OK. So it looks like I'm moving back to Wisconsin from Arizona in a few months. My truck has spent its entire life in the southwest and is in pretty good shape.

I've gotten so used to not having to worry about rust that I forgot all about it. What should I do to prepare for the rust belt?

 

before you go? forget what low humidity is ;-)

when you're there, garage the poor thing. kick accumulated snow and road muck off. i'll leave the real suggestions to those who actually know stuff about rust treatments, painting, etc.

 

As for cosmetics, put and keep a good coat of wax on your truck. I've seen many old(er) vehicles move here to the armpit of the nation in good condition, and they seem to quickly succumb to moisture. I'll leave the undercarriage advice to another.

 

i don't live where it snows or anything but just for protection i thoroughly washed my undercarrige and sprayed it with rubberized underbody spray.. its good stuff and seems to keep the salt off the beach from bothering me even though i give the 4R a good bath after every trip there just incase.

 

The key I've found to preventing the worst/immediate threat is to PRESSURE WASH THE UNDERCARRIAGE as soon and a often as possible when driving in salt/snow. This will go a long way toward protecting components underneath.

 

i just rustoleum flat black enameled my entire undercarriage in preperation for winter. I always keep several coats of wax on it, and make sure to pressure wash the undercarriage as often as you can especially when it warms up. I also like to make sure all the door and window seals are treated with silicocne lubricant to keep water out.

 

You keep several coats of wax on the UNDERCARRIAGE??!!? D@MN! That must take up your entire Saturday!

 

i meant the body. damn pronouns.

 

Bring lots of rust-free Yota body parts for the rest of us!
Go easy on the POWERwashing; sometimes that just drives the salt deeper into crevices allowing corrosion to work from the inside out.
But yeah, wash it alot.

 

I've heard that spraying oil on the underside of the body works, have even heard that there are actually places that you can go to have this done every so often. Not sure if that's true or not.

 

I heard the same thing about the oil but it was deisel. I could never bring myself to try it.

I've lived in the northeast most of my life. I can't seem to stop it on any of my vehicels. You can prolong it but that is about it.

All you can really do is keep it as clean as you can, washing the salt, snow and sand off as often as possible. Apply some good undercoating and re-apply every two or three years.

I also drilled holes in the common rot areas on the frame to let the crap that gets caught in there drain out. I haven't decided if that actually works yet or not.

The only thing that definately works is garaging the vehicle for the winter.

Goos luck.

 

What part of Wisconsin are you moving to? I'm in Madison. No Yota buddies or anything to hang out with :cry:

You have to accept the fact that if you drive in the winter your vehicle will succumb to salt. The first thing to do is keep it washed frequently. But the reality is that if you drive, salt will get in where you don't want it.

If you really want to keep the truck rust free, don't drive it in the winter. I have an older BMW that I simply don't let out until after the first good rain to wash the remaining salt off the road.

My Yota is my winter beater, so I accept the fact that it will eventually rust apart. My '95 has held up pretty well. As I recall the 1st generation had some serious susceptibility to rust.

MadCityRich

 

PM 4x4lamm - he had his rustproofed, and it was a very in depth process.

Otherwise, I agree with the above, get it washed AT LEAST once a week.

 

Thanks for all the great responses guys. keep em coming. madcityrich: I'm moving to Eastside Milwaukee but used to live in Brookfield and Waukesha. I had a dropped 325is before I moved out here that I drove through an entire winter. God that sucked. I bought the truck knowing that I'd be moving back eventually and bought the toyota. It will be my first winter owning a 4WD vehicle. I'm excited.

 

I saw something posted on here awhile ago, that will prevent rusting at all. It's a device you hook up to your car that removes the positive charge from your vehicle and puts it under a ground, that way any contact with oxygen or water won't cause electrolosis (rust). They have the USS Arizona hooked up to some similar device that keeps it from coroding any more then it is under the ocean.

 

Here ya go!

http://www.paintprotection.com.au/ru...protection.php

 

Sweet dude, thanks.

 

all that electronic anti rust stuff is crap. if you need proof take a look at the underside of my old explorer.

 

Did you run it to your Chassis? A buddy of mine has one on his ole Chevy, he ran wires everywhere to stop rust, he has like 4 wires going to the body, and about 6-8 or so going to the frame and all sorts of other stuff.

He doesn't have the one I posted, at least I don't think so, I'm not sure what he's got on it, it's a guy I know that we cut grass for, he was showing off this bad ass hot rod, and there's a box under his hood, and he said its for preventing rust, and coming out of it was alot of wires, and he said he's got them ran all over the body and the frame.

 

that is incredibly innovative...