My 01's first real winter

Hey everybody,im new here and I've got some questions ,ideas and hopefully something to add as well.
So..I bought my 01 Tac new in Tucson Az..now im on the Nj shore and this is going to be the first winter exposed to snow ,salt etc.. besides keeping it as clean as possible is there any precautions to keep rust free??.

 

Best thing is to keep it in the garage from Oct 31 to May 1 just to be safe.

My truck came from Central Texas even being well aware of the Frame Issues two winters was all it took .

Not so much the salt but the Liquid Brine that gets in every place and it is from getting inside the frame so even with pressure washing as good as one can the inside and outside about once a week it did not help in my case

There seems to be a product called Fluid Film people seem to love.

 

I oil mine down every fall, even so I try to avoid driving it during the salt season and drive my civic most of the winter. If you must drive it get lots of oil inside the boxed portion of the frame and spray down the entire frame with fluid film or something similar. Great trucks in the deserts of the middle east with a machine gun mounted in the box but in the salt and grime of a northern winter Toyota dropped the ball on the frames.

 

I brought my truck from CA to MA last year and used fluid film to keep it rust free. Seems to have done a damn good job. There is barely some surface rust on my rear axle housing and spindles.

 

I live in Buffalo NY, and the amount of salt used on the roads is absurd. I apply fluid film every year and the frame still looks new. Also, the fluid film protects other metal components from corrosion in addition to the frame.

_Charlie

 

Are tire chains/cables prohibited out your way? Just curious. In California they are mandatory when snow conditions arrise. Also they use Rock cinders here instead of salt. Mainly to offer more traction rather then snow melt.

 

Any Ill effects to welding on frames where Fluid Film has been applied to the inside of the frame where it can`t be easily removed ??

 

I remember my pops having a set of chains for his 2wd Dakota here in MA, but they're not mandatory like in the Sierras.

 

Look into Krown rustproofing. I did mine this fall. Its a once a year treatment for about 175$. When they spray it that stuff creeps into every nook and cranny. After watching videos and reading up on it I'm gonna try it for a few years and see how it does. I had a new frame under recall and trying to make it last.

 

The only time they are required is during a snow emergency. I have never experienced this because travel bans are issued instead to keep everyone off of the roads. I think those cinders are a good idea since they don't attack metal parts.

_Charlie

 

Thing is in our part of the world very few people can drive on dry roads .

I myself would love to see all the Federal ,State and Local go back to using just cinders never going to happen.

Then I wonder how many could really chain up without making more of a road hazard

 

This^^^....I live in a resort town and we get a lot of tourists from LA who most have little to no experience with snow or how to drive in it. You will see them stopped right in the middle of the lane stopping traffic in order to attempt to put chains on there brand new Mercedes lol. Or driving around with tires spinning in disbelief of why they are still not getting traction, to find out the cables/chains actually go on there drive wheels.