Those Of You That Live In The Rustbelt

67mike · December 15, 2009

Living here in WI the winter months can be hell on your truck with all the salt and sand. I have a hard time taking my truck out in these conditions. The new liquid type salt that they use gets EVERYWHERE! I go to the car wash and by the time I get home the truck has salt on it again! I hate to have my truck start rusting and looking like hell in a few years.

What do you guys do?? Any of you guys park/store your truck for the winter?

Or just drive it and not worry. Is rustproofing worth it?

snarkee · December 15, 2009

undercoat it and try to wash it once a week....other than that there isnt much else u can do....that liquid salt is like glue

trucc_boi · December 15, 2009

move to texas

Silverado4x4 · December 15, 2009

Sometimes what I will do is get the hose out and buy one of those lawn sprinklers that go back ad forth put it up under the truck and turn the hose on for about 2-3 minutes, this will flush all the junk out from the bottom then start the truck up and let it run for awhile to help dry the bottom. Why would you not drive or store a truck during these times? Its a truck not a flower in the garden.

desrtrat · December 15, 2009

beat me to it..

when i lived in NY on good days it was washed good, top and bottom. i used a lawn sprinkler the one that spins around, and would place it under my car/truck and move it back and forth on full pressure for about 10 min. at a time. worked good for me..

BuckFeverZ · December 15, 2009

Washing it at least once every two weeks should help out greatly. Otherwise I don't worry about it too much.

Oh, seeing as you're from WI, you should buy my wheels and tires posted in the For Sale section

d3athsong · December 15, 2009

I just drive it and don't worry about it. It's supposed to get above freezing for 1 day this week so I'll probably wash it then. But it will probably not get washed again for a month or 2. Then again, they use mostly sand and try to keep the salt to a minumum around here.

67mike · December 15, 2009

Why would you not drive or store a truck during these times? Its a truck not a flower in the garden.

Funny, thats what my friends say.

I know its just a truck. But when we have to pay $35-40,000 new for these trucks these days, you would like to keep it looking at least like a $20,000 truck as long as possibile.

T Loz · December 15, 2009

Why would you not drive or store a truck during these times? Its a truck not a flower in the garden.

Well I'm not to far away from Wisconsin...Up here in Thunder Bay, On. as I write this it's about -35C with the wind chill..And I washed my truck to-day....Always do when it's this cold...Have done it for 30 yrs....The vehicle stays clean longer...Drive out of the car wash...Park it...open all doors and windows and the hood...Let stand for 5 min then close ...Ice breaks and everything works...as for the salt issue I rust proof with a enviromentally friendly gel..I do it every 2 yrs... When I sold my 97 GMC this year there was no rust anywhere.......

Funny, thats what my friends say.

I know its just a truck. But when we have to pay $35-40,000 new for these trucks these days, you would like to keep it looking at least like a $20,000 truck as long as possibile.

56kz2slow · December 15, 2009

I might ruffle some feathers, but buy a Nissan instead. My 2002 Xterra at 170,000Km had less rust on the frame then the 2007 Sierra at 60,000Km I traded it for 3 months ago. I compared the two on the day of the trade.

Probably would still have the Xterra if it had a V8, a truck box and a 7000lbs towing capacity.

d3athsong · December 15, 2009

Funny, thats what my friends say.

I know its just a truck. But when we have to pay $35-40,000 new for these trucks these days, you would like to keep it looking at least like a $20,000 truck as long as possibile.

So 2-3 years then?

fuzzyfurlong · December 15, 2009

krown coat, rust check,oil guard. they all work . as long as you have it done once a year. My last truck never had a spot of rust on it anywhere. ( 7 years old) I live in Newfoundland and my black truck is white with salt all winter . i also live close enought to the ocean that I have to wash salt from ocean spray off the windows of my house and truck.

I always have my truck sprayed just before winter. and I don't clean the overspray off .

dzrick · December 16, 2009

Buy while it looks like this.

20 years later put a plow on it and make it your winter rat.

And buy another.

sshoureas · December 16, 2009

Now out of curiousity why would you think Nissan steel would rust any less that any other manufacturers steel ? Geez, if Nissan trucks were so good they wouldn't be partnering with DODGE to build their next truck. Their Titan has been a commercial flop. What a joke

I might ruffle some feathers, but buy a Nissan instead. My 2002 Xterra at 170,000Km had less rust on the frame then the 2007 Sierra at 60,000Km I traded it for 3 months ago. I compared the two on the day of the trade.

Probably would still have the Xterra if it had a V8, a truck box and a 7000lbs towing capacity.

CalixEros · December 16, 2009

Now out of curiousity why would you think Nissan steel would rust any less that any other manufacturers steel ? Geez, if Nissan trucks were so good they wouldn't be partnering with DODGE to build their next truck. Their Titan has been a commercial flop. What a joke

I might ruffle some feathers, but buy a Nissan instead. My 2002 Xterra at 170,000Km had less rust on the frame then the 2007 Sierra at 60,000Km I traded it for 3 months ago. I compared the two on the day of the trade.

Probably would still have the Xterra if it had a V8, a truck box and a 7000lbs towing capacity.

Maybe the same reason Toyota's having so many issues with frames rusting to the point they don't have enough structural integrity to safely drive them!