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I'm planning to not drive it on the roads in the winter, just plow my driveway (three passes and I'm done) and put it back in the garage. I have a Toyota Tacoma for daily driving. So hopefully I can keep the corrosion in check. That may be wishful thinking, we'll see.
I know plowing is hard on trucks. I have a 1997 F250 5.8L that's been my plow truck for the last 7-8 years and it's worked fine, but I never took care of it because it was already rusty and beat up to begin with. Now it's past the point of being worth repairing, and I found this F350 after cruising CL for a few months. It was a rare case where the seller actually under-represented the condition of the vehicle. I'm ecstatic about the truck.
Make no mistake, I'm having second thoughts about committing this truck to plow use. But I can't really afford to buy/keep another truck just for plowing either. Hmm...
Getting a plow for that truck and just plowing your driveway with it wont hurt it at all.The little use it would see,would hardly count towards an increase in ware of front end components and besides,those are ware items anyway.
I have a plow for my chip truck and that's all I use it for too.......that's been a few years before I took off winter months.Now she just rest comfortably doing nothing until I get back to Maine.
Mines much different from yours.Mine looks good due to a new paint job but looks nothing like yours up close anywhere.Inside or out.It's in "good" condition for an old work truck now sure,but it's no pristine survivor like a truck from Cali by any means.
Getting it wet with snow while plowing isn't going to hurt it either.If you keep it off the salted roads,it will remain good.
I first tried POR15 (paint over rust paint) at first but it didn't hold up.....as applied per instructions..painting over rust.
After the salt ate that away,I pressure washed the rest off easily and primed and painted using tractor enamel and this seems to be holding up well......but of course that's no longer a fair comparison because the truck no longer drives on winter roads (not that it did much when I stayed home winter months either though)
I was thinking about using John Deere Blitz Black which I've used in the past and is supposed to be similar to that Valspar tractor enamel. I'll read up on the Valspar; maybe it's better. What kind of primer did you use? How thoroughly did you prep the metal?
By the way, IcutMetl, post up some pics of your truck. Would love to see it.
Unless you tear the truck down to the frame, sandblast and prime with POR15, Rust Bullet, Chassis saver, Master series, etc the topcoat, You would just be wasting your time putting any other time to real effort into it.
Unless you tear the truck down to the frame, sandblast and prime with POR15, Rust Bullet, Chassis saver, Master series, etc the topcoat, You would just be wasting your time putting any other time to real effort into it.
Powerwash, let dry and rattle can
Mine has held up great with POR 15 without sandblasting, just powerwashed and knocked off any loose scale. Almost 3 years later and I just start to see a few rust spots popping up, so I just coated the few spots that needed it. I triued the rattle can crap about 5 years ago, and it was all but gone by the end of the first winter.
It's my daily driver as I NEED a good 4x4 in the winter (A little FWD is not going through 1/2 a mile of 2ft snow drifts).
And it it possible to drive a nice truck in the winter, you just have to power wash every chance you get.
I was thinking about using John Deere Blitz Black which I've used in the past and is supposed to be similar to that Valspar tractor enamel. I'll read up on the Valspar; maybe it's better. What kind of primer did you use? How thoroughly did you prep the metal?
By the way, IcutMetl, post up some pics of your truck. Would love to see it.
Since I had cured POR15 on there,I used their primer.What was left of their paint anyway.It was probably only 1/4 flaked off but it just looked bad you know? So 3/4 of it was still stuck good I guess cus the primer/paint over it,has been holding issue free.
With this product, you can even topcoat POR-15® that?s been in place for months or years.
I prepped as per their instructions and used their 3 step system.It just didn't hold up.
I think Brad is correct.There are no shortcuts.Now that I keep the truck off the road I no longer need to recoat it.It may flake off eventually but until it gets much worse,I'll just wait.She's not seeing the salt anymore so no longer much of a concern.
I think if your going to strip the truck down and sandblast,you should probably go with a good primer/top coat and just skip the "paint over rust" style of paints all together.
I used a combination of flap disc, sanding disc, wire wheels and needle scaler to remove most of the rust. For the most part, the frame looked like shiny metal. Primed with Rustoleum, then Chassis Saver, then Rustoleum gloss black. Stll looks great. It's better if you drop your tanks and pull the fuel lines to get the inside of the frame really good.
I'm a little confused; if you're only going to plow the driveway with it, why bother worrying about the undercarriage? It doesn't sound like it will ever see any salt. I live outside of Chicago and we do not see the type of salt use NE does. But, they do spread salt here and use any excuse to do so. I have a heated garage and make use of my pressure washer any time the temps are just above freezing. You might want to consider installing a garage heater (mine is natural gas) and/or buying a pressure washer. My truck and my wife's Escape are both older and in excellent shape. Having the heated garage is a huge benefit.
I'm a little confused; if you're only going to plow the driveway with it, why bother worrying about the undercarriage? It doesn't sound like it will ever see any salt. I live outside of Chicago and we do not see the type of salt use NE does. But, they do spread salt here and use any excuse to do so. I have a heated garage and make use of my pressure washer any time the temps are just above freezing. You might want to consider installing a garage heater (mine is natural gas) and/or buying a pressure washer. My truck and my wife's Escape are both older and in excellent shape. Having the heated garage is a huge benefit.
But only if the vehicle is clean. Putting a salty vehicle in a warm garage amplifies the salt damage 10 fold. A salt covered vehicle is FAR better off left outside in the sub freeing temps than in a warm garage
But only if the vehicle is clean. Putting a salty vehicle in a warm garage amplifies the salt damage 10 fold. A salt cover vehicle is FAR better off left outside in the sub freeing temps than in a warm garage
That has not been my experience. I do my best to knock the "excess" snow-bergs off the trucks before putting them in the garage. But, they certainly are not clean of snow/salt when they go in. In the morning, they're dry. First generation Escapes are notorious for rotten wheel arches in the quarter panels. When we sold her truck, in 2013, it was completely solid, no rot. There was some surface rust, on the undercarriage, but nothing worse than that. You may have had a different experience but I have not. Her current Escape, a 2012, is the same; rust free, to date. YMMV.
That has not been my experience. I do my best to knock the "excess" snow-bergs off the trucks before putting them in the garage. But, they certainly are not clean of snow/salt when they go in. In the morning, they're dry. First generation Escapes are notorious for rotten wheel arches in the quarter panels. When we sold her truck, in 2013, it was completely solid, no rot. There was some surface rust, on the undercarriage, but nothing worse than that. You may have had a different experience but I have not. Her current Escape, a 2012, is the same; rust free, to date. YMMV.
You must be plain lucky. It is simple science. Salt is Not active below 20*. Anything above that and it is. So in a 50* garage, it is VERY active
...When we sold her truck, in 2013, it was completely solid, no rot. There was some surface rust, on the undercarriage, but nothing worse than that...
You need to buy some lottery tickets.
Our 03 came up with a recall last year or so for the addition of a bar that ties the sub frame of the front suspension together so when they rust out & break away from the body, the driver has a modicum of control.
I did a search at the time & came up with quite a few pics & vids of people swapping out crumbling front subframe assemblies.
We had sold it by that time to a friend who came & asked about it since the nearest dealer blew him off when he called them.
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& vids of people swapping out crumbling front subframe assemblies.