4 Ways To Keep Your Car From Developing Rust
When you live in an area that gets snow every winter, you have to work hard to fight back against potential rust on your vehicle due to all the snow, salt and chemicals on the road. Here are a few ways that you can fight back against rust on your vehicle.
#1 Undercoat The Underside Of Your Vehicle
The first thing that you want to do is make sure that you have the underside of your vehicle treated. The underside of your vehicle is most directly exposed to the salt and chemicals on the road, which means the underside of your vehicle – and all the important components that it contains – is the most likely to develop rust. You can fight back against this by getting an undercoating put on the underside of your vehicle.
You can take your vehicle to the auto body shop, and have them apply an undercoat product to your vehicle that will harden and protect all of the parts of your frame from developing rust on it. If you have the ability to lift up your vehicle, you can also do this job yourself at home.
This is the best way to keep your vehicle from developing rust on the underside, that then spreads to the rest of your vehicle. Contact a business like ValuGard to learn more.
#2 Wash Your Vehicle
During the winter months when snow is on the road, it is just as important to wash your vehicle as it is during the summer months when you want your vehicle looking nice in the sunshine. However, it is natural to not want to stand outside in the freezing weather in the winter to wash your car, which is why you should run it through the car wash at least once a week. When you take it through the car wash, make sure that you ask for the underside to be washed as well; this will clean the undercarriage of your vehicle as well as all the sides and ensure that there is no salt left on your vehicle.
#3 Install Rubber Floor Mats
In the winter, take out your cloth floor mats and invest in a set of rubber floor mats. Rubber floor mats work best at protecting your vehicle's carpets from all the snow that will melt off your shoes, and all the salt and chemicals that you will track into your vehicle on the bottom of your shoes. This is an easy way to protect your carpet and interior of your vehicle from developing rust. Just remember to vacuum every week or so as well to ensure that everything is clean and salt has no opportunity to take advantage of the moisture and create rust in your vehicle.
#4 Keep Drain Holes Clean
All vehicles are designed with drain holes to let water get out of the vehicle and to prevent water from pooling up and allowing rust to develop. You can often find these drain holes on the floor of your vehicle, near the tailgate, close to the bottom of your fenders and right at the bottom edge of your doors. Find and locate the drain holes on your vehicle, and make sure that they are clean. If the drain holes are clogged up with dirt and other debris, they will not be able to do their jobs and keep water from pooling up on the bottom of your vehicle and creating rust in the doors and trunk area of your vehicle.
Implement the four steps above to ensure that your vehicle doesn't turn into a rust bucket as long as you are living somewhere that gets a lot of snow and thus salt and chemicals on the road, which creates the ideal conditions for rust to develop.