You don't have to replace them. You choose between oiling them annually or replacing them. I never understood why people that have lived here for so many years still haven't figured it out.
This is why I like Rustproofing Trucks
- Thread starter Mcbeem5
- Start date
Yep! 9/10 times someone up here says "to bad this thing is so rusty, only got 115k miles and runs perfect but its ready for the scrap yard"
Gm dips their frames in wax and that wax coating is basically gone up north after 1 winter and the entire frame will be surface rust. The wax coating will scrape off with your finger nail. Pretty sad on a 90k dollar duramax IMO. Ford and ram E-coat their frames and they hold up much better. Most of those frames that are 10 years old are still almost completely painted still up here. GM claims the k2xx trucks were the most corrosion resistent silverado ever which may be true but because the body panels are so thin, my theory is once they do start rusting they dissapear much faster than the 90s gmt400s lol. Just a theory on my part
15 years is less than half the useful life of a typical modern vehicle. 300k is easy with most cars on the road.
Late model gm trucks use a wax coating on frames,The GM 1500/2500/3500 frames are dipped in the wax based undercoat as a RAW STEEL FRAME. Alot of people online say the wax coating does not last very long! As for body panels ,all most all panels are Galvanized coated sheet metal.
I'm sure that some regions have the "best" conditions for vehicle longevity, but I also imagine that other areas of the U.S. have conditions that are also negative to vehicle longevity besides the road salt regions.
I'm curious. Do areas that get extreme sun and heat also result in vehicle degradation? I.E., maybe Arizona - does the constant heat and sun break down plastic, paint, or other components, resulting in shorter vehicle life?
I'm curious. Do areas that get extreme sun and heat also result in vehicle degradation? I.E., maybe Arizona - does the constant heat and sun break down plastic, paint, or other components, resulting in shorter vehicle life?
Heat and sun can have a big cosmetic effect, but not much of a mechanical one. So long as they are not overheated, anyway, which is more easily achieved in the desert.
Yeah the wax does not last long. In most cases where i live its gone in 1 winter and the entire frame will be surface rust. Regardless it comes right off with a light scrape with your finger nail
All y'all that want me to wash my vehicles, how? My outside spigot would freeze if it were left on during winter, which I don't do. I suppose I could get a "frost free" hose spigot but then my run off would be a skating rink down my driveway. I could go to the car wash and pay money (shudder) then drive the six miles home through salt dust being kicked up by everyone's tires which will stick to my wet car.
So I fluid film in the fall, late enough in the season so it's viscous and sticky, but early enough that I beat the salt by a few days. Figure it'll get me from 15 years of service to 20, a good ROI. And in the spring or after a heavy winter rainstorm I drive through every puddle for that undercarriage wash, LOL.
So I fluid film in the fall, late enough in the season so it's viscous and sticky, but early enough that I beat the salt by a few days. Figure it'll get me from 15 years of service to 20, a good ROI. And in the spring or after a heavy winter rainstorm I drive through every puddle for that undercarriage wash, LOL.
I go to the closest carwash when it goes above freezing (so early and late winter) mostly to clean out the inner wheel wells but I get whatever salt I can off. I park in a non heated not insulated garage overnight which still helps a lot with moisture in the winter.
I also do touchups with cans of fluid film in the high wash areas a couple times through the winter.
Kestas
Staff member
I see so many people going through great lengths to repair rust damage on their vehicles. If they would only invest a bit of time and expense up front rustproofing their vehicle when their car is new (or used, unrusted), they could spare themselves a lot of heartache later on. I learned this early on in life.