Frames not a problem in southern states?

I live in the northeast and of course everything here is rotted out.

Are the frames on you guys down south mint? I see a lot of nice looking stuff.

The dana frames are engineered to have a corrosive relationship with road salt.

What about moisture from everyday use, not a problem?






Thank you.

 

Generally speaking no rust on southern cars. The exception is cars from areas near the coast. Enough salt in the air to cause some rust on car bodies. But even then, I've never seen any rusted frames, just the bodies. I see a lot of older Florida cars like this.

I live in NW GA and have never had a spot of rust on any car. But when people are looking for rust free cars areas of the southwest are what they have in mind. Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah are prime areas. No salt and very dry climates.

My wife and I did a road trip to New England last summer. I was struck by the amount of rust on bridges and overpasses. It's not just cars, but all that salt has to be doing a lot of damage to infrastructure.

 

New Orleans here. (A lot of rain and humidity)

I launch in saltwater, so i have some rust on my 05 taco. More rust than a vehicle that doesn't ever drive in the marsh, but not any structural damage.

When i got the truck, it came from the desert in TX. No rust at all.

We don't need salt on the roads down here

None of my other vehicles get much rust on the frames. My 04 camry for example only has a small amount of surface rust. I don't even bother treating it.

down here, the frames rust more than in a desert region, but waaaaay less than anywhere that salts the road.

I see all three generations of tacomas here, daily. If i ever park near one, i always take a look at their rig and the rust on the older frames is just on the surface.

I don't hear of anyone complaining that they need a new frame on a 6year old truck.

 

One must always take into account the vehicle might have lived all it`s life in the great rust belt.

Not so much Dana but who ever rolled the steel.

 

No rust, but more brittle plastics.

 

If there is rust on a vehicle we assume someone bought it from up north. For some reason it seams in the south tho that people put their junk in the garage and park their vehicles in the Sun and the paint looks terrible on a 15 year old vehicle

 

It’s a little bit on whoever designed it too. These frames are full of little pockets that hold sand, salt and moisture. I was pretty surprised when I got into mine.

 

And fading paint (at least here near the beach with no tree cover, but it started with PO in TX to be fair)

 

My truck is from inland CA. Not a speck of rust. Never driven in salt. Definitely faded paint.

 

The whole idea of the enclosed frame to save weight to meet EPA mileage guide lines was dumb.

The dirt and moisture gets in the tiny drain holes clog.

 

No rust down here at the South Pole...

 

Lesser known are cars from the pacific northwest. No rust and milder climate = no faded paint. Frame on my 1st gen is like new despite driving in rain and the occasional snow.

 

Alaska is the same as the PNW. We don’t use salt on our roads so when you look at vehicles that have lived their whole life in Alaska they are rust free and the paint is good. You see some great older vehicles up here in everyday use, like the Toyota pre-Tacoma (HiLux) pickups, early Landcruisers, and lots of first gen Tacomas.

However, due to our long winters, constant icy roads, and the “sand” we spread on those roads, all the older Alaskan vehicles have dents and broken windshields!

 

Salt brine has a positive charge......it wants to find a ground and bond to it......
parking it in a warm garage each nite just accelerates the process....
Living up north without a garage may be the ticket.....

Only way to defeat is repaint frame every few years......even the replacement frames rust just as fast as the first ones...
I'd be tempted to seal the frame holes...with plenum tape.....and flood with a couple $10 cans of fluid film each year.

 

And watch any non oem parts down there.....some of them can rust in double time.......
especially the bolts, bushings, nuts........


And I am an official nut case.....after every mayor storm down here.....I try to rinse the under carriage off with in a day or two......
I have a garden hose set up next to my parking spot at work.......

Stephen King doesn't have nothing as scary as some of the stories here......

 

Up here in Ottawa we get lots of rust. I have my undercarriage oil sprayed every second year to keep the rust at bay. It works pretty well. I still had to get a new frame, but it took 9 years, and that was 10 years ago. The new frame isn't rusting at all.

I usually go under the vehicle with a pressure washer in April and try to get all the salt and crap out of it.

The skid plate on the gas tank rusted away as well. Salt was trapped between the skid plate and the gas tank. That wasn't too bad, but the strap holding the gas tank on also rotted out. :-(

 

AZ native here. What’s rust?

 

Depends, here in north Florida the only time something rusts really bad is when you leave it exposed. Even the factory paint on the frame does a damn good job protecting it. Whenever my paint gets scratched I have to cover it up quickly with touch up paint or else it rusts since I live so close to the beach.

 

Has anyone used a rust converter or rust kudder? Supposedly they change the rust to a chloride which gets whitish then you can paint it.