Bottom Rust in a Heavy Salt Winter

ExpressRules · Feb 19, 2016

So, yesterday morning I stop by my friendly neighborhood garage to get an oil change. This is my second winter and have driven through lots of salt treated roads so far in its young life. I've been going to this place for 25 years and I have full range of the shop so I almost always walk under the vehicle while its on the lift. I must say, after reading numerous threads about how some members here have a rust field under their trucks, mine looks very clean.

The mechanic, Tyler, doing the work even said it looks like it was just off the dealer floor. So it looks like the 4th Gen holds up very well compared to the 2nd and third.

BigRed4x4 · Feb 19, 2016

I haven't looked since winter hit but it has been pretty mild and there haven't been many times crews put salt on the roads. I do try to not let my truck go more than a few days after salt has been applied before it goes through the automatic wash with the under body spray. Outside of the drive shaft rust my truck is pretty clean.

Drummin4jc · Feb 19, 2016

Great news! Mine is looking really good (2012) as well. I'm very happy with it this far.

Adam

arod412 · Feb 19, 2016

I'm power washing the **** out of the bottom end of my 2012 at some point this weekend.

The last month there have been some snow, when they put down salt, they put down alot.

I'm going to my truck on the rhino ramps I have and go to town..lol

**Truck name: Rampage**

kg93 · Feb 19, 2016

really? mine looks like crap. Id rather have them leave the snow on the roads all season long then all the salt they put down lol

BigA · Feb 19, 2016

I was under mine a couple weeks ago, and I was surprised how clean it looked. My truck is also going through it's second winter in Ohio.

BigA · Feb 19, 2016

kg93 said:
really? mine looks like crap. Id rather have them leave the snow on the roads all season long then all the salt they put down lol

I agree they do over salt, biggest gripe is when they put rock salt down on snow free roads. Even if you stay back of the salt spreaders all the traffic and semi's starts kicking it up and it sounds like a shotgun hitting the front of my truck.

tncruiser · Feb 20, 2016

my 2015 is clean ,altho living in Tennessee and parking it in the garage all winter while im in florida might help. the thing I miss most about not living in Michigan the last 15 years is I cant buy a new car in December and the first time I get to detail it is late march and then the carpet is salty ,the paint is dull and the engine bay filthy. ya I,m gonna retire and move to the snow/rust belt said NO ONE EVERbrianj

averageguy · Feb 20, 2016

tncruiser said:
my 2015 is clean ,altho living in Tennessee and parking it in the garage all winter while im in florida might help. the thing I miss most about not living in Michigan the last 15 years is I cant buy a new car in December and the first time I get to detail it is late march and then the carpet is salty ,the paint is dull and the engine bay filthy. ya I,m gonna retire and move to the snow/rust belt said NO ONE EVERbrianj

You are living my dream.

bgray · Feb 20, 2016

I live in the rust belt in Ontario. I just pressure wash my chassis every spring. Then touch up any areas that get a paint flake etc

scHemi · Feb 20, 2016

Well make sure you clean ur ride especially the rockers and cab corners if you have nerf bars or you could end up like me with this

And don't have any final pictures after the work was completed I'll get some tomorrow.

1600 is what it cost me to get both sides repaired. And my truck is a 09 with 82k miles

Sent from skynet

Sir John · Feb 21, 2016

scHemi said:
Well make sure you clean ur ride especially the rockers and cab corners if you have nerf bars or you could end up like me with this

And don't have any final pictures after the work was completed I'll get some tomorrow.

1600 is what it cost me to get both sides repaired. And my truck is a 09 with 82k miles

WTF??!! Rams suck that bad?? I've had cars and trucks way older and more miles with hardly any rust on them! I live in Western NY with the roads are white with salt 5 months out of the year!
:jawdrop:

bgray · Feb 21, 2016

No thats extreme neglect. Most people dont understand the amount of time and effort needed in the salt belt to keep a clean vehicle

scHemi · Feb 21, 2016

bgray said:
No thats extreme neglect. Most people dont understand the amount of time and effort needed in the salt belt to keep a clean vehicle

No it's not neglect. i will admit I didn't wash my truck every week. Like some people but their is absolutely no reason for my truck to rust like it did. I had a Audi that was 15 years old and had no body rust and I drove it year round and washed it less.

So no this isn't neglect but poor design on those little drainage holes with the rubber covering them. Needless to say those holes have been filled and removed

Hemi395 · Feb 21, 2016

scHemi said:
Well make sure you clean ur ride especially the rockers and cab corners if you have nerf bars or you could end up like me with this

And don't have any final pictures after the work was completed I'll get some tomorrow.

1600 is what it cost me to get both sides repaired. And my truck is a 09 with 82k miles

Sent from skynet

Damn, every time I see these pics it makes me cringe...

Definitely want to see the after pics

zstampe · Feb 21, 2016

Sub'd

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

laffs · Feb 22, 2016

Did it start at the pinch weld and rust its way up?

Quint · Feb 22, 2016

Anytime after a good snowfall where they've salted, I wait a few days until the road salt is under control (sorta) and then get the truck washed with an underbody flush. I've never had rusting issues with my vehicles while living in Wisconsin or Minnesota. Just stay on top of it when you can to keep the salt from staying on there for long periods of time.

arod412 · Feb 22, 2016

That's pretty extreme, just by looking at those pictures. I don't think I have ever seen a 4th Gen look like that.

With that said, thank got I have splash guards and wash it a couple of days after a snow storm.

I'm **** in washing my truck during the summer, but in the winter, I do let it go a little...but not by much.

**Truck name: Rampage**

Sir John · Feb 22, 2016

Where I live and my daily commute, washing it is a joke. I literally wash it one day and then drive to work and it's covered with salt again. It's pretty much pointless.

Bottom Rust in a Heavy Salt Winter

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