When you're preparing your car for another winter, one thing you shouldn't overlook is the damage that salted roads can do to your car. As you drive over roads that have been salted, your wheels will spray this salt up onto the undercarriage of your car. And while salt is effective at speeding up the melting of ice on roads, it is also effective at speeding up the rusting of metal.
If you know that you're going to be driving over road salt this winter, then you need to prepare in advance as well as keep up with maintenance once winter starts.
Preparation: Waxing And Sealing
It might surprise you to know that waxing your car can actually help prevent rust. This is because the paint on your car acts as a barrier, protecting the metal underneath; you might have noticed that cars are prone to rust in areas of bare metal or where the paint has worn away.
What waxing your car does is protect that layer of paint. By applying wax and sealant to your car, you not only keep it looking nice – you keep the paint in good condition, which keeps the metal below protected. And if you don't have the time to wax your car yourself, many car washes will also wax and seal.
One important thing to know about waxing your car is that you should avoid washing a waxed car with dish soap. This will remove the protective layer of wax; instead, use soap designed for washing a car.
Preparation: Rust Inhibitor
Not every part of your car is coated with paint, however. The underside of your car won't benefit from waxing and sealing; what you need for this area is a rust inhibitor spray. There are two main types of rust inhibitors, and each one works best in certain situations.
The first type is called drying inhibitor or bitumen-based inhibitor. They are called drying inhibitors because, after application, they will dry into a protective coating. However, this means that it's crucial that you cover any areas of bare metal completely because the coating will not fill in gaps that you miss. Bitumen-based inhibitors are more frequently used on the body of a car, where it's easy to see what you're doing.
For harder-to-reach areas, many people choose petroleum-based inhibitors. Unlike drying inhibitors, these rust inhibitors do not dry completely; the protective later that they form will spread to fill in small gaps. In addition, the layer can self-heal from small amounts of damage, which is good for the undercarriage of a car. If bits of gravel or rock scrape away part of a coat of petroleum inhibitor, the surrounding areas can spread to fill in these gaps as well.
Share11 September 2015
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