Nothing kills a car or lowers the value of a truck while its still running like rust. Between rock salt on the road during the winter season and rain storms that decorate the road with puddles, rust is a real concern for motorists.
One part of your vehicle that's particularly susceptible to rust is the undercarriage. It's easy for water, salt, and other contaminants to reach the bottom of your car and cause rust that gradually corrodes more and more of your vehicle.
For motorists looking to get the longest life and best value out of their vehicles, Northern Tire has a few tips you can keep in mind when it comes to preventing your car or truck from rusting.
1. Check Your Undercarriage Regularly for Rust
There's a saying that "what you don't know won't hurt you," but it will hurt your car. That's why you should make it a habit to inspect under your car or truck for rust, as well as other susceptible areas like the fenders. You'll want to look for scratches and nicks where water and salt can penetrate more easily. If you catch nicks before they erode, you can treat them. Another thing to look for is darker areas of paint. This may be an indication that there's rusting metal beneath this area.
If it's hard to check your undercarriage, ask a mechanic at Northern Tire for an inspection the next time you get an oil change or other automotive service.
2. Avoid Winter Driving When Possible
We know it's not realistic to expect you to keep your car parked or in the garage all winter long. However, decreasing the number of trips you take in the winter provides less opportunities for rust to occur. Salted roads are bad enough for your vehicle, but now there's another method of safeguarding roads that provides even more opportunities for rusting: brines. Brines share the melting characteristics of rock salt but come in a liquid form. It's highly effective, which makes it great at taking care of icy roads but means it's also good at penetrating car seems and causing corrosion.
Less winter driving = less opportunities for rock salt and brines to get on your undercarraige and other parts of your vehicle.
3. Avoid Puddles
Water puddles are full of contaminants ready to wreck havoc on your car after getting splashed onto the undercarriage. Puddles in winter are especially bad, because salt gets added to the mix. It's best to avoid driving in rain. If you have to drive, try to avoid roads where you know there are many instances of puddles or flooding.
4. Inspect Your Drain Plugs Regularly
Those large pieces of rubber that wrap around your car hood and trunk are there to Chanel water away from your vehicle. If they're blocked by leaves or dirt, then the water might pool and lead to rust.
5. Apply Rust Protection Solutions
The best way to handle rust is to stop it before it starts. If you live in an area near the ocean or where winter weather conditions occur, then you should consider having a rust inhibitor added to your undercarriage yearly. Rust inhibitors penetrate the crevices and hard to reach areas of your vehicle to provide comprehensive protection.
At Northern Tire, we use a specially formulated rust inhibitor that displaces moisture and adds a protective layer over your vehicle. Our corrosion inhibitor shields the surface of your vehicle from water molecules. It penetrates and protects, pushing out moisture and oxygen to prevent the formation of rust.
We serve Coaticook, QC, Pittsburg, NH, Colebrook, NH, and surrounding areas.
Rust forms when oxygen and water meet iron. Modern vehicles have come a long way in rust combativeness but aren't impervious, especially near oceans and snow prone climates where salt is used on roads. If your vehicle gets scratched deep enough, this can also be an open invitation.
Rust proofing and undercarriage undercoating provide great benefits:
Call Northern Tire to talk with a member of our team and learn how affordable automotive rust proofing is for your car, truck, or SUV.
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