Why northern 4Runners are so prone to rust.

[Blanco]

A little bit of snowfall last week up here in my part of the great white north and the salt dumping begins - this is from maybe two hours of driving total! Temperature is going above 0 tonight and a whole lot of rain is coming to wash it off. Then I'll be heading over to the spray booth to hose off the frame and underside - staying on top of it is a full-time job in the winter. Note: for you southern and southwest dudes, all that white sh*t you see on my Runner is salt. Urgh, sodium chloride is nasty stuff!

 

[bak3rme]

ever seen Georgia Mud? i mean Georgia Clay? almost as bad as Northern salt rusting..but this clay cakes, stains, breaks, hides in weird spots, never gets off...

 

[blcktpgsr]

We didn't get as much snow out here in BC compared to you guys but the last few days I needed to use the truck and they salted the roads, I'd wash the whole truck off top to bottom extensively as soon as I get home just as a precautionary measure, cause once rust starts?:sobbing:

 

[AbruptlyBold]

- staying on top of it is a full-time job in the winter. Note: for you southern and southwest dudes, all that white sh*t you see on my Runner is salt. Urgh, sodium chloride is nasty stuff!

Its true.

 

[Blanco]

We didn't get as much snow out here in BC compared to you guys but the last few days I needed to use the truck and they salted the roads, I'd wash the whole truck off top to bottom extensively as soon as I get home just as a precautionary measure, cause once rust starts?:sobbing:

Definitely, our garden hoses are all shut down for winter though (haha) so will let nature take it's course with a day of rain tomorrow then hose it down at the carwash. My truck shows plenty of underbody battle scars from driving through 12 Ontario winters but nothing I can't repair. Surface rust I can deal with, it's trying to remove bolts and have them constantly break off that drives me crazy. I could do way more work at home if not for that. Taking my running boards off was murder - half the bolts are still in there!:rant:

 

[tbst]

Removing the bolts is super nerve racking. Just a few more mm on a breaker bar before one snaps and a 2 hr project just turned into a 8 hr project.

 

[Huskey]

Here's a tip I learnt from my uncle out in Edmonton Alberta a few years back, works fantstic. Just before winter hits, clean the vehicle real well, especially under her... then spray a couple cans of Pam under her (or any other cooking oil in a can). This protects so well, his '92 ford 250 is the most rust free vehicle I've seen from the 90's in alberta. I started doing this with my 4runner almost 2 years ago and have noticed a huge mess of crap to clean come spring time, but also a nice shiney paint job. He keeps telling me to do it and I will see the true results within the next 2 or 3 years when compared to others. Looking at his 250, I have no reason to doubt him so I will continue.

I have also heard of other spraying oil in the undercarriage to protect from salt, but I just wanted to share my experience.

 

[PitbullRescuer]

You definitely want to stay on top of it. I never heard the cooking spray trick but I know Fightman is a big proponent of using oil to coat the under carriage. I usually take mine to the car wash (self serve) and spray it down real well after each snow event. I'm going to NE doing some minor bed lining to my 4Runner in the spring, under the Limited flares and cladding as well as the bottom of the door jambs, bottom of the door edges, and the body seams behind the bumpers. I'm also going to wire wheels the whole under carriage and paint it. Better safe than sorry I think.

 

[supplyguy]

I sprayes mine down today and drove around for 5 mins and it was white again in the wheel wells. I hate the north and their salt.

 

[tbst]

You definitely want to stay on top of it. I never heard the cooking spray trick but I know Fightman is a big proponent of using oil to coat the under carriage. I usually take mine to the car wash (self serve) and spray it down real well after each snow event. I'm going to NE doing some minor bed lining to my 4Runner in the spring, under the Limited flares and cladding as well as the bottom of the door jambs, bottom of the door edges, and the body seams behind the bumpers. I'm also going to wire wheels the whole under carriage and paint it. Better safe than sorry I think.

I undercoated my Tacoma with grease. Worked well, it seemed. There certainly wasn't any MORE rust.

 

[1985taylor1925]

Im in WI and its the same way here in the midwest. I hate it. Just washed my truck last week. Then it snowed again like 3 days later, and it all starts over again. This summer Im going to get a nice frame undercoating from eastwood and take my time sanding off all the rust and coating it several times. Fortunately this is only my second winter with the truck in the midwest, so not too much damage done. Two years here will probably do just as much damage as its 12 year life in Colorado did

 

[Nelsonmd]

ever seen Georgia Mud? i mean Georgia Clay? almost as bad as Northern salt rusting..but this clay cakes, stains, breaks, hides in weird spots, never gets off...

I would rather be carrying around extra mud and clay that I can't wash out than lose material to oxidation. There's a reason every automotive OEM in the world requires a salt spray test for all their components, because it is the worst naturally occurring oxidizer that a vehicle will see.

