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Road Salt question

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Old Jan 22, 2003 | 05:14 AM
  #1  
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Slewfoot
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Road Salt question

Since I've never lived up north and have never owned a vehicle that came from there, I have no clue how much a factor it would be.
A 2000 model in Kansas City, KS. From the looks of it it has been very well taken care of.
Anyone from that area have an idea how much salt damage could be done to that truck by now? I'd really hate to buy it and bring it home just to have it rust apart in a couple of years.

Any input would be appreciated!
 
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Old Jan 22, 2003 | 05:40 AM
  #2  
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sportscar
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Road Salt question

I live near the coast just north of Boston, MA. I know salt! The "damage" done by salt is a long term process. If the truck was well cared for with trips to the car wash, no need to worry about it. The newer cars and trucks stand up ok to road salt.

The big problem is when a car gets flooded by an extra high tide. Saw some swamped cars in the last storm. Salt water in the passenger compartment cant be good!

Even if the truck did not get reqular washings in the two winters it has seen, you will be fine. If its a good clean truck, Go for It.

Steve
 
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Old Jan 22, 2003 | 06:21 AM
  #3  
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ke6jcf
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From: Hibbing, MN
Road Salt question

Very careful inspection is in order, look at the rotors and the oil pan. If these are extremely rusty(flaken rust) you will have problems there. The oil pans have even been known to leak through from rust. Late '90's models not sure of the newer ones. Look under the fender wells, if you see rust there it's probably too late. Also check the bottoms of the doors, under the rubber strip. This is a rust point that has been talked about here. One last place, look inside the bumpers, salt and sand like to pile up at the bottom of the bumpers. The salt and sand tend to do their damage in places that it's hard to wash, under plastic panels and under the truck. One more thing, is it undercoated! Undercoating seems to help. Schools still out on this one but I think undercoating helps emensely! Good luck, make sure to look REAL well.

Doug
 
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Old Jan 22, 2003 | 06:46 AM
  #4  
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Yeti
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Road Salt question

If I had my camera handy I would take a pic of my Island Blue truck that is now totaly white from the road salt!!!
My new shocks are already rusty!!
Road salt is the worst corrosive known to sheetmetal.

Like these guys said, check it out real good.
 
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Old Jan 22, 2003 | 07:26 AM
  #5  
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mgriffin
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Road Salt question

I happen to live in KS and can tell you that the state and local road crews lay down a tremendous amount of Sodium chloride or a derivative chloride solution.
The body metal in late model cars/trucks is not subject to corrosion as it once was. Remember, sodium chloride is its most corrosive at 38 -42 degrees F. So, with that being said, if it stays really cold all the time or you wash your vehicle as it warms up, the corrosion factor will be drastically reduced.
 
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Old Jan 22, 2003 | 07:45 AM
  #6  
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Road Salt question

Thanks for the info guys,

From talking to the guy he seems to be real particuliar about his truck (same way I am with mine). He hasn't had it undercoated. His reply was that if you wash underneath it regular enough then you don't need the undercoating. Made sense to me. I know on my hunting truck (77 F150, 400cid, 15x40 TSL's, etc.) that if I didn't hose out the swamp muck from underneath it when getting home I wouldn't have a truck by now.
In this case I wasn't sure how much snow/salt that KS gets. But the truck is just what I've been looking for and the price is fair. It's $200 to fly out there and $200 to fly back if I didn't like it, so I guess a $400 gamble is not too bad on $23000!

Ahh.....decisions, decisions...LOL...
 
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