Lets's talk Corrosion, a.k.a. Rust!

[stutaeng]

I went to the junkyard over the weekend to look for some parts. Found the truck I needed and started pulling things and when I went underneath I was shocked to see how badly corroded it was! I have seen guys on YT videos from up North, but I had never seen it in person. Dang! That truck was not from here I knew off the bat! I later talked to one of the guys there and he did confirm it was Chicago truck.

Obviously not a problem here. We may get snow/ice once a year. Every 3-4 years we'll get a storm where the road sand or whatever the DOT throws on the roads lingers for a few weeks after that. Frames and suspensions don't rust through around here. Even my old beater that was a farm truck and spent it's life in the country has just surface rust. No scaling or pitting.

Geographically, where does rust become a problem? Like what states? Or parts of states? I'm also aware of the coastal corrosion. Don't know how bad that gets though...

I looked it up and found "Salt Belt," LOL.

 

[Montyhaulz]

Northeast states seem to be worst.I know down by Cape Cod or near oceans can be real bad as I almost bought one from CC and cause of salt water was unusable. I have been able to poke fingers through some frames easily as I looked at them. When I look for a truck for parts I take a body pick hammer if it goes through look elsewhere. Unless there are usable parts.

 

[RichLo]

A 'clean' truck up here you can shove a baseball inside the rocker corners and push a finger through the fender flares.

 

[stutaeng]

A 'clean' truck up here you can shove a baseball inside the rocker corners and push a finger through the fender flares.

This is what I saw. Didn't take a photo of the frame, but everything had a nice, thick scale of rust.

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[b454rat]

Lol, even that could be considered clean! My Tahoe came from Texas n frame has more scale than that.....

 

[DerekTheGreat]

This is what I saw. Didn't take a photo of the frame, but everything had a nice, thick scale of rust.

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OH man, look at that frame!! She's a beaut by my standards. Sure, she's got a little weight loss in the rockers and cab corners but that's a goin' to town rig where I'm from.

Anywhere they use salt on the road and you'll see corrosion like this..

 

[Ricky8680]

PA is especially good at free weight reduction/speed holes. Was great in highschool,my tahoe probably lost a second on my light-to-light time because of the road salt. Common event in my neck of the woods is to get 2 or 3 buddies a case of beer an air hammer and a grinder and clean a frame bare,spray it with ospho then paint it every other winter.

 

[Vikingdude]

Canadian cars are bad! Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta all use road salt pretty aggressively, and it eats cars alive. BC and the north aren't as bad, but it's certainly not good.

 

[Supercharged111]

I went to the junkyard over the weekend to look for some parts. Found the truck I needed and started pulling things and when I went underneath I was shocked to see how badly corroded it was! I have seen guys on YT videos from up North, but I had never seen it in person. Dang! That truck was not from here I knew off the bat! I later talked to one of the guys there and he did confirm it was Chicago truck.

Obviously not a problem here. We may get snow/ice once a year. Every 3-4 years we'll get a storm where the road sand or whatever the DOT throws on the roads lingers for a few weeks after that. Frames and suspensions don't rust through around here. Even my old beater that was a farm truck and spent it's life in the country has just surface rust. No scaling or pitting.

Geographically, where does rust become a problem? Like what states? Or parts of states? I'm also aware of the coastal corrosion. Don't know how bad that gets though...

I looked it up and found "Salt Belt," LOL.

I had a similar, but opposite epiphany back in 2004 when I went to basic training and saw clean square bodies on the road. Or a few months later when I popped the hood on an 94 Grand Marquis to liberate it of its alternator and the frame, motor mounts, and bolts were all immaculate. I never knew that was possible before coming from da U.P. dontchaknow. Now I have my own rot free cars here in CO.

 

[stutaeng]

OH man, look at that frame!! She's a beaut by my standards. Sure, she's got a little weight loss in the rockers and cab corners but that's a goin' to town rig where I'm from.

Anywhere they use salt on the road and you'll see corrosion like this..

LOL. There were some areas of the frame that had completely rusted through, just the photo doesn't show it...It got worse when I got under! Some areas looked like Swiss Cheese!

So why is the NE worse for this? (And parts of Canada?) More days below freezing temps? Do some DOTs use different chemicals? I mean, states like Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho get plenty of snowfall as well. Is it a problem there as well? Or just not as bad? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Belt

I've only lived in SoCa and here, so I've never seen this. I've traveled SW and SE of the country, and only a handful of times up North, but never paid attention. Occasionally, you do see Northern cars driving around here. You really pick up on the white ones, LOL. Just curious...