Moving to the Salt belt...

Hello tw, this is my first post. I recently found out that I will be relocating to northern New York. My truck is a 2008 and has never been on salted roads and has nothing more than very minor surface rust in a few areas. My question is what type of preparations should I take before the first winter up there? From other members experience, how effective these measures are? And should I try to take care of the rusted areas before I move?

Seriously considering just buying a beater POS to drive around during the winters there, but i would appreciate any input.

Thank you in advance!

 

I'd buy a beater

 

Yup, winter beater. Make it cheap as its basically disposable.

 

Mine is an 08 that lived its whole life in Michigan. Qualified for the frame recall if that tells you anything. Rust prevention is a time intensive process and a losing battle. I’d buy a beater and garage the taco during the winter, that’s really the only hope. You can fight it but you will lose.

Barring that, get it under coated and make sure to keep the touch up appointments. Get to know fluid film, you’ll be applying it to your nooks and crannies yearly. POR 15 is also useful for the places that undercoating doesn’t hit.

The real bitch of the salt belt is that it gets everywhere and is hard to wash out of some places. Corrosion will start under your plastic bed rails and on the undersides of your doors. Wash, wash and wash some more. Drop your tailgate and hose the sides and underside of that. The inside of your rear bumper or it will rust from the inside out. Make sure you take care of any paint chips immediately as they provide a foothold for the enemy. Wax regularly.

The other thing people don’t think about is maintenance. Only takes about one winter before every bolt on that thing becomes a fight to remove. If I remove a bolt it gets wire brushed and goes back in with anti seize. If I take apart an electrical connector it gets filled with dielectric grease before it goes back together. May be worth it to take some stuff apart and anti seize it all now. I just did my tie rods and it took a torch, a 3 foot pipe and a lot of profanity. Your ADD actuator seal is worthless. Recommend pulling it apart and laying a bead of rtv instead, it will save you expensive 4wd repairs later.

Have I sold you on the beater yet? Good luck

 

since you're lucky enough to be working with a fresh, mostly rust-free frame, There's lots you can do to prepare and keep it nice.

Personally I'd get under it and wirebrush/sand off any surface rust you see. then clean it all up and paint the frame/suspension. Either with a few coats of Rustoleum, or POR-15. POR-15 is significantly more expensive but far more durable and effective, at both stopping any existing rust and preventing future rust from forming.

Once that's all done, go ahead and get it FluidFilmed. It's an oily waxy (lanolin-based) spray undercoating that should be applied once or twice a year depending on use and road conditions. Not extremely durable but effective at protecting the already-tough por-15 as well as any parts that aren't painted.

Additionally, not sure if your truck is covered by Yota's latest frame protection campaign, but it's worth looking into. They spray anti-corrosion compound into the framerails and plug a bunch of the openings so that water doesn't get in and sit. I can't speak to its effectiveness but if your truck's included it extends your frame warranty coverage.

The most important thing, however, is when driving on salted roads, just make sure to spray down the undercarriage OFTEN with clean water, at least once a week or more. Either in your driveway or run thru a car wash with underbody sprayers. Anything that gets that salt buildup off of there. Some even just place a cheap oscillating lawn sprinker under the truck and let it run for a few mins front and rear.

All in all, a weekend worth of initial work,few dozen dollars on paint, and proper care and maintenance will go a looooong way to keeping your frame looking new. I live in Maine where you can't see bare asphalt thru the sand and salt for 6 months a year, and the dealership has commented on my great frame condition the last 3 inspections. Gonna be repainting the frame this summer(haven't done it yet on this truck)

 

I'm only gonna be in NY for about 2 years(hopefully). Then I plan on moving west. I've put a lot of money into this thing and I don't want to let it rust to shit. With the 2nd gen's rust reputation and all the horror stories I've seen im tempted to leave it with family in South Carolina. I've talked to Icon they told me their shocks are resistant to rust(BS). I think all the feedback thus far and my gut is telling me to garage it and wait till I move out of that frozen hellhole. Get a beater for the winter and call it a day.

It only has 94,000 miles on it too. And I want this thing to last

 

I would locate a storage site in South Carolina and have someone start and drive it once a month before I would sacrifice my truck to the Northern Rust Gods.

