General Consensus Question

[Mack Technician]

With exposure in mind...….If you were going to purchase a Truck/Car from any of the lower 48, which state would it be and why?

 

The last four I purchased out of state since we are salt heavy around here. Iowa, Michigan, Washington and Missouri. I get about 5 extra years out of the upper body once they hit salt. Been seeing that non-salt states have some shortcomings too...…. Southwest paint blisters...…..Florida sweat rust and mold...… etc. So far I think upper Northwest may be the ticket.  

[Freightrain]

Pacific NW.   There is a used pickup truck dealer in Eastern Ohio that flies out, buys a few, then has them trucked back.  He does any mechanical on them, as he sells many to PA residents and they still have inspections.  He carries a neat selection, prices are not horrible, considering having to get them back here, etc.  He mostly only deals in 4x4.

[HeavyGunner]

What about the Dakota’s, Montana, Wyoming? Mostly high plains desert so in most places not enough snow ice to warrant salt use, not enough sun to completely bake a vehicle either. The only thing about the PNW is if it’s an older car look for leaks around the door seals which in turn means check the doors and see if they damage from water and the floor. 

[JoeH]

Found out on a business trip in Iowa they use salt brine on their gravel roads about twice during the summer. Salt attracts moisture, which keeps the dust down. 

I'd guess western Carolinas, Tennessee, Arkansas?

[1958 F.W.D.]

With PENNDOT's love affair of using brine on state roads, vehicles in Pa are rotting out faster than ever before. I took my 1500 Ram to an undercoating guy and he has me come back every other year or so to put it up on the lift, check things out and to apply touch-up if necessary. 

[david wild]

CA. or the Northwest, got one service truck on government auction from Missoula MT. real nice, like CA. cause the DOT is up their ass so bad they take care of their stuff, Some from BC and AB are not bad either, got to CLs from BC, both were great trucks.

[Freightrain]

I oil spray my F150 twice a year.  Fluid Film mixed with used motor oil(got lots of it).  Smells bad for a few days, leaves marks for a week, but Never any rot.

From about 2008-2016 I drove an '89 F150 that came from NC.  The frame was still shiny black(except for the red dirt).  I oil sprayed it 2x year and when I sold it, it was still as perfect as the day I bought it.  I do the same for my current '95 F150.  You've got to get it down in the doors, fenders, hood, rear bed lips, tailgate.

It's crazy to see 3-5 yr old pickups with the rear fender lips rotted off.  You can see the guys that buy the big Bushwacker flares trying to cover it up.

 

I hate undercoating.  It seals moisture in.  Will look purdy, til chunks fall off and there is nothing behind it.  

[AZB755V8]

I would say Arizona is the place to pick up a vehicle. Yes there is a lot of sun damage, exposure, to more than a few but far from all. Most higher end cars are perfect, low milage, garage kept and service maintained. I have had fiends come out and drive a few back to Ohio for themselves. I lived there and everything underneath is rust after a few years, after 20 plus years in AZ everything is just as it came from the factory plus a little collected dirt and dust.

Had traded a 2007 F350 last year and it was on a truck back East before I drove the new one off the lot. It was great even interior, paint, except for the engine, the reason I traded it. started to leak fuel into the coolant, I put $10k into the engine already. You can more than count on the A/C working good, have original exhaust, etc.

There are military and civilian aircraft stored out here for a reason, no corrosion due to low moisture. Tires, hoses, belts, bad fuel are a different issue even stored inside over time. Best thing is no mildew or interior smell. 

Original age is a trend here now, patina and faded paint, interiors, is something that guys pay big money to replicate. Some even strip the paint and want the rain and sun do its thing. Not my taste but desirable to some. Got to admit at shows these guy's alway have someone to talk to about a clean original survivor.  The foe paint and aging not so much. 

[Mack Technician]

Guy from New Mexico told me to stay away from vehicles driven in the southwest. He explained the DOT uses crushed pumice on the roads when they do get ice or snow in high regions. Said if you bring it back to the salt belt to paint and restore, fine...… If you bring it back to the salt belt to drive it will be a rusty ball of butterfinger flake in short order because of all the small cuts and nicks from the coarse pumice.    

[AZB755V8]

1 hour ago, Mack Technician said:

Guy from New Mexico told me to stay away from vehicles driven in the southwest. He explained the DOT uses crushed pumice on the roads when they do get ice or snow in high regions. Said if you bring it back to the salt belt to paint and restore, fine...… If you bring it back to the salt belt to drive it will be a rusty ball of butterfinger flake in short order because of all the small cuts and nicks from the coarse pumice.    

That maybe true up in the mountains but not around here.

Of course bringing back a vehicle from a low moisture environment to rain and snow, salt is just going to expose it all. There are stone chips, dents, cracked paint, no paint that are no big deal here but back in the rain and snow belt is a death warrant. 

Sorry, I understood after reading your first question. There is nowhere to get a car that is NOT going to rust or corrode, in the case with aluminum, in 4-5 years in the environment you live.  That is even with a new one. Corvette maybe for upper body preservation or move to a different climate to increase overall car life expectancy.

