How Road Salt Effect Vehicles In addition to winter magic and the joy and euphoria over the upcoming holidays, drivers still think about a mind-boggling side of this period, which is the condition of the city streets and roads in winter.

Industrial salt, affecting the point when water freezes and causing the ice to melt, even when temperatures remain below zero, sand and gravel help keep it in place and also provide a little traction on wet and often slushy roads.

Approximately 15 million tons of antifreeze road salt is used every year in the United States alone!

The authorities begin the process of covering the roads with a salt mixture in order to prevent the occurrence of ice. However, the benefits of safer, non-frozen roads are still charged through the influence of salt on the car's body. But is road really the main reason responsible when it comes to car corrosion?

Corrosion is the process of surface destruction of the material caused by the effect of external prolonged influences. Metals under the influence of external factors oxidize. Corrosion results in irreversible metal damage. So, the first part of the car that gives is the bodywork, then the chassis. Corrosion is an inevitability that is impossible to completely stop but with various methods of protection, its negative effects can significantly be mitigated. The root causes of corrosion are air and moisture in the atmosphere. These are the main factors, and sodium chloride, the salt, is the ideal to speed up this process and represents an accomplice in this crime committed to your car.

However, sodium chloride is only effective at temperatures above 16 degrees Fahrenheit!

Not only the salt but gravel, if it’s added to the mixture, have that continuous damaging effect that you don’t notice right away, but slowly grinding that shiny clear coat of your car at first. Snow remains on the road longer than the rain, so the moist environment is in contact with the bodywork for an extended period of time. When these conditions are combined with salt mixed with the gravel, which is spread along the roads, ideal conditions have been achieved; snow melts and turns into water containing salt. Gravel hits the bodywork and creates small damaging dents to the primary clear coat protection allowing the water to come into direct contact with the metal surface.

Calcium chloride is more expensive than sodium chloride, but compared to the total global damages caused to the bodywork and chassis, it is a smart solution that is three times more effective staying liquid for longer.

After the scorching summer periods and while foreign scholars announce arctic-like temperatures, meteorologists tend to announce in a sensationalistic manner the predictions of the average weather conditions over the coming months. In any case, even the lightest winter has its challenges - challenging road conditions, faded and blurred glass, start-up problems, frozen locks, cars stuck in the parking lot. So, we think these tips will be useful when all around us is under snow and ice, and hopefully even before that.

All scratches, small defects and places where corrosion has already begun, are prone to an intensive damaging exposure to the road salt, which is thrown along the roads over the winter, and the weather conditions themselves. So make sure to fix and prepare the car as much as you can. If the finances are a problem, forget about aesthetics and deal with problematic places, grinding them with sandpaper or in some other way and also make sure you protect them with anything. The most important is to prevent the spread of corrosion. Protect the small scratches with a color corrector or auto-varnish, and if a larger area is affected, contact the specialized car service center.

Waxing prior to winter is very useful as it is really so easy to protect the car from salt and other harmful substances that are much more present in the winter. Numerous experiences say that it is better to give more money and buy a better product, a product that is verified but beware of false copies. You can easily do it yourself or leave it to a body shop specialist. Ones lesser informed frequently mix up polishing and waxing, so we emphasize that there is a significant difference between these two "operations"!

Brakes are, of course, equally important regardless of the season. However, because of the slippery asphalt in winter, if the wheels are unevenly obstructed, it is much easier for the car to slide and lose the grip. If the brake fluid is older than two years, it should be replaced. But, this is not the only thing that endangers the performance of the brakes during winter. Salt is a real threat to the effectiveness of the braking system and various cables that might be exposed.

If you use all four winter tires, it is a good idea to get special steel wheels for them, so that those of light alloy can be protected from various damages and road salt. In winter, impact holes appear more often, you are driving over snow-covered or iced curbs and you may need to put those chains. By the way, if you plan on time, thanks to new wheels you can buy tires of a higher profile, more suitable for winter conditions. But be careful, if you are not well acquainted with the problem of using changed tire dimensions, don't deal with it by yourself.

Regularly maintain the rubber floor mats, also leaving newspaper below them to absorb excessive moisture and salt.

The most sensitive places on the car are wing edges, joints on the hood and on the wing, lower part of the door, joints on the rear hood, thresholds, and mudguards. You should carefully clean the engine compartment also, even during the winter period, a car must be monitored every two weeks in order to remove the impurities and prevent possible damage due to accumulated factors we mentioned. Rubber segments around the door and in other areas are also subjected to the ruthless effects of the sharp grinding and eroding teeth of the road salt.

One of the best ways to prevent rust attack, the cheapest for sure, is to wash the vehicle's chassis regularly during the winter and in this way not allow the winter dirt, a mixture of industrial salt and gravel, to hold for longer. The quickest way this can be done is using hot water, which will dissolve the winter dirt immediately. Winter dirt holds everywhere, so pay special attention to the parts around the wheels.