Moving to the East Coast, Advice

Hey guys, SoCal native here and as the title states, I'll be moving to the damned rust belt. I own an 03 DC Tacoma and have had it for 8 years. I plan on keeping it forever, I'm just worried about the winters. The truck is in really good shape and is just shy of 150k but I could really use some advice or even a checklist of things to do to survive the weather.

So far I plan on:
Replacing the ripped door weatherstripping
Buying a heavy duty truck cover
New alarm & battery
Fluid film when I get there

Is there anything huge I'm forgetting? Like I said, I'm a SoCal native and have no clue of real weather haha. Thanks a ton!

 

What part of the east coast?

 

What part of the coast in the east?

 

Maryland near Chesapeake

 

Get a couple of quarts of Eastwood Rust Encapsulator and brush it on the frame with a paint brush. I do it to my truck every summer, I live in the midwest

Will protect your frame

 

I think that list is more than what most people do to survive the winters in the mid-Atlantic. I think you'll be fine.

 

Check out the Maryland thread. Lot of good people and info to be had.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/maryland-tacomas.198020/

 

Got a friend in Chesapeake, not a rust belt area. You'll be fine.

 

Thats good to hear, is Baltimore the only city with a major rust problem?

 

damn that salt monster
you should replace your defective frame paint most definitely

 

Thanks, just dont want to take any chances and still plan on spending a lot of time and money into her. =]

 

I wouldn't call that the rust belt at all. I'm in central NY and that's the rust belt ,NY ,upper PA, Ohio, Michigan ,Maine etc. You'll know when your there when all the bridges and infrastructure have rust all over them and look like there about to fail, then you know your in the rust belt. Your totally safe.

 

that city has way more problems than that i have heard

i have never been to the east coast but I have heard that the ocean breathes salty air and it just lingers in the air there, but i could be wrong?

 

Some feel covers trap in moisture. Not my expertise.

Rinse off underbody Salt during winter months when it is clear and dry. Massive underbody clean in spring. You will get rust year round vs SoCal dessert conditions so you simply need to examine the truck regularly and touch up

You’re not really moving to harsh winter conditions so you really don’t need to stress.

 

where in midwest are you located?

 

Snow boots & WeatherTech mats, you will see snow, ice, rain and mud in the same day. Get some kind of anti freeze for your washer fluid. Tires, I run Cooper ATW’s. May get Cooper ST Maxx next time, been crawling over rocks and scuffing the sidewalls up.

Edit: a real ice scraper for windshield. For example.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Emsco-B...IkJzm94kuUPLaiSecBRoCepcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

is MD on the list of Toyota's 'cold climate' states?

 

Yeah, I just looked it up, the windshield reveal molding is all cracked on mine and I've been wanting to replace it. I just spoke with Toyota and they have the cold climate spec windshield molding. I will most likely replace it because the people who did my paint job didnt take off the molding so paints starting to chip. Hopefully since the cold climate trim is wider it will mask the edge of the paint.

 

Chicago

 

I agree with the others that MD isn't quite as bad as other areas in the rust belt, such as MI, OH and PA.

Still, it's totally worthwhile to clean and coat the frame inside and out with Fluid Film and paint. Safe travels!