How to prep my truck for living in the north?

In Maryland we over salt the roads and end up getting no snow.

 

I live in IL and every winter i get 3 cans of regular black spray paint and coat the whole underside of my truck..... my previous '05 frame was beautiful when I traded it in... also makes it a breeze to work on....

 

So freaking true. I've got rust popping up everywhere thanks to how overboard they go with it

 

My last few vehicles were pretty bad because of it. At least if we got the snow it would be fun to drive around in it.

 

man I have used that stuff so much when I lived in PA, great stuff and hit it with a hammer and it doesn't even chip....

 

I doubt they use salt in Saint Louis. You should rinse all metal on the truck as soon as possible.

 

Count as North or not, winter temps in the single digits or below, even with zero snow counts as North.

 

says someone from the south!!

 

That's like light sweatshirt weather
Pfft

North my ass

 

agreed, mind you I wear shorts all year round here in Northern Alberta in the winter. people look at me like I am nuts when is is -40C out. Nothing like strolling into the grocery store and everyone is wearing these giant expedition grade parkas, and I'm in shorts and a hoodie strolling in, granted i am not out for long in those temps.

That being said i certainly miss the good ol hot temps of Phoenix when i lived there and also the lovely temps in Africa. sigh. Something to be said about places where women stroll around in sun dresses all year round. I need to move again.

 

Ya but the upside of 'Berta is they sand, don't salt. I'm dialling back to 96 here

 

Hi Steve in St Louis this is Steve from St Louis. If it's garage kept, just keep your truck clean and you'll have no problems. The garage makes a huge difference! You could power wash and do fluid film before winter too. It's not as bad as you think. I've only kept the frame clean and I have zero rust issues. Get on the STL thread! We have a monthly mod day and hit the trails. Great group of people!

 

Sand in Alberta? What are you talking about? They use 3/4" gravel and call it sand, nothing like driving down the road with all these jacked up F350's with 8" lifts that have never been off road nor would you ever take the 90K dollar pickup off road, and they have no mud flaps taking out everyones windows and paint jobs.

They also still salt, they just use a mixture of salt and sand, or a brine as well. Couple of times I think they were trying out beat juice as well as a more environmentally friendly option. The national parks apparently use Pumice stone or something like that as the tiny vesicles adhere better to the ice(but I don; thing they do anymore, might have just been a test phase). Salt is really only effective above -15C anyways, after that it won't do anything, hence why they started using brine mixtures, and a lot of other concoctions.

 

Putting a car in a warm garage in the winter time is a major nono. You want rust on a frame/body/etc, really quickly do this. If you are going to put it in a garage, make sure it is not a heated one. A lot of the road salt no matter how much you pressure wash it doesn't come off the vehicles and warm temps and humid environments with steel is the perfect environment for rust formation.

 

Bummer, I'll be garageless for the next 9 months on this lease.
Thanks for the info I'll drop in over on the St Louis thread !

 

I'm glad it's already been covered that St Louis isn't really "north". In Alaska, we change the diff oil to a weight better suited for extreme winter temps, change the coolant so that it's rated to -65F, and add block and oil pan heaters that we plug in to at 0F or colder for easier starting. Other than that, drive and clean and maintain as needed.

 

I'd fluid film everything that shines metal down under regular and call it a day.

Uh, and wash regular under there too.

Cheers!

 

I'd avoid the washing the trucks underside after putting fluid film or anything on it for rust control. It can/will come off with a good washing, nothing a 7 dollar spray can won't fix, but still something to be mindful of.

 

knowing how to drive in snow is a must.....winter tires are optional.

lived in New England all my life.....never once mounted snow tires.....and never once got stuck.....even when i had a FWD on summer tires.

even took the tacoma through 14" of unplowed snow on factory tires.....handled it just fine.

 

Oh that is debatable on the tyres, but I agree, knowing how to drive in the snow is a must. Apologies for us derailing the thread.