Hey guys, well I'm from CT and as we all know older cars, especially thirdgens suffer from the salt thrown on the roads to melt snow and ice. However, I just heard that salt isn't used anymore and has been replaced with some synthetic stuff (for most roads at least). I noticed something different too, they put down this greenish/bluish stuff on the roads before snow/ice is expected to hit. I was wondering if anybody has anymore information about this and if it's still harmful to our cars. Thanks!

ive seen salt used here in mass.......... not sure of the stuff your talking about.............. must be something new

Yeah I see it here too but I also noticed that funny colored stuff and I've heard from a couple people that the new stuff they use is harmless. However today while calling autozone about balljoints for my 94 Jimmy, I decided to ask them if they knew anything about the road salts. The guy on the phone said that actually they're using calcium chloride mixed with some chemicals to lower the freezing point of water on the roads. Unfortunately, that stuff is even WORSE than the salt they once used. He said that a lot of people have been buying new brake lines lately. He said it's pinkish in color, but that doesn't explain that other stuff I saw.

It's been a couple yrs, but I saw an ad in Popular Science or Pop. Mechanics for some sort of liquid that can be put on sidewalks & asphalt drive ways. The ad mentioned some North East States Hi-way depts. were using it. This particular stuff is available for the public but that's all I remember about it.

They've been trying out some new stuff here in Iowa, seems to work ok but salt is still most common.

Hard to find anything cheaper than salt. They'll be using it for a long time. City in Ohio experimented with a salt solution and beet juice. Still cheap and effective.

Speaking of salt & such-- I've got salt,cat litter,& "play sand" for the drive way. Last winter it was a bi**h trying to get in & out of the drive way--it's up hill both ways. Honest it is!!

I think its just that many places in the NE have switched from rock salt to synthetic calcium cloride. Its still salt. and aparantly more acidic as many people with pets are complaining about it here in VT. It will still be an electrolyte to promote rust.
It also seems that the "caking agents" they are using to make the slat stick to the road are more sticky, so harder to wash off your car.
Sorry, its not the end of the Rust Belt.

ANYTHING with chloride in it will promote and accelerate oxidation. CT is using what almost equates to a brine solution (sea water). Thats the white lines you see on the highway the day before a storm, the DOT trucks are out spraying.

Oh so that's what those lines are! I never knew that lol
Well that's too bad, I got a little excited for a second. At least newer cars are much more resistant to this crap.

Yep, or Clevis Escobar Salazar's stash of "powder" is leaking as he drives north and south on I-91 & 95 LOL

I live in a southern state. They put sand out the two or three days a year that ice becomes a problem. Even if I lived in a northern state, I'd never drive a car I gave a damn about during the winter. That salt crap literally eats away your ride. No thanks. Fortunately for me, neither of my third generation cars are daily drivers.

you got that right. Normally i wouldnt buy any car i cared about from here in VT, but 3rd gens are Ok, because its not possible to have one as a winter driver here in VT, so i know its salt exposure has been minimal
I had 2 jettas literally rot out from under me.

Well they're jettas that's why they did lol jk. And today I saw a 2nd gen Camaro with beefy winter tires on it that look like they belong on a Blazer or something. You can tell it's a DD. But that's true, thirgens are useless up here during these months. I actually bought my 91 T/A vert from New Hampshire last August and you can tell it was a DD... even in the winter. But it's not that bad, 98000 miles wasn't enough to do too much damage and the only rot was on the fenders under the gfx along with a tiny hole on the subframe connector under the door used to reinforce the convertible unibody.

New England winters definitely are not too kind to us 3rd genners and our love of RWD. They're still using salt up here in the Northern Mass / Southern New Hampshire area. My car was white by the time I got to my parents' place in CT (right outside Hartford). Just means ya gotta wash the car a bit more often to make sure you have a floor underneath you for at least a few more years...

the local car washs love me

I don't know about that. Anything that's managed to survive this long was probably spared from salt, but 10 years ago I can't tell you how many clapped out POS thirdgens that were still on the roads.

I've actually had 2 thirdgen winter cars, and not suprisingly, they rotted badly on the underside.

It's also why squarebody (73-87 Chevy/GMC) pickups are worth so much around here... nice ones aren't really very common unless they've been restored or well cared for.

Thats funny you mention the chevy truck. I have an '86 plow truck that i thought i would try and swap out the drivetrain to a less rusty body. no such thing apparently. only some expensive restos.
I know my firebird wasnt driven in the salt, it has very little underside rust. all the rust is from inside out w/ the leaky t-tops.
I think you are correct that any that made it this long here werent driven in winter.

my bird never saw a spec of salt and never will. when ny got pounded with like 2 and a half feet that one december day. i was shovaling in the front and my work is right off of route 5 in ny. i saw a firebird 305 with a open diff trying to drive in the middle of the storm. all the trucks were going down the road at about 5mph and then he comes up and is just sitting there spinning so i risk life and limb and go out and push him out of the drift he was in. that prick didnt even say thanks just kicked a pile of snow up in my face. boy that was a really scary ride home that night. the next day i opened my saturns hood and it was packed with snow