No more road salt?!
#1
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Central Connecticut
Posts: 1,777
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Car: 91 Trans Am 'vert
Engine: LB9
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3.45 9 bolt
No more road salt?!
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!
#3
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Central Connecticut
Posts: 1,777
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Car: 91 Trans Am 'vert
Engine: LB9
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3.45 9 bolt
Re: No more road salt?!
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.
#4
Supreme Member
iTrader: (3)
Re: No more road salt?!
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.
#5
Supreme Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Davenport, Iowa
Posts: 1,598
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Car: Still a 3rd Gen
Engine: 450HP 355
Transmission: TH350
Axle/Gears: 9" with 4.11's
Re: No more road salt?!
They've been trying out some new stuff here in Iowa, seems to work ok but salt is still most common.
#6
Supreme Member
Re: No more road salt?!
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.
Trending Topics
#8
Supreme Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Short Summer, VT
Posts: 1,485
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Car: 1985 Trans Am T-Top
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: T-5 5 Speed
Axle/Gears: 3.42 posi 1LE 10 bolt
Re: No more road salt?!
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.
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.
#9
Supreme Member
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: CT
Posts: 1,680
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Car: Used to drive a camaro
Re: No more road salt?!
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.
#10
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Central Connecticut
Posts: 1,777
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Car: 91 Trans Am 'vert
Engine: LB9
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3.45 9 bolt
Re: No more road salt?!
Well that's too bad, I got a little excited for a second. At least newer cars are much more resistant to this crap.
#12
Supreme Member
iTrader: (1)
Re: No more road salt?!
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.
#13
Supreme Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Short Summer, VT
Posts: 1,485
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Car: 1985 Trans Am T-Top
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: T-5 5 Speed
Axle/Gears: 3.42 posi 1LE 10 bolt
Re: No more road salt?!
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.
I had 2 jettas literally rot out from under me.
#14
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Central Connecticut
Posts: 1,777
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Car: 91 Trans Am 'vert
Engine: LB9
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3.45 9 bolt
Re: No more road salt?!
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.
#16
Supreme Member
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Pepperell, MA
Posts: 3,079
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes
on
3 Posts
Car: 1987 Trans Am
Engine: LQ9/L92
Transmission: 4L60E
Re: No more road salt?!
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...
#18
TGO Supporter
iTrader: (2)
Re: No more road salt?!
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.
#19
Supreme Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Short Summer, VT
Posts: 1,485
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Car: 1985 Trans Am T-Top
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: T-5 5 Speed
Axle/Gears: 3.42 posi 1LE 10 bolt
Re: No more road salt?!
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.
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.
#20
Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Car: 87 firebird
Engine: carbed 305
Re: No more road salt?!
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 ***** 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
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post