Snowy and icy roads create some of the worst road conditions for car and truck owners — and when salt gets dispensed onto the highway, it can cause rust on certain areas of vehicles.
The purpose of using salt on roads during the winter is to lower the freezing point of snow and ice. When states add salt to the roadway, the freezing point drops from 32 degrees to 20 degrees or lower. Salt also helps drivers to gain more traction during severe weather situations.
Although salt increases the friction between your truck’s tires and the road when inclement weather hits, it is a cause for concern because it can promote rust on your truck or car. Salt buildup can occur on just about any area of your truck, but it is especially common on areas affected by the spray from road. This includes fenders, wheel wells, fuel tanks, rocker panels and more.
Worst States for Road Salt
The worst states for rust come from an area known as the “Salt Belt”. State government trucks dump large amounts of the chemical compound onto roads in certain areas of the United States, causing cars to experience more destruction and rapid rusting compared to other parts of the region. States in the “Salt Belt” are:
- Alaska
- Connecticut
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Delaware
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Washington D.C.
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Missouri
- Maine
- New York
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- West Virginia
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
The worst states for rust are primarily located in the Northeastern portion of the U.S. As you can imagine, the “Salt Belt” also includes some of the worst states for car rust.
Parts of Your Truck Typically Damaged by Salt and Rust
The average truck suffers from salt damage in more places than one. As a key factor in preventing rust from overtaking your vehicle, it’s a good starting point to know which areas of your truck are more prone to corrosion. Take a look at the parts of your truck that may rust the most:
- Brake lines
- Cab corners
- Fenders
- Fuel tank and components
- Lower rear quarters
- Paint
- Rocker panels
- Struts and shocks
- Wheel wells
How to Protect Your Truck from Rust
While you may not be 100% guaranteed to avoid truck rust in the winter, you can take several steps to protect your vehicle from severe damage. Every truck in the Salt Belt region suffers from roadside salt, but here’s how to prevent rust on your truck in the winter:
- Clean the exterior and undercarriage of your truck: This should be part of regular maintenance, especially during the winter months with heavy snow and ice.
- Touch up damaged paint spots: Make sure to use a matching color.
- Apply wax: Apply it to both the cavity and exterior of your truck along with an undercoating.
- Use an anti-rust spray: This should be used after you perform each sealant job.
- Spray a coat of linseed oil: This will reduce the risk of your truck rusting for up to a year.
Rely on Raybuck Auto Body Parts to Help You Defeat the “Salt Belt”
If your truck experiences regular salt and rust damage, Raybuck can help you find replacement panels and parts to restore your vehicle and extend its life. Whether it’s your fenders, rocker panels, cab corners, fuel tank or something else, we can help you repair the necessary components of your truck that suffered from salt corrosion and rust.
Raybuck has a large inventory of high-quality body panels to keep your truck at its best. Contact us today or check out our inventory of body parts and panels to help repair and protect your truck from rust.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
I think a Federal Law Suit should be filed to make states stop using salt on the roads-period. There are ways to drive safely on snow covered roads. Front wheel or four wheel drive vehicles with studded tires would completely handle snow and ice on the roads. I was born and raised in New York, so I am familiar with winter weather.A $75,000 car will be completely rusted out in 4 years while the same vehicle would still be with no rust 10 or 15 years later in Florida or the deep South. Many cars are all ready front wheel drive and four wheel drive is also available on most new cars,today. Studded snow tires will last three or four years at an initial cost of $1000-a real comparable bargain! I will contribute funds to any law firm that will file a Federal Lawsuit and I live in South Florida!!!!!!!!!!!
What about Nebraska?
How about Oregon. They’re not listed in the salt belt, but they’re pretty far North.?
I’ve lived in Portland OR for 3 years, they do NOT salt roads here, very rare to have snowfall, due to proximity to Pacific Ocean, keeps winter temps > 32 most of the winter. They don’t even have snow plows as snow melts typically within a couple of hours. I don’t know about inland OR away from coast or central valley. Though I suspect no salt, the mountain towns are tiny and everyone living away from central valley uses snow tires/chains in winter months crossing the mountains.
Portland is a TINY part of Oregon. The rest of the state does have snow and many parts DO salt the Oregon roads.
Oregon does not salt the roads. They gravel the loads with crushed lava rock, I live in central Oregon near an ODOT pit. They also use magnesium chloride with a corrosion inhibitor as a spray on in certain places.
Washington state has been using large quantities of salt on the west side of the state the last few years. Many people here are having rust out issues now.
The people that run government on the west side of WA state are idiots. They previously used sand, then switched to salt, didn’t make any difference except it’s harder on vehicles. I generally try to avoid driving my car in the snow there now if I can. That said, snow on the west side is infrequent, so they fortunately don’t have as much opportunity to do this kind of stupid thing relative to north east states.
In Eastern Washington instead using salt on the streets, roads, and highways they spread gravel. Which I guess is better than salt. I hope they don’t use salt in Eastern Washington.
I have lived in Hawaii for 30 years and can attest that it is a place where ‘rust never sleeps’ and everything from cars to computers get destroyed by salt air. I find it interesting that the authors of the article didn’t seem to know that.
Truck frams rust out big time in New England. You can’t keep a truck long before you get done paying for it.the frame is rusted throw!
I’ve been to Alaska in the winter. I didn’t see any salt. Cars are not rusted , they use sand and cinders, broken windshields are very common from the gravel thrown up. I recommend less salt on North East . Go look at the 49th state
Alaska DOT has been treating roads with corrosive salt brine since at least 2013.
I am looking to purchase a vehicle that is fairly new (year 2020). It lived up in Virginia for about 6 months, and has about 4,500 miles on it. Is that enough time for the salts to have damaged anything?? And if I do purchase, what should I know about any existing salts that may be there. I live in the southern states so we don’t have that problem. Thanks!
Hi Karla. It’s hard to say. With a vehicle that new, I would think that it shouldn’t have been exposed to too much salt yet, but inland Virginia is a lot different than if it lived along the coastline. I would suggest looking at the undercarriage and around the lips of the doors and wheel openings to see if there is any salt buildup and/or corrosion. Usually a good high pressure undercarriage wash will remove the majority of any residual salt buildup, especially on a vehicle with lower miles.
In Nashville, Tennessee, do they salt their streets during the winter during heavy snowfalls (do they HAVE large snowfalls?) I am purchasing a van that was titled in Nashville. Rick in Florida
I lived in Nashville for 3 years, it only snowed several times and never more than 0.5″ accumulated (melted within hours of the snow stopping if there was enough to accumulate which I only recall one time in those 3 years). They did not salt the roads as far as I knew and from my Minnesotan perspective, it would be downright ridiculous if they did for how rare freezing temperatures are there. Since they don’t have snow plows in the region, it seems highly unlikely they would have salting equipment.
I have been living in the Nashville area for the last 13 years. Snow fall does not occur that often, and when it does, it is less than 3 inches, typically 1 inch. The issue here is icing of the roads. When the north gets snow, we get rain. If the temperature drops below freezing at night you can have ice in the morning. When that is a possibility they do pre-treat the roads, but not with rock salt. They spray a brine onto the road. This salt does not last long and is washed away after a few days. There is very little rust on cars in Tennessee from salt.