 

[supplyguy]

Yea I feel like the auto industry has some say in the salt being used, seems like people buy cars more often up here due to rust. Its a conspiracy for sure. In Fairbanks they didn't bother with salt, they just let the snow pack down and added small gravel for traction. Go figure, just saying.

 

[supplyguy]

I would rather be carrying around extra mud and clay that I can't wash out than lose material to oxidation. There's a reason every automotive OEM in the world requires a salt spray test for all their components, because it is the worst naturally occurring oxidizer that a vehicle will see.

My wife's old accord with over 200k GA miles on it is caked with that mud, her parents live a mile off a dirt road, but its that mud that's probably holding that car together cause its still running, its a 97.

 

[combatmedic]

Blanco, I bought a 99 tacoma off ebay back in 2005. I drove it down to texas, and had to sell it in 2007 due to the Rust..... I feel for you guys.

 

[fightman80]

I am a huge advocate for spraying the undercarriage with oil. I also spray all my body panels and chrome with WD40. It seems to help keep the rust at bey. I've been doing this for the almost 8 years on my 4Runner and have done it to my previous vehicles as well.

One thing I would advise against...and I know this sounds dumb....but DON'T WASH THE TRUCK ALL WINTER. I've been told that spraying the water down, simply re-activates the Salt, and makes things worse. I don't wash my truck all winter, and just keep re-applying the WD-40 to all the body panels and chrome pieces every couple of weeks.

 

[Blanco]

One thing I would advise against...and I know this sounds dumb....but DON'T WASH THE TRUCK ALL WINTER. I've been told that spraying the water down, simply re-activates the Salt, and makes things worse. I don't wash my truck all winter, and just keep re-applying the WD-40 to all the body panels and chrome pieces every couple of weeks.

I've heard this said by others before but then again I've heard the opposite as well. I'm kind of on the fence in this regard, while I don't 'wash' my truck in the winter, I do blast the undercarriage and rinse the body followed by a good wipe down of as many nooks and crannies as I can get to. I know there is a strong argument for turning the dried salt back into 'slurry' form but I'd prefer to try and get it off. I don't know what it's like in Sudbury, but winter down here in Toronto is up and down so much (below zero/above zero) that I feel its better to get the salt off. If I knew it was going to stay below zero and not get humid, I'd probably not wash the truck. I've heard that parking in a heated garage is not good for the same reason. Thankfully, I'm not daily driving my Runner any longer so I'm hoping this will also help.

Yea I feel like the auto industry has some say in the salt being used, seems like people buy cars more often up here due to rust. Its a conspiracy for sure. In Fairbanks they didn't bother with salt, they just let the snow pack down and added small gravel for traction. Go figure, just saying.

The problem is I live in the city and if the salt isn't down and the snow plowed quick enough, the city services get an earful from the general public. I can see their point, there were 500 fender benders in one morning of snow last week.

Something more damaging to consider is that sodium chloride is absolutely toxic for the environment. It ends up flushing into the groundwater and eventually into the lakes. I have heard that they are working on alternatives to rock salt.

 

[JohnsD90]

I am a huge advocate for spraying the undercarriage with oil. I also spray all my body panels and chrome with WD40. It seems to help keep the rust at bey. I've been doing this for the almost 8 years on my 4Runner and have done it to my previous vehicles as well.

One thing I would advise against...and I know this sounds dumb....but DON'T WASH THE TRUCK ALL WINTER. I've been told that spraying the water down, simply re-activates the Salt, and makes things worse. I don't wash my truck all winter, and just keep re-applying the WD-40 to all the body panels and chrome pieces every couple of weeks.

You're are right and wrong, if you spray it with water, it will make it oxide again, if you actually spray it, clean it with soap to get all the salt and dirt off, rinse it and dry it, then there are no worries. So you either do it right or don't do it at all.

 

[JohnsD90]

A little bit of snowfall last week up here in my part of the great white north and the salt dumping begins - this is from maybe two hours of driving total! Temperature is going above 0 tonight and a whole lot of rain is coming to wash it off. Then I'll be heading over to the spray booth to hose off the frame and underside - staying on top of it is a full-time job in the winter. Note: for you southern and southwest dudes, all that white sh*t you see on my Runner is salt. Urgh, sodium chloride is nasty stuff!

Thats not bad at all, I've had my truck near white status, but i didn't really drive my truck yesterday, but i did over 100 miles today in post storm weather:

 

[iowajosh]

That could be worse. We haven't had much snow this year so they are putting down what seems to be a whole years worth of salt anyway. It beats crashing and dying.

I've been beaten by rust a few times before so I'm trying to be a little vigilant now. Crawling under the car, I keep noticing places that are hard to wash. Like in the frame, the backside of the bumpers, topside of the wheel wells, the inside of the fenders where they are open, etc. Mine is fluid filmed on the bottom. Hopefully that helps. I don't think salt for a few days or a month is the real problem but where it can kind of sit and hide well into the summer. Like you could spray the outside of your bumper all you want but the rust eats it from inside.