[MACKTRUCKS4]

I picked up a 2008 F350 duel wheel utility truck from Colorado and had it shipped back to the salt belt of Northeast Pa. I could not believe the difference in the under carriage. I did  some work on it and couldn't believe how easy everything would come apart. The truck doesn't have a spot of rust on it with 145,000 miles. Around here, every truck I looked at that was 10 years old needed a new truck! Lol

[Mack Technician]

2 hours ago, AZB755V8 said:

That maybe true up in the mountains but not around here.

Of course bringing back a vehicle from a low moisture environment to rain and snow, salt is just going to expose it all. There are stone chips, dents, cracked paint, no paint that are no big deal here but back in the rain and snow belt is a death warrant. 

Sorry, I understood after reading your first question. There is nowhere to get a car that is NOT going to rust or corrode, in the case with aluminum, in 4-5 years in the environment you live.  That is even with a new one. Corvette maybe for upper body preservation or move to a different climate to increase overall car life expectancy.

Yes, but you definitely enjoy a grace period before the rust goes big, especially (if it isn’t completely skinned) with some minor touch up. You can treat the undercarriage with rope lube and grease the lines. Beyond lots of wax the top side is going to burn no matter what. 

Some of the best looking native cars around here were the old Saturn SL1 and SL2. 

You guys never see snow down low? My wife’s sister lives in Whiteriver and it seems like they got hit a lot, but around 5K ft?

Edited June 18, 2019 by Mack Technician

[OldRedMack]

Georgia, no salt and the roads are in pretty good shape, so the suspension and what not isn't beat up too bad.

[glitchwrks]

After living in upstate NY and buying used cars, trucks, and equipment up there, most other states' cars look like zero-rust winners to me

[AZB755V8]

1 hour ago, Mack Technician said:

Yes, but you definitely enjoy a grace period before the rust goes big, especially (if it isn’t completely skinned) with some minor touch up. You can treat the undercarriage with rope lube and grease the lines. Beyond lots of wax the top side is going to burn no matter what. 

Some of the best looking native cars around here were the old Saturn SL1 and SL2. 

You guys never see snow down low? My wife’s sister lives in Whiteriver and it seems like they got hit a lot, but around 5K ft?

No snow in the Phoenix valley, elevation 1100 ft.. Whiteriver is only 30 mile up the mountain from Phoenix. I see snow when I want to. Go from 80-90 degrees in Phoenix to 10 degrees in Flagstaff in 1.5 hours, 120 miles, 80 MPH average, to ski, Snow Bowl slope, it runs 9:00am-5:00pm, when back down the mountain and jump in the pool at night at 80 again. Best of both worlds....

True the only time my 2007 F-350 Dully was in the snow was in Flagstaff several times and when I went back to Ohio for Christmas one year. Funny these people can not drive in the rain or snow, I was having a blast in snow and 4 wheel drive being from Ohio. As I said there is no rust or bastard bolts to torch off. Working on this stuff is just like it came from the factory. But as soon as you expose it to water and salt it's rust clock starts ticking.

In the Saturn car thing, those body panels are plastic not metal. Bought one for the father-in-law, Worked on a few back in Ohio, looked good but under the plastic the metal body structure rusted like hell, plastic kept the moisture in. Sort of like Tupperware. Pontiac Fiero, wife first car, the car from hell as I called it, was the same plastic skin and rot from underneath. 

Get rid of the moisture and the rust and corrosion will stop. My brother got my 1998 F-350 in 2008 from me here. In 5 years he was asking me to find doors and tailgate. Wheel well lips were rusted through and exhaust was gone. 

[h67st]

17 hours ago, OldRedMack said:

Georgia, no salt and the roads are in pretty good shape, so the suspension and what not isn't beat up too bad.

An old friend who restores cars shops in Georgia--he says the bodies don't have any rust in them.

[david wild]

Yeah GA. cars and trucks don't have rust but suffer from filth, the nastiest, dirty, smelly, chew spittin (yes on the floor) people live in GA. and they make fun of the people from AL. GA. is the worst for filthy cars. It is a wonder I never killed somebody down here, first day I saw spit on the floor of a truck I went ballistic, I went right to the moon and back, ended that crap that day, you spit, you miss, your fired, normal shit for them ?????? 

[Freightrain]

17 hours ago, AZB755V8 said:

Get rid of the moisture and the rust and corrosion will stop. My brother got my 1998 F-350 in 2008 from me here. In 5 years he was asking me to find doors and tailgate. Wheel well lips were rusted through and exhaust was gone. 

That is why I get oil in every crack/crevice.  Lots of it.   Keeps things from rotting once it gets into a damp environment.

I drill a hole in the upper inner fender of my beds.  Get gallons of oil sprayed up around it, then put a body plug in the hole.  Let it drip out for a week and do it again.   My '89 looked brand new when I sold it even after all those years in the Ohio salt.