The rot is about to set in

[PaulB47]

I grew up in Wisconsin. All the cars there look like hell after a few years, rust around the wheelwells, rocker panels, undercarriage, suspension, brakes.

One of the wonderful things about Oregon that I discovered after moving here (back in 1972) was that they didn't salt the roads, unlike Wisconsin. Even ancient cars are not rusted. The old '98 van I just bought is clean as a whistle underneath, with 240k miles. That's coming to an end.

ODOT is starting to put salt down in places. Yeah, that means maybe a bit fewer fender benders. Maybe not quite as many cracked windshields from gravel. But every car all year round will be rotting. Oregonians are going to have to replace their cars a lot sooner, and spend more money on transportation. A boon for the car sellers I suppose. But hey, "it's for the children".

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[Bigbaddude]

I have worked on some of those rust buckets.
All the nuts and bolts are rusted and snap when trying to break them loose.
When the relatives come out here from the Midwest they are always amazed at all the old VW Bugs cause they all rusted away back there.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

i am against salting the roads because i have to work on these rusted POS cars that are only a few years old.

 

[Lilhigbee]

I thought this was going to be about the state government, but you are right about the cars too!!

 

[WAYNO]

Even on this forum, some of the folks were so critical of the government not taking the snow and ice off the roads for them, it finally gave the state their excuse to start salting the roads. We kept it out of Oregon for decades. Their foot is in the door now, and I fear the use of salt will become rampant.

I remember a time that any car ten years old, that's been out of this area, had holes in the floor, holes in the trunk, rotted break lines, rotten suspension, and it squeaked like old bed springs.

The folks clamoring for salted roads defended the salt, saying wash your car, and it wont be an issue. Horse feathers! The salt will remain on the roads, and with each rain, salt water will be injected to absolutely every nook and cranny on your car. You might not see it overnight, or in a year, but the cancer will start.

I am disgusted that Oregon is now taking this salt shortcut, instead of folks taking care of themselves, with the right vehicles, the right chains, the right tires, and the right mindset for learning to drive in the snow.

WAYNO.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Even on this forum, the Gen-Xers and millennials were so critical of the government not taking the snow and ice off the roads for them, it finally gave the state their excuse to start salting the roads. We kept it out of Oregon for decades. Their foot is in the door now, and I fear the use of salt will become rampant.

I remember a time that any car ten years old, that's been out of this area, had holes in the floor, holes in the trunk, rotted break lines, rotten suspension, and it squeaked like old bed springs.

The folks clamoring for salted roads defended the salt, saying wash your car, and it wont be an issue. Horse feathers! The salt will remain on the roads, and with each rain, salt water will be injected to absolutely every nook and cranny on your car. You might not see it overnight, or in a year, but the cancer will start. Also, everything in our society has become so disposable. It's just a car...Go get another one.

I am disgusted that Oregon is now taking this salt shortcut, instead of folks taking care of themselves, with the right vehicles, the right chains, the right tires, and the right mindset for learning to drive in the snow.

WAYNO.

im a product of '88. trust me, i dont want salt

 

[Certaindeaf]

im a product of '88. trust me, i dont want salt

I bought my truck in '86.
Ay least my brass balls are safe. I think.

 

[Joe13]

Just read an article that the deicer they use is as effective as salt and less harmful to the environment but people freak out about snow and ice and were demanding more to be done.

This only happens like every 8-10 years, you would think portlanders could deal with staying home a few days here and there....

 

[partsed]

I am all in favor of salt, On the rim of my glass containing a margarita!!!
On the roads--no thanks!!!

 

[etrain16]

Honest question here, so no assaulting (aSALTing??) the etrain

I am curious, wouldn't the type of rust issues have to build up over an extended period of exposure? The number of times they would likely use salt in the PDX area in any particular year is probably a week or less. Back east I get that you may be driving on salt covered roads for weeks, even months. But for us, If it's just a few days, and you get a good undercarriage wash after the event is over, shouldn't you be fine? My first car, a '71 VW van, came from the coast, I got to see first hand what a salt air environment will do to a car over time. But I've spent time at the coast, even got splashes of salt water under the car at times, and never had a rust issue - I just get a good wash any time I've been in a salty environment and it's just not been a problem.