You know that they don't wash the salt and chems off the road in the summer. Your truck will still get a dose of them when it rains etc...

 

Parents live outside Buffalo NY they get new cars every 3-4 years cause the salt just crushes any and everything.

 

If you have family that would be wiling to store it, that would be the best option. Then find a cheap subaru and beat up on it

 

Coat the underside with Fluid film, wool wax, or Amsoil HD metal protect. The undercoating spray guns have extension wands that’ll get in the frame box sections. Coat it in the fall before the salt comes out and then don’t pressure wash the underside. There’s a few members in the NE that have meets and spray the trucks. Jump on the NE BS thread to get a bit more info.

 

My Frame maintenance regime consist of wire wheeling, hand wire brush for those hard to reach areas, Ospho, Eastwood primer 2 coats, Eastwood black chassis paint 2 coats and Amsoil heavy duty metal protector. Eastwood makes an internal frame protector highly recommended. I spent the last 2 weekends under the truck hitting some spots. I will do 1 coat of Amsoil heavy duty metal protector come OCT. before winter. I would not power wash the frame in the winter that high pressure wash will wash away your coating. Fluid film out of the aerosol can washes away too easily from my experience. I found that the Amsoil sticks to the frame much better it contains cosomoline wax which is what the military uses seen first hand awesome stuff. My .02 Rust Never Sleeps Neil Young

 

First, take a breath and relax. Even though, Neil Young says "rust never sleeps" there are thousands (tens of thousands?) of Tacomas which live in road salt environs. Your truck can too, with just a little attention to prevention and remediation of rust. When you get to NY, check on web and/or ask your compadres about what they have done about getting their vehicles undercoated. If you want, check around and find a "reliable" shop and have the truck sprayed. Rust prevention is NOT rocket science requiring secret formulas and wild haired scientists. I suspect (even in NY) you can get the job done for less than $ 300. It will not be magic and you will still have some rust when you depart the area, but you will have a protected truck and you will be able to sleep at night not worrying about the vehicle.

 

Keep your nice truck in the garage during the winter.
Buy a good running truck for the winter and plan on it rusting in half.

 

If you own any hand guns, you better read up on that.

 

cheap clapped out honda civic, will always start, fwd, you would be golden

 

Is yours a 4x4 or PreRunner? PreRunners are bad in the snow (fatality rate twice as high as 4x4). 4x4 performs really well in the winter, so it will be safer than most beaters you get.

Just it take to a shop to get the frame sprayed with Krown or Fluid Film before each winter and you'll be fine. Spray the same stuff on the Icon shock body at the threaded coil spring perch. Spray the same in cavities of any armor you have (plate bumper, sliders). Avoid the black waxy / tar stuff (aka Ziebart).

This is what my truck sits in for 3 months each year, yet I had no quealms spending 5 figures in mods on it in 7 months...

 

Curious, how do you protect that front bumper (assuming it’s steel?)....fluid film / krown right on it?

 

It's aluminum

If it were steel (like the rear bumper on order), I'd just spray the internal cavities with Fluid Film or Cosmoline. On the outside, before each winter, touch up any powdercoat stone chips and trail rash with Tremclad semigloss rust spray paint. I wouldn't bother with any type of CRC on the outside since it'll attract too much dirt.

 

My opinion: Not everyone is made of money and even 'cheap' beater cars aren't really that cheap (if its half reliable). If you can afford one, then yes that may be your best bet. BUT if you want that plan to actually work, you wont be able to drive your truck at all through the entire winter season. Not driving your truck from the very first sign of snow until mid or late spring (after several heavy rain storms and no chance of more salt being added).. Not even once.

So with that being said, the logical choice is protection. Fluid Film is a good choice, but there are others too. The real key is to apply it liberally, often, and in the hard to reach areas. Skid plates off, spare tire down, etc. Undercarriage wash and then let it dry. Then apply inside the boxed sections of the frame, inside the front frame horn areas, behind the gas tank, under the rear bumper plastic cover things, behind the rubber flap things between the wheel wells and the 2 front doors, into the drain holes in the doors. You get the point.. One really good application in the fall, then touch up as needed throughout the year.

 

Go figure haha

yeah that’s why I was asking, attracting dirt. I’ll have to look into tremglad