Anyone here drive their car in the winter with road salt

[WhiteNissan300zx]

What do you guys do to maintain it throughout? I wash my car 1x a week. How much salt can actually reach the frame on these cars with the skid plates on the bottom and such? Hoping to not rust the car out lol

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[Soliduz]

What do you guys do to maintain it throughout? I wash my car 1x a week. How much salt can actually reach the frame on these cars with the skid plates on the bottom and such? Hoping to not rust the car out lol

wait for the salt to clear lol. if its gross out Supra ain't movin!

I've had my car for a bit over a month. have not washed it once . Wiping down tho with invisible glass and rain waterless car wash spray

 

[Rocksandblues]

Most localities have gone to a brine mixture. it mists and will get up everywhere. The Supra will not rust up any faster than any other vehicle out there every day. drive over your garden sprinkler if you must drive in crap.

 

[WhiteNissan300zx]

Most localities have gone to a brine mixture. it mists and will get up everywhere. The Supra will not rust up any faster than any other vehicle out there every day. drive over your garden sprinkler if you must drive in crap.

I chose to drive it yesterday and a few days last week, the roads have been dry but there’s salt ingrained in the roads but that’s all I’ve driven it so far this winter. And have washed it each time though.

 

[J29DB03]

Most localities have gone to a brine mixture. it mists and will get up everywhere.

I’m jealous, the brilliant decision makers around me still insist on turning the entire township into a gravel trap.

 

[BillyLong42]

I’m jealous, the brilliant decision makers around me still insist on turning the entire township into a gravel trap.

I dont know if this is becoming the thing to do or if municipalities are just getting lazy but damn if Ohio doesn't just dump truck everywhere with salt. Then the times where you know it was gonna be bad they are nowhere to be found with plows.

Supra stays in the garage aside from these random sunny winter days.

 

[cinosa]

I drive mine year round in Canada. We use salt here, so I'm washing the car once a week to keep her undersides clean

 

[puzzled]

The problem with those skid panels is salt and moisture can get to the chassis, but very difficult to reach with water while washing.

I have an undercarriage water spray rod thingie so I use that on my daily drivers, but only AFTER all the salt has cleared. I let the thing neutralize the salt for like 15-20min at full blast.

Wetting down salt is more damaging to the metals than keeping the salt dry on the car. I've learned that lesson decades ago.

But my Supra hibernates all throughout the winter so I've never had to deal with salt.. I've never water washed my Supra since ownership.

 

[Andrew4Supra]

I opted for a secondary winter car... the Supra is parked for the Ohio winters.

A diy quarter carwash with hot water, a flexible wand, and nice pressure works well for keeping the wheel wells and underside clean.

 

[WhiteNissan300zx]

The problem with those skid panels is salt and moisture can get to the chassis, but very difficult to reach with water while washing.

I have an undercarriage water spray rod thingie so I use that on my daily drivers, but only AFTER all the salt has cleared. I let the thing neutralize the salt for like 15-20min at full blast.

Wetting down salt is more damaging to the metals than keeping the salt dry on the car. I've learned that lesson decades ago.

But my Supra hibernates all throughout the winter so I've never had to deal with salt.. I've never water washed my Supra since ownership.

I only drove it for a few days with little salt on floor but I still wash under it. I’m going to jack the car up and use my pressure washer and spray under everything then park it until spring now. That should prevent rust for this year and I won’t drive again in salt anymore

 

[je8]

The problem with those skid panels is salt and moisture can get to the chassis, but very difficult to reach with water while washing.

I have an undercarriage water spray rod thingie so I use that on my daily drivers, but only AFTER all the salt has cleared. I let the thing neutralize the salt for like 15-20min at full blast.

Wetting down salt is more damaging to the metals than keeping the salt dry on the car. I've learned that lesson decades ago.

But my Supra hibernates all throughout the winter so I've never had to deal with salt.. I've never water washed my Supra since ownership.

These are my thoughts as well. The daily driver gets all the time and attention regarding rust mitigation and salt cleanup during the winter months. No need to add the Supra to the to-do list for a few short drives on the small handful of semi-warm and clear days.

 

[Gringo1960]

I opted for a secondary winter car... the Supra is parked for the Ohio winters.

A diy quarter carwash with hot water, a flexible wand, and nice pressure works well for keeping the wheel wells and underside clean.

Same. My winter bitch is a MINI Cooper S.

 

[6SPDA91]

So my advice is 1) drive the car (carefully). If a manufactured vehicle can't handle the elements, there's a bigger problem and 2) if you're going to drive in the salt i would actually avoid the rinse when it's still fluctuating temps (this was advice given to me long ago).


It's not just the salt, rather the freeze the cycles that kill you. If you're going to have a few days above freezing then give the car a really good rinse, but if it's still going to below freezing, just leave it for the couple extra days.

 

[monkahead]

Supra is my daily so I drive it during winter as well, regardless either there's snow on the roads or not. Life is too short to keep cars like this under the blanket. We all say we will keep this car for life but in reality we sell it after some time, therefore, another reason to simply drive it all year round.

I'm going to inspect the car after this winter and have the bottom of the car jet washed, just to see how it lasted the 1st winter in its life. Since there are a lot of under-body panels and aluminum parts, I assume there will be no rust at all. Rear frame, made of steel, I'm going to secure with wax spray, on my own, in my garage. I already did it on Miata and it works very, very well and the cost is less than 25USD. I think with a bit of wax on the inner profiles and on some of the suspension parts, not made off aluminum, this car shall last very long, without any rust. I recently read a Swedish article about corrosion tests they did on the cars driven in Sweden and BMW was 2nd from the top, regarding anti corrosion protection, therefore this is a good sign for the future for our Supras

 

[puzzled]

Supra is my daily so I drive it during winter as well, regardless either there's snow on the roads or not. Life is too short to keep cars like this under the blanket. We all say we will keep this car for life but in reality we sell it after some time, therefore, another reason to simply drive it all year round.

I'm going to inspect the car after this winter and have the bottom of the car jet washed, just to see how it lasted the 1st winter in its life. Since there are a lot of under-body panels and aluminum parts, I assume there will be no rust at all. Rear frame, made of steel, I'm going to secure with wax spray, on my own, in my garage. I already did it on Miata and it works very, very well and the cost is less than 25USD. I think with a bit of wax on the inner profiles and on some of the suspension parts, not made off aluminum, this car shall last very long, without any rust. I recently read a Swedish article about corrosion tests they did on the cars driven in Sweden and BMW was 2nd from the top, regarding anti corrosion protection, therefore this is a good sign for the future for our Supras

You do you man. That's waaaay too much work for me when I have a WRX limited and WRX STI that is properly equipped to handle snow at any given time without running stupid skinny snow tires on a Supra looking all stupid and sad with grime all over the car.. It just says you are poorly equipped.

From my experience, driving through one salt season is greater than 3 years wear on a car that had zero salt exposure. I use to do undercarriage maintenance on my own in my youth, but that's just a lot of work for a car I'm eventually going to sell. Washing off salt in the spring is sufficient for me. Supra will be sold eventually as well, but while in my ownership, she will be a garage queen/weekend nice day GT car.. and one less car to maintain during the winter.

BTW, my modded AWD Golf-R also hibernates next to her in the winter. Why? cause life is too short and don't feel like adding extra work like washing and winterizing for something I don't need to do.

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