Is my truck ruined? (road salt)

[CraigATX]

Hello,

I am a Texas resident and have not been in a position to hand wash my vehicle since the snow-pocalypse happened in Feb. I had to drive through the snow storm for about four hours to help my family. I thought the road crews here only used sand on the roads for ice and snow, as someone told me Texas does not use salt. Unfortunately, I think they were wrong. Now that I am freaking out after having this realization just now, I am rescheduling my day tomorrow so that I can crawl under the truck and wash everything thoroughly.

My question is: how screwed am I by potentially leaving salt road grime on my undercarriage for 2 months? Is my truck going to be ruined and destined for rusting out? I have no idea how any of this works, as we do not typically have this type of weather in Texas. I am contemplating detailing the truck and selling it back to the dealership before the rust becomes a real problem, if that's even a possibility.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[wheelman55]

Vehicles last for decades up in the rust belt. The biggest issue is rusty steel body panels. Not an issue with aluminum body panels.

I would just give your Raptor a good cleaning, then forget about it.

The truck will last many, many years.

 

[Tango_9]

I live in Ohio, salt, salt salt all winter long, I had a gen 1, 2012 for 7 years. Through the winter I would go to the local do it your self car wash and basically climb under it washing the underneath, the rockers were rusting anyway ( the tape was falling off, why did Ford use tape?). I got a gen 2, aluminum body, this will not happen with this truck, I still take care,if it, rust prevention on the shocks, frame and such, I do not think you ruined the longevity of your truck at all, my opinion.

 

[nikhsub1]

Well, the body won't rust as it is aluminum and composite. You will be fine. What you could do when you have time is wash the underbody really well. The frame and underside will rust, but NEW trucks have rust underneath. It's really not an issue. About once a year or so I actually detail the underside of my truck, hitting all rust areas underneath with corroseal. You could use some Amsoil HDMP on the underside after you get the underside cleaned up.

 

[GordoJay]

Hello,

I am a Texas resident and have not been in a position to hand wash my vehicle since the snow-pocalypse happened in Feb. I had to drive through the snow storm for about four hours to help my family. I thought the road crews here only used sand on the roads for ice and snow, as someone told me Texas does not use salt. Unfortunately, I think they were wrong. Now that I am freaking out after having this realization just now, I am rescheduling my day tomorrow so that I can crawl under the truck and wash everything thoroughly.

My question is: how screwed am I by potentially leaving salt road grime on my undercarriage for 2 months? Is my truck going to be ruined and destined for rusting out? I have no idea how any of this works, as we do not typically have this type of weather in Texas. I am contemplating detailing the truck and selling it back to the dealership before the rust becomes a real problem, if that's even a possibility.

Thanks in advance for any help.

No need to take time off, just hose if off well when you get a chance. I do mine every spring. And they don't use salt, just sand. But the sand is about 30% salt to keep it from clumping ... other places they use salt straight up.

 

[CraigATX]

Thank you for the helpful responses and for alleviating some of my panic/fear. I will give it a thorough power wash under the vehicle tomorrow. After I posted, I also found a product called "Salt Off" that is supposed to help. I might order that for a future wash, but I want to address the problem immediately tomorrow as best I can. Let me know if any of you have used this before?

@nikhsub1 - is there a list or guide that shows common rust areas that I can target using products like corroseal or Amsoil HDMP? I have never heard of them, but will start researching tonight.

Thanks again!

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Pressure wash the underside, let it dry thoroughly and then spray the frame, rear end, springs, etc with fluid film or Amsoil product, whichever. It's easy to do. Drop the spare tire and spray the underside with out that in the way, won't take you about half a day total., leave the truck outside for a couple days if you use fluid film as it smells a bit.

 

[MFNG]

I live in IL. My driver cab corner on my Gen 1 is showing visible rust through the paint. I saw a guy with a Gen 1 the other day and the whole corner was rusted out - straight hole there.

It still looked and sounded great - other than the hole.

Moral is - it’s a truck, use it. Try to keep it nice. You’re ahead of the game having a Gen 2 and living in TX anyway.

Just be glad you won’t have to spend $1k to fix cab corners so you can claim it as an historic vehicle when they ban gasoline!

 

[GCATX]

Hello,

I am a Texas resident and have not been in a position to hand wash my vehicle since the snow-pocalypse happened in Feb. I had to drive through the snow storm for about four hours to help my family. I thought the road crews here only used sand on the roads for ice and snow, as someone told me Texas does not use salt. Unfortunately, I think they were wrong. Now that I am freaking out after having this realization just now, I am rescheduling my day tomorrow so that I can crawl under the truck and wash everything thoroughly.

My question is: how screwed am I by potentially leaving salt road grime on my undercarriage for 2 months? Is my truck going to be ruined and destined for rusting out? I have no idea how any of this works, as we do not typically have this type of weather in Texas. I am contemplating detailing the truck and selling it back to the dealership before the rust becomes a real problem, if that's even a possibility.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Why do you think they did use salt? I haven't noticed any issue, I drove the shit out of mine during snowpacalypse. Park it in the yard and let the sprinkler run underneath it for a few hours if you're worried.

 

[Oldfart]

I'm in a really heavy icing area in PA, so we get LOTS of salt. They also use a lot of spray salt (brine), which is 10 times worse than regular salt. I had mine Woolwaxed, it's a newer version of Fluidfilm. They both are good. In your position I would just do your best to pressure wash good underneath wherever you can, ALL the little nooks and crannies, up under the bed, the frame, etc. Enjoy your truck, then do Woolwax or Fluidfilm next year. The Woolwax actually smells good, seems everyone agrees the Fluidfilm smells bad for a while.