Beach maintenance

Although I find it ridiculous that there are car washes on the beach, I have an embarrassing story to tell.

I was in Miami Beach a few years ago. It wasn’t the first time I’d been in the ocean, but I have very little experience. I was curious and confused by the public outdoor showers on the beach.

I got out the Atlantic, put my jeans on over my swim trunks, and got on a the 3 hour flight to home. That was a mistake. I felt like I had just gotten off the bicycle after a 5 hour ride. I was covered in salt. My swim trunks felt like an overly starched shirt.

Now I see the value of of those beach showers.

 

over the swim trunks haha

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to invest in something I can attach to my hose.

 

Expect exceptional rust. Toyotas don't do well in normal conditions. Beach accelerates the effect.

 

Just get your Taco a snorkel and go for a swim at the end of the day....

 

Do you have experience in this realm? I see you're from St. Augustine. I live one hour south of you. I actually was married at the Lightner Museum.

 

Maybe the sand is dry where you're at. Up her in Washington and down in Oregon it's usually wet. Might have a shallow layer on top that's dried out, but go down slightly and you've hit moist sand.

 

I caught some of this rust above the oil filter area. It has similar spots in certain areas, odd given the frame is rust free and everything else looks great. May give some second thoughts to the beach lol.

 

There a few areas of the truck that are unprotected metal like that which rust right away . Those areas are not going to rust through and cause issues like a frame or body panels. It’s similar to parts of the brake housing that just naturally rust. You could go all out and paint those areas in high heat paint, but again, they aren’t areas that cause a problem.

 

This is correct. I use my Wrangler in the Salty sand and it's immaculate underneath with regular undercarriage washes and a yearly dose of fluid film. Road salt brine and then parking in a warmer garage will eat everything. Not as bad to have the truck sit out in the cold with that salt on it. I get the cars washed and the underside blasted after the roads clear.

 

Lightner is quite an impressive setting for a wedding. Interestingly the building was built by Henry Flagler of Standard Oil fame.

I drive on the beach all the time. You just have to accept that parts will rust. I wash it after ever trip, but it rusts.

 

I'd use fluid film and wash it regularly. I would also make sure to spray fluid film inside crevices, that is where it would rust first. Fluid filmed undercarriage can be washed under low pressure and all the stuff on top of fluid film (salt, sand, etc) would wash off easy but fluid film stays. The trick is low pressure and water that is not too hot to dissolve fluid film. Powerwashing will remove most of the fluid film, especially if water is hot.

The photo above of a rust area is exhaust manifold which is not coated and would probably look like this even on a new truck at the dealer's lot after sitting a few days. These are usually made of thick iron and never an issue. Do not spray fluid film over the exhaust manifolds!

 

How about this for an idea? Wash and then air dry, or is that excessive? I know it is water that causes the rust, so wouldn't drying it faster with a leaf blower or fans be beneficial, so it stays wet for less time?

Something like this:

$66 Vornado BXR Horizontal and Tower Fan, Multi-Position and Multidirectional High Velocity Fan, Pivoting Carry Handles, 20", Directs Cool Air Upward, Powerful Cooling, 3 Speed Settings, Black

Amazon.com: Vornado BXR Horizontal and Tower Fan, Multi-position and Multidirectional High Velocity Fan with Carry Handles, 20 Inch : Home & Kitchen

 

Salt mixed with water is the issue. Water alone isn’t doing long term damage to a frame.

“salt acts as an electrolyte, making it easier for electrons to transfer from the metal (like iron) to oxygen, thus significantly speeding up the corrosion process (rusting) compared to pure water”

 

Just don't slip and tell anyone you married a museum piece.

 

That’s not entirely true. Fresh water alone will cause unprotected ferrous surfaces to rust, but salty water is worse. Salt alone does not cause rust and protected surfaces don’t rust.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust

“Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture”

 

My point was that water alone is not causing frame recalls.

 

How do you know that?

Also, how do you know saltwater is causing frame recalls?

I live in Minnesota but noone I know talks about frame recalls.

But yes I agree that salt speeds up rusting in the presence of water.

 

One other interesting thing about rust is that besides water (H2O) it also requires oxygen (O2). If the water does not have dissolved oxygen the metal will not rust. This is why shipwrecks in the very deep ocean are well preserved.

 

My 2012 4unner has had the same water on frame AC drip that the 3rd gen Tacoma crowd is terrified of.
Been dripping fresh water on the exact same spot all southern summer long for 13 years. The only affect it's had on the frame is that spot's cleaner than the rest...