[doh]

First off I know it is not a Chevy only problem.

But I was just woundering how everyone deals with the salt and rust problem? my 97 is showing many signs of road salt, even when I drive it hard on the lake, before it has lifted. When it is covered in water.

The charging light has even come on. due to belt slippage. Stream out of the hood, But I have seen early 90's trucks on here, where the rearend isn't even rusted.

And I don't even use a spreader.

 

[ptllandscapeIL]

after everystorm WASH the truck CLEAN i dotn care if it snows or rians an hour later CLEAN,wax at least one time a year and maintenance maintenance! i service all truckas plows and salters liek this after EVERY storm

 

[dmontgomery]

periodic under coating with Fluid Film..........

 

[Detroitdan]

The salt on the metal wont do much harm when it's cold, but you should get it off there as soon as it's warm enough to wash off. Worst thing you can do is what many people do, drive on a salted road then park it in a heated garage. People think they are doing it a favor but it would be better off out in the cold.
Mine's gotten fairly rusty underneath, not rotted but not pretty either. I finally figured out a way to oil the undercarriage last fall, so I feel a little better about the salt, but it is nonetheless going to get in places and attack the metal. Wanted to oil it for years but was never able tofind something that could spray waste oil. Can't be helped, all you can do is try to keep it under control. If it's a work truck, it's even harder to fight the rust than a personal truck you take home with you and can spend time on.
All I do is occasionally pull it into the heated truck bay at work and rinse it off, making sure to spray the hose up under best I can.
My truck is 10 years old, works hard and still looks pretty good, but in the last few months I noticed a bubble in the paint on a front fender, which is now a 2 inch hole. Time for a partial resto in the spring, if it survives another winter.

 

[JD Dave]

periodic under coating with Fluid Film..........

That's what I use, but Krown and Rust Check also works well. Pull the tail lights and put a 6 ft spray wand in there, drill holes and spray inside the rockers and doors. Jack the truck up and get under it and spray all those hard to reach places. Our trucks spend most of there time in a heated shop and our 98 still looks really good, other then some minor surface rust under the doors.

 

[2dogs2]

I clean my truck as soon as the storm passes, then once or twice a year I spray the underside with drain oil.

I bought a cheap electric paint sprayer at Harbor Freight, it has a long bent nozzle and it squirts drain oil nicely.

 

[deere615]

I did some under coating before winter, and I try clean my truck off in the self car washs after every storm, there still may be water spots but at least I know the major salt is off

 

[Stan]

Salt Away...it works for me.
2 ways you can do this. If possible/weather permittiting you can use an "ortho" attachment with the garden hose. The other is simply diluting into a cheap garden sprayer. Just make sure you store it and keep from freezing.