Just bought a sweet LX from NC and cringe at the thought of driving in Maine during the winter. Anyone have any suggestions, other than not driving it, on how to minimize rust in the northeast from road salt? If it was not the wife's DD I would park it for the winter. Might buy a beater 80 for her to drive in the winter and keep the LX in great shape, do a light built and call it mine.
How to keep m LX from rusting this winter
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93yotasr5
Come and take it
wd40, paint any non coated metal surfaces, and keep everything lubed/greased/oiled and filled and you should be good. after driving the salted roads, every couple days or so, id spray the underside of it with a hose to wash off the salt. anything non coated WILL show surface rust in 1-2 days for sure.
mine grew up in ohio and michigan and to tell the truth its really not bad. there are few spots and i have had to repair some surface rust but over all after 16 years it help up very well. that being said working on the underside is pain in the ass. i tried to go through a car wash (yes i know but to the people who say its stupid they obviously have not been outside in illinois winter) once a week and after any big snow or ice when they coated the road. also a good wax job will go pretty far.
They are just Toyotas. Just wash it often.
Here in ct. I just wash often. A lot of people up north...canada use old motor oil in a hvlp gun and shoot the whole undercarrage. Known to work really good but messy I'm sure. I personally have not done this. But I have unloaded cans of wd40 on previous vehicles.
Find a reputable independant shop that does rustproofing, or buy a gallon of the rust preventative waxy stuff Eastwood's (or 3M) sells and do it yourself. There are drain plugs in multiple locations that can be used to spray through and/or you can pull panels.
Rustproofing and Undercoating System - Undercoating Frames - Rocker Panel Undercoating - Eastwood
Rustproofing and Undercoating System - Undercoating Frames - Rocker Panel Undercoating - Eastwood
undercoating as scrowley describes - I had it done professionally several times on the minivan I had before owning the 80 - and on every vehicle I ever owned back in Germany, since that's what "we" do over there every few years for rust prevention - used motor oil and bitumen mixture
Dont park in a warm garage. Keep it frozen. Its when the vehicle warms up and the salty water migrates into the crevasses is when the problem starts. The freeze thaw over and over gets the salt deep in the metal seams and rust forms.
On my rusty Chevy trucks I have had owned in WI, there is rust everywhere except where there is an oil leak. That area is always free from rust.
On my rusty Chevy trucks I have had owned in WI, there is rust everywhere except where there is an oil leak. That area is always free from rust.
rustproofing
1) you will never stop it, only slow it.
2) I live in NH, and I get my cars sprayed with a bar& chain lube mixture applied with modified spay gun which sprays 360 inside the panels. The guy who does it drills small holes in the bottom of te panels and coats the inside with this heated oily-waxy mixuture. The guy also coats the underside with a normal sprayer. The only rust I get on my vehicles is where the door handles, trim, and that sort of thing attach. The underside looks great on my 86 Ford and my 87 Cruiser. I just got my 97 Cruiser, so this will be the first year for the treatment for the 80.
Good luck finding someone who does the oil spray, they are few and far between.
It's not perfect, but it's the best I've found.
1) you will never stop it, only slow it.
2) I live in NH, and I get my cars sprayed with a bar& chain lube mixture applied with modified spay gun which sprays 360 inside the panels. The guy who does it drills small holes in the bottom of te panels and coats the inside with this heated oily-waxy mixuture. The guy also coats the underside with a normal sprayer. The only rust I get on my vehicles is where the door handles, trim, and that sort of thing attach. The underside looks great on my 86 Ford and my 87 Cruiser. I just got my 97 Cruiser, so this will be the first year for the treatment for the 80.
Good luck finding someone who does the oil spray, they are few and far between.
It's not perfect, but it's the best I've found.
