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I had my RV at the factory in Indiana for some warranty work in January, so I had to bring it home in between winter storms. This resulted in a 5hr drive through the salt mines of Indiana and Ohio. It’s filthy, I mean covered by salt dust and road debris now. I don’t have water access to wash it off but I would like to treat the underside to help reduce or prevent corrosion. Any options?
I plan to spray a diesel fuel/engine oil mixture on the metal surfaces without washing off the road grime. Maybe I need to rig up a water tank and pressure washer first.
If it were mine, I'd wait until the salt is off the roads, then take it someplace where I can wash it...from top to bottom. To remove the salt, you don't need soap or a brush. Spraying it with a garden hose will remove the salt. Road dirt will remain but the salt will quickly dissolve and be gone.
Once I got the frame clean I hit it with bed liner about five years ago. That held up pretty well. It's easy to see where I didn't get the bed liner on the metal. A film like Wool Wax might be easier to apply than bed liner. That stuff sure does stink.
Seems to do a better job than just plain water. I treat rust areas with OSPHO, then brush or spray black Rustoleum
I don't mean to pick at you but want you to know there's no reason to use anything but tap water to remove salt. Any salt used to deice is very soluble in water which it has to be in order to melt ice. Removing road dirt requires soap, but special cleaners are not needed to remove salt.
I would agree water is what I would use. This product does have inhibitors which might help prevent rust but I suspect the ratio is not that good. Sounds like a gimmick.
wash it off if possible, but fluid film is what I spray on the underside of my 5th wheel.
Interesting stuff, I've heard of Fluid Film but never really checked it out. Do you/can you also use that in places you normally use dry silicone, like on hinges, for example?
Each time we are traveling and run through a salt mine state, I wash the vehicles thoroughly and pay special attention to the undercarriage.
I usually go to a car wash that has an undercarriage spray and go through very slowly. I have thought about getting one of the sprayers for the pressure washer, but have not yet.
If you don't have the desire to go the DIY route, check for undercarriage washing at truck stops. I don't have any advice for rust prevention methods since moving out of the rust belt 30 years ago with zero plans to ever go back.
I don't mean to pick at you but want you to know there's no reason to use anything but tap water to remove salt. Any salt used to deice is very soluble in water which it has to be in order to melt ice. Removing road dirt requires soap, but special cleaners are not needed to remove salt.
Living in central Florida we don't have to deal with road salt. The salt we deal with comes from the ocean, 3 days camped on the beach with a strong onshore wind, tap water isn't enough. Salt-Away was originally developed for the marine industry, it works.
Living in central Florida we don't have to deal with road salt. The salt we deal with comes from the ocean, 3 days camped on the beach with a strong onshore wind, tap water isn't enough. Salt-Away was originally developed for the marine industry, it works.
Again, not trying to pick but hoping to help.... Ocean salt is 90% sodium chloride which is by far the most common salt used for roads. You very well may be getting some kind of residue from the ocean spray that requires a cleaning agent but I promise you, tap water...especially warm...will remove all road salt and/or ocean salt. It's the chloride ion that is that bad guy which accelerates rusting. Chloride ion is very soluble in water.
As a trivial sidenote: sodium nitrite would have the same deicing ability as sodium chloride but it would actually prevent rusting. However, it would be cost prohibitive and probably worse for health reasons.
Whenever I spend time at the beach I give the truck and camper a good washing with "Salt off" if I can taste the salt on my lips from the offshore breeze, then it is coated everywhere.
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