? for the mini truck owners in cold snowy places

Hey, i was just curious about what you guys do/have done to your rides so it doesn't rust from the salt on the roads and crap like that. Do you keep em in the garage til spring, rhino line a that crap, or what? I'm gonna be movin to Wisconsin soon and i don't wanna have to worry about rust eatin my truck up so any little tips and/or tricks would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Edited: 12/16/2005 5:00:49 AM by 954chick

they're called "winter beaters". It's kind of a sacrifice to the salt Gods, lol. You buy a little $400 piece of crap with a good heater, throw some studded snows on it, and drive it while there's snow on the ground. Then you don't have to worry about smacking up the truck in a snow storm, or having salt and crap getting into it.

Another word of advice is that if this is your first time in the snow, find a parking lot that's big and empty. Practice sliding around and keeping control of your ride so that when you're on the road you'll know what to do.

A few lessons from Driver's Ed for when you're on this crap...-STEER INTO THE SLIDE (This isn't like on dry pavement, when you star to lose it, steer into the slide, you're going to slide the other way, steer into that slide, and slowly correct yourself)-DO NOT PANIC (Drving on snow is like walking on a greasy floor. If you panic, you fall down, right? Make every move you make in your ride smooth, calm, and slow)-DO NOT SLAM ON THE BRAKES OR STOMP ON THE GAS (It goes back to slow and deliberate. Unless you have ABS, pump the brakes and slowly come to a stop. And if you lose control, tap the brakes and slowly stop. This is where that parking lot practice comes into handy. And if you step on the gas too hard, all you're going to do is break lose, spin, and waste your time, plus you'll make the ground under your tires even greasier.)-IF YOU DO HAVE A WINTER BEATER (keep a small bucket of sand in your back seat, along with a blanket, and always keep no less than a half a tank of gas and a charged cell phone while driving in storms. If you go off the road, you want to be able to call for help and heat yourself with either the car or the blanket.)

I honestly live by the parking lot idea, and every single person I know up here has a winter beater.

Anyways, just sharing the advice...I took driver's Ed in the snow and it was the best lesson I ever learned. He taught me all the tricks because "you're not gonna stop driving just cause it snows, are you?". If you have any questions, or need any help, let me know! (But I'm pretty sure you'll figure it out! lol.)

That's so true!! I didn't realised people wouldn't know how to drive in snow...lol

But you have to be very carefull and be smooth when drivin...People here go offroad on a daily basis and it snows every winter!! So be carefull and drive at the speed you feel comfortable.

I opted for the topnotch winter beater...Last winter I signed for a 2005 Sentra...that helps me be sure it'll start every morning and won't let me down when I really need it. I had an old Jetta 'till last year..but now I don't have any worries.

Good luck with your driving lessons

Main thing to remember about driving in the show/ice is: don't do ANYTHING suddenly. You want to keep the tires rolling along on top of the snow/ice. If the TIRES start sliding, you won't be able to do a damn thing different until they STOP sliding.

EASE into the accelerator GRADUALLY.

EASE into the brakes GRADUALLY.

EASE into turns GRADUALLY.

If you lose traction, let off the gas/brake, turn the steering wheel to point the front wheels into the direction they're SLIDING anyway, and wait until (hopefully) the vehicle straightens out before you try to GRADUALLY guide it to where you WANT it to go.

Narrower tires are better.

More weight on top of the drive wheels is better.

Underinflated (within reason) tires are better.

Don't forget to do some slides and donuts in an empty parking lot or something too. It's good to be farmiliar with how your vehicle reacts in these situations so that when they arise on the road you will know how the vehicle needs to be driven to get out of them.

plus that stuff is fun. Ive lived in a snowy place all of my life. My dad taught me to clean out all of the spots that sand and snow can get trapped. Come spring time, through some old clothes on and get under the truck, or take some ramps to a car wash if ya dont have a pressure washer. I clean up under the fenders, and spots like through the tailgate handle, under bed rails, through the crack in the door to the front(when its open)take off my tailights and clean under there(I have a mazda) so, just spray water everywhere you can and you will see tons of dirt and sand come out, preventing the rust later on.

Originally posted by marcazi



plus that stuff is fun. Ive lived in a snowy place all of my life. My dad taught me to clean out all of the spots that sand and snow can get trapped. Come spring time, through some old clothes on and get under the truck, or take some ramps to a car wash if ya dont have a pressure washer. I clean up under the fenders, and spots like through the tailgate handle, under bed rails, through the crack in the door to the front(when its open)take off my tailights and clean under there(I have a mazda) so, just spray water everywhere you can and you will see tons of dirt and sand come out, preventing the rust later on.

Absolutely. Rust is every snow truck's worst enemy. It'll eat your truck before you realize it if you don't stay on top of it.

Where in wisconsin? Madison is my secret garden. Any way, I got a 4x4 blazer Im drivin in the winter and store the others, its a good time to start new projects or just make changes. Maybe Ill see ya at some shows this year. L8ER-LT

I daily drove my civic for 2 years, and our ot those two years I had to drive it through 2 pretty bad winters. To keep the salt from ruining it I had to wash it like 2 times a week. I now have a winter beater that I am going to drive through the winter so I can finish building my car. Rust is def a pain in the ass to deal with.

Originally posted by L T



Where in wisconsin? Madison is my secret garden. Any way, I got a 4x4 blazer Im drivin in the winter and store the others, its a good time to start new projects or just make changes. Maybe Ill see ya at some shows this year. L8ER-LT

im gonna be movin to cuba city but im gonna be goin to UW-Platteville