Winter Travel - road salt issues?

[Super Thirty]

We have not travelled with our trailer in winter yet but are considering making a trip to a warmer climate. At this point we would have to travel back and forth during the winter months and I am concerned with the issues associated with road salt particularly upon return. Any advice from experienced travellers would be appreciated.

[leland1950]

Being from the Northeast, take a water hose to the under side and rinse things off. Use as much as you can. Did this for 20 years. Don't forget to drain the hose afterwards.

[elind]

Leaving Upper Michigan at the end of the month I'm dreading all the salt that I'll be finding on the way south. My plan is to rinse it off when I find clean roads and then treat it with a NO Rust spray treatment on the steel underneath. It's a chemical spray that neutralizes rust.

[ykdave]

salt.... sucks...

But, granted you arent spending alot of time on the road (a day or 2 travelling) and wash the trailer (and your poor truck LOL) thoroughly after each travel youll be fine. Rustproofing, undercoating, ect all help. But as long as you wash the unit in a timely manner after it sees salt their is little to no harm done.

salt isnt some magical chemical that instantly vaporizes steel upon contact. If you wash it off in a timely manner their is no ill effect. if you allow it to sit on the metal, especially in a moist environment, your going to have some issues

If all of us that lived in the road salt washed our vehicles even once a week, you wouldnt see a fraction of the rust on vehicles. everyone complains about road salt, but i know more than a few people that wash their vehicles once a year!

[davido_]

I live in Salt Lake City where the roads are salted anytime it snows. Vehicles get coated with the whitish-gray spray like a flocked Christmas tree. People who don't take care of them end up with a lot of rust problems. Even people who *do* take care of them will eventually get some rust spots here and there if the vehicle is old enough.

The best approach is to wash off (including undercarriage) after every storm, even if it's cold and unpleasant outside. I find that I wash my vehicles almost weekly in the winter months. It's funny, most places that don't see snow tend to get long lines at the car washes on nice sunny spring/summer days. In snow climates where salt it used, the long lines at the car wash are in the winter.

[WFD]

Washing the vehicle in winter is not much of an issue...any car wash and dry it off thoroughly after washing before you leave the car wash and all is good, but I think the OP was more concerned about the trailer...coming home from a weekend trip yesterday(in our car and a hotel...yuck!) we passed a couple heading back north with truck and trailer in tow...the trailer was covered in salt and ice, so they obviously hit something in their travels. I commented to the DW...where is that poor fellow going to wash that trailer before putting it back in storage, because there is still a solid couple mths of winter left. No way would I be able to leave all that salt on it. I wash our trailer right at home through the summer mths...I guess a person would have to take it to a Truck Wash like semis do! Our climate is much like the OP's climate...good ole Canadian prairie bone chilling winter! Washing it at home in winter is not at all an option.

[ykdave]

exactly....

not sure about your locations, but around here their are a billion truck washes and some RV specific bays at said truck washes. a little time and a few dollars at the end of each leg of the trip saves alot of rot and misery down the road.

i personally would be more concerned about washing the trailer than the truck, its worth alot more LOL

[Super Thirty]

My concern is definitely on the return end because of the temps. The closest RV sized washing facility is about 150 miles from where we live. I will have to rethink our plan. Might just have to stay in the warmer climate until ours warms up.....oh darn..


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums