Truck rusting factors

[Btown]

Keep it clean, in a garage but driven regularly to air out, and your climate are the biggest factors. My 2006 F350 doesn't have a drop of rust but I see them all the time rusting out. Chris

Not sure they changed the bed design in 2006, my 2001 has white foam pads in the wheel wells on the bed. They hold moisture and rot it from the inside out. Only way to stop it is to remove these pads. My paint was starting to bubble in 2008 and the truck at that time had about 35K on it. Bad bad design.

 

[oosik]

I have a 2005 Ford F-150 & 2006 Jeep TJ. Neither have a spot of rust anywhere. IMHO its because the county DOES NOT use any type salt product on the roads out this way AND our weather is very dry(they call it semi-arid).

Now, my son lives in Spokane where they liberally apply that liquid deicer product. The underside of his 2002 Toyota PU is a mass of rust. Its so bad that one of the side running boards completely rusted through and fell off.

Its been years & years since I've waxed either of my vehicles but I do routinely hose off the mud/dirt/dust and also wash out the wheel wells.

 

[blackdog2086]

In my area they use liquid chloride to keep the dust down on the local dirt/gravel roads. IMO this is much worse than the salt used in the winter. On the occasions when I've had to drive the roads shortly after a chloride application (actual puddles of the stuff on the road), I promptly went straight home and pressure washed the entire underside of my vehicle. Being in a liquid state, it gets into pretty much every little nook and crevice.

 

[dodge man]

I've formed the opinion that every vehicle is rusting out. Its a matter of when it shows, next week or in a hundred years. I've also seen people that care for the trucks and wash them in winter yet they still rust. Some times its the vehicles, sometimes all the salt, it just varies.

 

[drizler]

Whatever those idiots at GM were using for undercoating back in the early 2000 era was a disaster when combined with that "hardened TIN " frame they used under the box. Absolute GARBAGE and guaranteed to just disappear if used in any sort of salt location. I have heard they went to crap in as little as 10 years and I believe it.

 

[Retiredguy2]

I've formed the opinion that every vehicle is rusting out. Its a matter of when it shows, next week or in a hundred years. I've also seen people that care for the trucks and wash them in winter yet they still rust. Some times its the vehicles, sometimes all the salt, it just varies.

Very well said. My former dad in law was a shift supervisor at Fisher Body for about 35 years until he retired back in 1986. He told me one time there are so many variables involved in vehicle rust BUT he thought the major factor of rust was the was road salt and deicing crap and second was the lighter thickness of steel to reduce weight. My wife has a small unibody 1999 model car, my GMC is a body on frame Y2K model. Both are low mileage for the year...they get comparable care and it should be interesting to see which one rusts out sooner.

 

[dfkrug]

....it should be interesting to see which one rusts out sooner.

Both are more than 15 yo so that's not bad. I bought my first truck in Lansing, MI back in the mid 70s. It
was 6 yo when I bought it and it already had rusted-thru floorboards.

So they ARE getting better.

 

[drizler]

I wouldn't say they are getting better, just finding ways to manage their way around things. That series of GM suffered from very thin hardened steel. I swear it was the worst junk I ever welded. That is what the rear frame rails is made of. Up front gas tank forward they had the same old stuff and it was thick and welded just like you would expect. It also wasn't deteriorated. Rusty yes just like my last 2 GM's but it had some meat in its bones so it didn't just thin away.
Now strangely even the unit body sheet metal tin on even my 95 Honda civic never did that and to this day only has a bit of surface rust. Go figure. Now GM had a real winner with those plastic panels on their cars back in the 90's. You couldn't kill those and often would just pop back from a big shallow dent and were easy to fix with Fusor plastic glues. I remember the Canadians went nuts for those things. They had a real cult following because they didn't rust away. Of course they went away and right back to the ultra thin cheap hardened tin that rots right out and using galvanized coatings to try to hold it back. Lighter sure, better gas mileage sure but better I think not. More like just different:thumbdown:

 

[Btown]

Ya I remember those plastic panels. They were great except when you got into an accident in the winter. They would just shatter.

 

[buickanddeere]

I don't miss my years in MI fighting rust. That said, don't some makers now say that using Ziebart or Tuffcoat will
void the vehicle's warranty? I guess they are concerned about plugging up drain holes.

Also, regarding pickups, some use C-channel frames that collect salty road gunk. I gather that could be a factor.
For the frame, anyway, not the body.

Why have not environmentalists in the midwest fought to stop road salting?

That would be the one and only time that I would support an environmentalist would be to ban road salt. Use sand and drive sensible for the road conditions .