Winter driving

[dave95]

Hey guys I bought my mustang gt in October and didn’t have the money to be able to buy a second car / beater for the winter and have been driving my mustang around , I was curious how bad is winter driving for a car like this when it comes to how much rust and underbody damage can truly happen from the snow and salt they use for the roads because although I love driving this car I do find myself feeling kind of bad using such a nice car in the winter time

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[Vlad Soare]

Easy, three-step recipe for winter driving:
1. Winter tires.
2. Wash often.
3. Enjoy.

 

[br_an]

Go to a car wash with under spray, or you can get an undercarriage cleaning attachment for a pressure washer and do it yourself.

 

[Mach VII]

Vlad has it right, get a good set of tires and the only thing limiting you is ground clearance.

 

[Dfeeds]

I'm on my third winter but I'm fortunate enough to live right by a touchless wash with an undercarriage spray. Main body and frame rust is nonexistent but areas around the wheel and hub (tie rods, ball joint, bolts, rotor, etc) show a bit of rust. Fortunately it's all parts that are wear items and replaced down the road, anyways.

I did have a rock kick up that caused a spot of rust on the bottom last year but I sanded that down and sprayed it with rust reformer and painted over it. So basically just good tires and diligence.

It will require some work but my thoughts were that I'd rather spend the time maintaining my Mustang than spend the time maintaining a beater and the mustang. I did the beater thing for a while and it's annoying.

 

[sk47]

Hello; I am old and know of the way vehicles did rust away, especially the 70's years. I have had the black 1978 van in my avatar covered with salt residue. In addition to a few car wash sprays I would take drives any time it rained heavy. Best rains were days or hours after the first rain washed away the salt from the highway.

Speaking of salt. I read some are trying to stop the use of salt treatment due to environmental concerns. Best i recall one state, maybe SC, used small grit and sand to treat roads decades ago. A trade off of environment and stone chips in paint.

 

[dave95]

Vlad has it right, get a good set of tires and the only thing limiting you is ground clearance.

I have brand new snow tires and they wirk
Pretty damn good so far I’m just concerned with the long term effects it’ll have on the underbody components from driving in the elements since I plan to keep this car for a very long time

 

[Mach VII]

I have brand new snow tires and they wirk
Pretty damn good so far I’m just concerned with the long term effects it’ll have on the underbody components from driving in the elements since I plan to keep this car for a very long time

I give it a spray underneath once the roads dry... Haven't noticed any unusual rust/corrosion.

 

[dave95]

I'm on my third winter but I'm fortunate enough to live right by a touchless wash with an undercarriage spray. Main body and frame rust is nonexistent but areas around the wheel and hub (tie rods, ball joint, bolts, rotor, etc) show a bit of rust. Fortunately it's all parts that are wear items and replaced down the road, anyways.

I did have a rock kick up that caused a spot of rust on the bottom last year but I sanded that down and sprayed it with rust reformer and painted over it. So basically just good tires and diligence.

It will require some work but my thoughts were that I'd rather spend the time maintaining my Mustang than spend the time maintaining a beater and the mustang. I did the beater thing for a while and it's annoying.

Yeah that’s my worry as well was I didn’t want to buy a 1000$ corolla and need to repair it monthly so I didn’t rush out and buy some clunker , but I’m just worried if driving in the snow will have any long term effects to underbody components since I want to keep this car for a very long time

 

[Kermut]

Eh, I ordered all seasons on mine and plan on regularly washing it.

I keep thinking I should buy a beater, but then why have a nice car if you don’t use it? Unless you are putting just insane mileage on it (20k+ year or whatever)

 

[theruleslawyer]

Go to a car wash with under spray, or you can get an undercarriage cleaning attachment for a pressure washer and do it yourself.

How does that work? Who has a tap and room to wash a car indoors?

 

[ice445]

Eh, I ordered all seasons on mine and plan on regularly washing it.

I keep thinking I should buy a beater, but then why have a nice car if you don’t use it? Unless you are putting just insane mileage on it (20k+ year or whatever)

I recommend beaters only if you can do major service work yourself, if you have to pay someone it's not worth it. There's also the skill of finding one that's not on death's door. Usually when I buy one I shake them down and then service every needed item at once. That way you avoid unexpected (and hugely annoying) breakdowns.

Personally, I hate what salt spray does to an undercarriage, but modern cars are well made to the point where its going to take quite a while to cause any actual damage. OP should wash often, and if you want to do repeat winter usage, I highly recommend a coating of fluid film on the bottom of the car before the next winter season. It's not "undercoating", it's lanolin wax/oil that creates a watertight barrier that prevents the salty ions from attacking the metal.

 

[T.O.Bullitt]

Easy, three-step recipe for winter driving:
1. Winter tires.
2. Wash often.
3. Enjoy.

Visiting the monastery at Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, Quebec…

… which is over 400 miles from home in Toronto, Ontario.

Buy the car, enjoy the car, whether winter, spring, summer or fall.

 

[br_an]

How does that work? Who has a tap and room to wash a car indoors?

You don't????

 

[dave95]

I recommend beaters only if you can do major service work yourself, if you have to pay someone it's not worth it. There's also the skill of finding one that's not on death's door. Usually when I buy one I shake them down and then service every needed item at once. That way you avoid unexpected (and hugely annoying) breakdowns.

Personally, I hate what salt spray does to an undercarriage, but modern cars are well made to the point where its going to take quite a while to cause any actual damage. OP should wash often, and if you want to do repeat winter usage, I highly recommend a coating of fluid film on the bottom of the car before the next winter season. It's not "undercoating", it's lanolin wax/oil that creates a watertight barrier that prevents the salty ions from attacking the metal.

I’ll have to look into that lanolin wax for next year , so if I wash the under carriage often I shouldn’t have to worry about much rust ?

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