Nasty salt

Yea that’s nothing my trucks blue but looks white due to all the salt on it. I just leave it until the temp gets above 35 then go to the hand wash bay spend $10. It hasn’t harmed my truck in any way, its waaaayyy too damn cold to even think about washing the truck for most of the winter.

 

If it were me, I'd hook my pressure washer up to the hot water heater drain spigot for supply and use the undercarriage roller wand set-up I bought for $30 bucks. I'da thunk everyone in the salt-belt would have a similar set up.

 

So glad I live in the desert - the sun does a number on paint over time but salt, freezing cold, heating bills...the horror.

 

That's a typical Tuesday drive into town for me...

Also why I have extended flares and now (today - going on tomorrow) beefy rubber mudflaps from gatorback. They are awesome. Pricey, but worth it.

I also hate being stuck behind someone with so much offset their tires are basically outside the truck, with no flaps. There is a good reason some states require fender flares and flaps and your tires to be inside of them - and it's not just to keep the crap off our vehicles. It's to keep it off others vehicles too.

Lastly, I rinse my truck off almost daily when it's like this. If the wash is closed I don't really have a choice but to come back the next day. Nowhere in my driveway to hose off during winter.

 

Living here in the very nw corner of connecticut, its been too cold to do any washing outside...i'd have a skating rink in my yard, and driveway if i try that now. Imo, as long as you've done a good a rust protection coating job on the chassis, its just as well to wait for a warm spell even if over a month todo any washing.

 

You need to move down south by a couple states. That’s rough.

 

Out here we use salt-away on boats. I'm curious if any of you guys use the stuff on cars? Or is it too strong for the paint?

 

the challenge is then all that water freezing in all of those crazy crevices.

 

Yeah, unless you are running the though car wash every day, my vehicles all look kind of like that all winter. I try to hit the pay-n-spray or the drive-through touchless every couple of weeks but salt is just a fact of life up here in New England.

Mines just a lease but my next one will be purchased and I'll be getting it properly undercoated every year to keep the tin worms away.

 

Yeah, I'm not turning my driveway into a skating rink no washing at home in winter in this climate.

 

My Truck looks like this for 6 months of the year. I wash when I can but live nowhere near an automatic car wash. I'll get under the truck in the spring, spray any surface rust with rust converter, then black satin paint, then Fluid Film. Good for another year and keeps the rust from getting out of control, looks like new for an afternoons worth of work in nice weather.

 

Just fyi hot water from the boiler can destroy your pump on your 1000 dollar powerwasher(don't ask me how I know). You need to mix hot and cold water with a "y" hose connection if you care about your unit.

 

I run all my vehicles thru an automatic car wash during the winter (including underbody spray). I can't stand to look at them this way. I can almost hear the metal rusting.
I just got back from a trip to the upper peninsula and somehow my face and hands even had salt on them. I have had issues with doors freezing on the older vehicles but that just reminds me to keep them well lubed.

 

This is what I have and works great.

https://www.amazon.com/Chapin-Inter...6019&sprefix=pesticide+sprayer,aps,116&sr=8-5

$48 Salt-Away® Concentrate Kit with Mixing Unit 32 fl oz - 946 ml)

https://www.amazon.com/SA32M-Concen...3bc07a0c02d&pd_rd_wg=kdyZl&pd_rd_i=B0000AXNJO

 

I started using Salts Gone pretty impressive results so far, but only time will tell.

 

My truck looks worse then that quite often in the winter.

If its cold and frozen and stuck to your car you get far less oxidazation/rust then you would otherwise, so while it looks awful, not much is happening as long as its cold.

Also if your garage is heated/well above freezing your better off leaving it outside until you get a chance to clean it, if you put it in a garage, let it melt and have salt water drip all over your car and get into you garage floor, make a mess, and create a higher rust environment. For me, one bay of 2 car garage is permanently setup for woodworking so wet salty water in a garage full of cast iron surface is not happening, otherwise if truck is dry and free of snow etc it lives in garage year round.

Once roads are dry enough to make washing truck not pointless, I do the touchless wash, with undercarriage, etc. Before I enter the wash I hit tires, rims, wheel wells, mudflaps with undiluted simple green. When I get it home I park it in garage, and then use a quick detailer/wax to get the spots wash missed. the whole process takes about 20 minutes.

 

It is 37° this afternoon, so I was able to spray the truck with just water. It looked much better and the peace of mind that most of the salt has been washed away. Couple of rainy days is coming up then another tid bit snow this weekend in SE Pa. The intense cold and tid bits of snow and ice makes it difficult to keep the truck in showroom condition. It is a truck, so it can take a little bit of beating.

I hope Punxsutawney Phil does not see his shadow. We are all ready for an early spring over here.

 

I hope its not toxic to the ground water if you have wells.

 

Eco friendly as the label says, long time used of salt away just giving this product a shot just to change it up a bit.

 

Salt does no harm as long as it stays dry

I just blasted my underbody off after 2 weeks being covered in salt. Been below freezing so I haven’t been able to get it washed.