 Winter Care: Please Don't Pass The Salt
Posted by carsandtrucks on Wednesday, February 20 @ 07:42:32 PST
It is still winter in my home town. As I write this latest tip, the plows and salt trucks are marching by my house taking on the challenge of keeping the roads safe. Because the plow will leave a wet road surface as it removes the snow, salt is applied to the road to keep it from icing over. There is nothing that will cause damage to your car or truck like road salt. The salt causes the metal to oxidize and rust. This is particularly true of the
unpainted components that are found on the undercarriage of your vehicle. Things like brake lines, shock mounts, fuel lines, coil springs, and body mounting hardware to name a few, are subject to damage caused by the road salt. There are several debates about the harm to ground water and plant life that the road salt causes, but I will save that for another time. What you need to do to keep the road salt from eating away your car or truck is take steps to protect your vehicle, and steps to remove the salt as soon as possible after the storm. Every year before the snow season begins you should protect your vehicles paint surface with a quality wax job. This is not a difficult process to do yourself but if you find time does not allow you to do it, there are many automotive detail shops available that will do it for you. Once the road salt season begins you should wash the salt off your car or truck as often as possible. I have found the DIY (do it yourself) high pressure car washes the best tool for the job. Make sure you use the high pressure to liberally spray the undercarriage to wash the damaging salt from those unprotected components. Also take the time to spray around the inner fender wells, washing away the road salt clinging to the nooks and crannies that the tires threw it to. You can also have your vehicle “undercoated” when it is new to protect those unpainted exposed undercarriage pieces. Several if not all automobile manufactures offer body component rust protection for 6 or more years. These warranties, however, do not cover those components I spoke about earlier in this article. So, as winter hangs on and the salt continues its assault on your vehicle, you need to make the time get your car or truck washed regularly or risk damage to expensive and essential components of your vehicle.
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