film on the underside. I pour a mixture of oil into the rocker panels and drilled a hole on the engine side into the front fenders over the wheel wells to spray inside. I have some minor surface rust underneath but not bad for a 14 year old car around here. When we get really good all day downpours I drive around for a half hour or more to flush off the salt. Come spring I stick a hose into the rocker panels, front and rear fenders etc. There is no point in washing my car during the winter unless the roads remain dry. The rain and washing doesn't remove the fluid film. much of it is still there come fall. A mixture of marvels mystery oil and boiled linseed oil is also a good treatment.

 

Not bragging but in my area of California we don't use salt on the roads and we get snow. All my cars are basically rust free because of that, it's usually not a issue. I have little experience with rust repair and the stuff scares me away when looking for a new project . I really respect those who tackle those rusty heaps with rotted out frames and wheel arches with the Fred Flintstone floor boards. The extra hours and expense you guys put in must be horrendous, how do you figure your cost when making a bid?....Tedd

 

My prior daily driver was a 2003 Buick LeSabre. It was a very good car and with snow tires, unbelievably good in our hilly area. I rinsed out the wheel wells and the underside typically twice per week in Winter. The body stayed quite respectable but not the underside. I had to replace all the brake lines and the transmission cooler lines. Got into the routine of replacing brake rotors every summer. And it was Ziebarted!
These were supposedly NAPA premium rotors, 2 winters and about 12,000 miles. Chunks flaking off of the surface. I was wondering why I had a pulsating pedal. The struts were also 2 winters and maybe 18,000 miles. The strut collapsed (spring plate broke at the weld) driving home from work one day so that the tire was rubbing on it. It's so ridiculous my car friends here just laugh about--we all have similar stories. What else can you do? Walk or move.

 

Used to wonder why guys in the rust belt would come here and buy cars we had written off as unrestorable. Then I went to Lansing for the Centennial and saw 3 year old cars with quarters and fenders rusted halfway up the panel and flapping in the wind.

It suddenly made sense. Our definition of rusty was a lot different than rust belt definition.

I have a cousin who has a used car dealership in Norwich NY. His mama was born here and he has all his VA/NC kinfolk looking out for good rust-free southern cars. His brother lives in Phoenix and he goes out there car hunting once a year. Bro finds, buys and stores the cars till he can get out there.

 

I sprayed a bunch or 3M internal panel rust protection in the doors and rockers of my 06 ram when I first got it. My wife was pissed when she came home to find me tearing apart my brand new truck! I set up a oscillating sprinkler under the truck every spring, and a couple times during the winter if we get warm stretches. The only rust I had was a couple of tiny pinholes above the rear wheel houses. That was fixed with the replacement bedsides I had installed after getting t boned. , when I get my next truck I’ll be spraying a bunch of the 3M stuff in there as well.

I dont daily drive the truck anymore. I’d recommend to anyone who has plans to keep a vehicle long term to definitely take steps to preserve it. It’s much cheaper and easier to prevent the rust than to deal with it once it’s gotten a hold of your car.

 

Keeping the vehicle wet plus the rigors of salt/slush etc, = accelerated rust.
In the rot belt, they never get a chance to dry out. Even summers can be humid/damp/rainy. Then add salt to the wounds. That's 4-6 months of continuous water & salt with the potential of 12 months of swampage.
Nothing will survive that. The tin worms will prevail.

Sure, every now and then a trip through the car wash or your hose in the driveway is ok, just to see what color it is and see out the windows.
Refrain from soaking down the inner body structures, frame, etc until summer.

If anything needs weekly flushing it's the radiator unless it's gonna be below 30*F. The water will freeze expand and crack the rad. Salt spray from tailgating is sucked up well by the rad. Then add heat to accelerate.
I've learned to not wash the underside until summer (treated with the Krown). I have the mental data to compare. I have learned this the hard way, is there another way?

I can not understand why a person would buy (not lease) a brandy new F350 King Ranch at $80K+ and drive it out the door with zero aftermarket rust inhibitor applier to the whole truck. Unless you have a 7-8 digit income.
They rust the minute they roll out the factory door.

Arizona residents disregard all of this, the sun/heat is your enemy...still envious.