I travel on winter roads to ski areas, and when it is storming there is much road salt present. Sometimes it is not possible to clean the salt off for a few days, simply because of very cold temps, or the lack of washing facilities where I may be. Other than a good wax on the paint, is there anything else I should do to protect the finish of my truck?

 

i wash mine off when either it rains of someone makes me go to the carwash.

 

Wash it when you can. Thats about it.

 

A couple of good coats of wax before winter should do you good I am in the chicago area where the road salt is layed down heavy When i get home my truck is shaded white with road salt the next day As usual the temp will drop after a snowfall It will be at least a week before i can wash it again The truck looks brand new after i wash it a week later My truck has never been through a car wash I always done it myself

 

This is the best stuff I've ever used.http://www.meguiars.com/?pro-liquid-...olymer-Sealant I use it twice a year, spring and fall.

 

Back when I lived in a "salty" area of the country (Minneapolis) I always took the time to pull into a self-serve car wash once or twice a season to "flush" the underside of my vehicle as well. This really helped keep the salt from eating through the floor panels of my vehicles, although it should be noted that today's automobiles are not nearly as prone to this problem as cars from the mid-80's and earlier were.

Then, once the snow season was over, I'd give the undercarriage one more good washing and I'd be "good to go" for the rest of the summer.....

 

I wax my truck with a layer of NXT The next day i use #26 My question to you is When do you apply #20 ?

 

you would apply it instead of the NXT.

 

I live in New Hampshire where they use a lot of road salt.

I just give the vehicles a couple of coats of NXT before the winter starts and rinse the salt off when I can during the winter. I have one of those extend-able wands for the end of the hose with multiple spray patterns. It extneds to about 18". That allows me to get a good strong spray to the undersides of the vehicles without too much effort.

 

Other than washing it when you can, the only thing is to have it oil sprayed yearly or bi-yearly. It is important to get them to drill a hole in you're door and spray it on the inside too, a complete rust prevention system. I do this, wash or auto wash whenever and things should be fine. As long as it's waxed before and after winter, the paint will be fine. Protect everything else with the oil spray.

 

Although I dont have to worry about salt on the truck anymore, we used Corrosion X to treat our aircraft (military rescue helicopters) for over-saltwater rescues. It works very well at staying on the exposed metal, and I think you would only have to spray it on about once a year. I know of at least one guy in the midwest that swears by it and puts his truck on the lift every fall and douses the underside with it.

http://www.corrosionx.com/

I know it's not exactly answering the question you asked (protecting paint), but may be an idea to try.

 

Whenever I get that I spray my truck down at the spray it urself carwash place, even if its 20 degrees, i'd rather have ice than no clearcoat lol. Though I have layers of wax so I feel quite confident.

 

May wanna reconsider this statement!

 

yeah... the winters are harsh down here. Salt is bad too, every road is either salted or sanded. (Small Town Alberta)

I know I should, but I havn't washed my truck probably since before christmass, just did today.

It's just a pain when it's -20 and your trying to wash your truck, have to do it body panel at a time spray then shammie cuz it will freeze if you leave it longer.

really not too much to add to the convo, just saying mine will probably rust away before yours does. lol

 

Hey thanks for all the answers. But they are not that important to me any more. My Marine son just entered the Al-Anbar today!
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