So am I missing something, or is there something about this salt that will start rusting cars with such limited exposure and contact time per year?

 

[Stomper]

I'm surprised they haven't tried black pepper.....

 

[etrain16]

I'm surprised they haven't tried black pepper.....

They probably don't have enough folks to sit on the backs of the trucks and run the grinders...

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Gee if we used salt and pepper ... would that make well seasoned roads or well seasoned drivers?

Andy

 

[PBinWA]

Honest question here, so no assaulting the etrain

I am curious, wouldn't the type of rust issues have to build up over an extended period of exposure? The number of times they would likely use salt in the PDX area in any particular year is probably a week or less. Back east I get that you may be driving on salt covered roads for weeks, even months. But for us, If it's just a few days, and you get a good undercarriage wash after the event is over, shouldn't you be fine? My first car, a '71 VW van, came from the coast, I got to see first hand what a salt air environment will do to a car over time. But I've spent time at the coast, even got splashes of salt water under the car at times, and never had a rust issue - I just get a good wash any time I've been in a salty environment and it's just not been a problem.

So am I missing something, or is there something about this salt that will start rusting cars with such limited exposure and contact time per year?

+1 The salt is a non-issue. If you are that concerned then don't drive your car - you probably won't be able to if the roads aren't salted. Most cars these days have enough factory metal protection to handle the occasional exposure to salt. During the last storm the difference between Highway 14 and the Portland highways was night and day - the difference was salt. They have used salt on Highway 14 in WA for years. After the storm you wash your car and hose the underside - then get on with life. Or maybe you just need to go and hang out with the all the weekend protesters that seem to have something new to whine about every weekend. Start an anti-salt protest - I'm sure someone will show up.

 

[WillNotComply]

Perfect. Just as I am on the cusp of moving to Oregon, they want to rot more of my vehicles.

Finally PA went red, semi-auto is about to become legal for hunting, and Oregon starts salting the roads.

Just perfect.

 

[etrain16]

Perfect. Just as I am on the cusp of moving to Oregon, they want to rot more of my vehicles.

Finally PA went red, semi-auto is about to become legal for hunting, and Oregon starts salting the roads.

Just perfect.

To be clear, it will only be the Portland area, at least for now, the rest of the state may just be salt free.

 

[notazombie]

My shop gets a lot of Intel imports from all over the country. We don't sugar coat it when a customer brings in a salt car. We charge for every rounded or broken bolt and if a part is compromised it gets replaced. A simple $200 brake job could go into the thousands. Sorry, safety first. Blame the lawyers.
For myself, I'll be limiting my driving and hitting the car wash regularly. My "nice" cars won't come out in it at all. Unfortunately my Idaho move won't save me either. I'll likely pick up a winter car once I settle there. We get the ocassional Idaho car through the shop now and they aren't nearly as bad as cars from Utah, Wyoming, and Ohio.

Here's why Oregon needs salt:
-Too damn many people in the valley now.
-Almost nobody knows how to drive in weather, be patient, or plan ahead.
-Almost everybody is too lazy to learn to use a set of chains.
-Our snow just sucks here. It's slippery and packs into ice pretty quickly.

Dystopian conspiracy question:
-Once the salt claims all the old cars and we are forced into .gov controlled google pods, how will Big Brother deal with snow? Hover pods?

 

[partsed]

I'm surprised they haven't tried black pepper.....

LOL, that reminds me of a story a coworker told me about her mother. She would never use black pepper when making/seasoning deviled eggs as it looked like fly sh!t and she only used white pepper..

 

[WillNotComply]

To be clear, it will only be the Portland area, at least for now, the rest of the state may just be salt free.

That's a little better. "for now"
Hahahahahahahahahaha!

One more reason to avoid Portlandia.

Around here it used to be salt. Then they went to (I think?) mag chloride. Now, whenever there is a slight chance of precip, they spray some kind of brine on the roads ahead of time. This creeps into every crevice on your vehicle and rots from the inside out. No amount of washing will fix this stupidity.

 

[Mister Bisley]

Nothing lasts forever