Magnesium Chloride Deicer on CO roads in winter. Got any knowledge to impart?

So Colorado uses Magnesium Chloride Deicer instead of salt or whatever other states use. Do you think this is more corrosive or should be handled differently than salt? If you google it, all you get is a bunch of automotive companies peddling some bull shit instead of non biased information.

What do you you guys think?

 

it's worse than salt. Fortunately it's only used before it snows, and it don't snow all that often.
Take it to the car wash after the roads are clear and blast the frame and anything else underneath.
My 96 has been in it's whole life and seems to be holding up well.

 

Mag chloride is nasty!

 

It works great on the roads but makes a mess on vehicles. I washed it off as much as I could. You'll see it cake on, your vehicle turns white

 

All year long on our dirt road

 

MgCh does different damage than rock/road salt. I'm from NH and know rust.
CODOT uses rock/road salt in the sand thrown off the back of plow trucks, to keep it from freezing.

 

Can someone explain why MgCh is worse? How is the damage different ?

 

What I can tell you about the 1980s-1990s cars with today's MgCl2 is that the cars' plastics get very brittle.

 

People on my road insist on it year round because they can't deal with dust on a dirt road not realizing how nasty the stuff is and what it does to your vehicle. I have also been told it exacerbates mud season by disrupting the natural freeze thaw of the road bed. I'm sure the transplants know best, but that's another discussion

 

Here is an 87 page report from CDOT on MgCl if you're truly interested:

https://www.codot.gov/programs/research/pdfs/2000/truckcomponents.pdf

 

That's awesome!

 

hell yeah. you're a hero @reallifedog

so does MgCl rust frames

 

Go read pages 35-40

 

Yes. It isn't as bad on metal as sodium chloride, but again it isn't the most friendly salt on the market either. It still readily facilitates the electrochemical corrosion process (aka salty water makes rust).

 

Cool. So its bad.

I ask because I recently got a first gen. The frame is in pretty good shape but there is surface rust in some areas. Not bad for a 20 year old truck, but it still makes me worried.

Anywhoo- long time lurker, first time posting.

 

My first Gen has been fine here in golden co. The frame was sprayed back when Toyota did the recall.

 

Good report and some good reading. No salt is good for metals, especially iron based. Some of the reports from other states hint at reducing accidents/injuries, but no causal relationship between the application and reduction of risk. That would be a good report to see.
I seem to remember that there are some towns (Winter Park perhaps) that have banned MgCl2 due to their findings/suspicions on the negative impact on steel fixtures (staircases, doors, etc) as well as the material coating powerlines thereby inducing arching in the wind posing a fire danger.
I am just religious about washing the undercarriage of the cars during the winter.

 

First off, we need to team up and visit an animal shelter
Second, I’ve lived here my whole life. I just wash it off after the snow clears up and I’ve never had an issue.

 

I got a bad case of MgCl trying to get around a truck spraying the stuff on the Uncompahgre Plateau. When dry, it was like concrete with a rough sand texture. When we got to Montrose, a local explained this is bad stuff and directed me to a car wash near Walmart which actually has a MgCl setting. With that setting, it sprays out a foam that does something magical, then you switch to rise and wash everything off. A year later, I've noticed no ill-effects.