The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Preparing your truck for winter

I plan on spraying the underside of my truck with this stuff: https://www.cosmolinedirect.com/cosmoline-rp-342-heavy-spray-military-grade-rust-preventive/
Kind of a waxy oil/grease.
Still plan to keep my truck out of the salty roads if I can help it.

I worked for a large heavy equipment manufacturer and we used that stuff to store castings/forgings for long periods of time in semi trailers. It worked great for preventing rust but wasn’t fun to touch.

I not sure that would be a good idea. It never hardens and stays somewhat sticky. Dust and dirt would stick. I would consider using undercoating or spray bed liner.

I watch a man called Musti1 on youtube he lives in New Hampshire and sprays all his vehicles with Oli.

Phak I've heard some say the dust and dirt that sticks helps make a protective layer, maybe I'll get some to experiment with I guess, but I thought it might be better than nothing, and I've seen some newer vehicles with Bedliner stuff on the frame have rust under it, thought just a thin layer could keep rust at bay, while still being able to observe it.
I definitely understand what you're saying though.

Cosmoline is a preservative that is primarily for long-term storage. The U.S. military used to dunk their rifles into the stuff then stick them into 55 gal drums until needed (there's a great You Tube video showing the process of preserving M1 Garands this way). Those of us who deal with steam locomotives use it to keep bearing surfaces from rusting up. It is completely removed before the bearing goes into service for the reason mentioned: it attracts and holds dirt and grit (it's also not a very good lubricant).

Right Brian, but there are definitely different formulas of it, the link I posted is supposed to harden some (according to manufacterer), one would probably want to experiment before having a gummy mess.
Would be nice if I came across a barrel of those cosmolined M1's or Russian Kalashnikovs now.

I personally would not coat the underside of any vehicle with cosmoline. It's true that it attracts dust and dirt and that could be construed as a protective layer. But who wants the underside of their vehicle coated with grime?

The only way to remove the cosmoline is with kerosene or some other solvent. And it's a job and a half.

Why not just wash your vehicle after you're finished driving it in the nasty weather?

You might also consider that trying to work on the underside of the vehicle after it's coated in cosmoline is going to be a huge messy disaster. It's like molasses that can't be cleaned off of anything. Your tools are going to be full of sticky goo your hands and clothes are going to be covered in sticky goo and every other thing under the truck and in your garage is going to be covered with a disgusting mess.

Just clean the truck in the winter the same way you do in the summer.

It is understandable for someone from Georgia to suggest “why not just wash your vehicle after driving it in nasty weather?”.

I live in Wisconsin. You would have to witness for yourself how aggressively (excessively) the roads here are treated with salt related products nowadays. It gets worse every year - more budgeting for subsequent years is my take. When driving in near freezing temperatures and fresh snow the traffic raises a fine moisture laden sodium/calcium/potassium (depending on product) mist that is extremely pervasive. It gets deep into every seam , nook and cranny. A car wash cannot cleanse those hard to access recesses.

Right waveski, I've spent hours and hours cleaning every nook and cranny of daily drivers, which can't be done all the time, if it's 0 degrees. Best thing is to drive something else when it's bad, or not drive at all, but not always on option.

Well...

when I was a kid my grandpa run a car repair shop. One of the services he offered, was undercoating for the winter.
The stuff he sprayed was a mix of used motor oil, penetration oil, that sticky oil you use for chain saws, petroleum jelly and woolwax.
He came up with this formula himself, after a lot of testing.
After he was done, he drove the car over a dry dirt road "to bake it in" as he called it. It worked very well, but it was a mess.

Good memories though - he taught me al lot about cars and engines and I loved to be at his shop.

Frank

I used to baby my 1980 pickup. I would be out on cold Winter days spraying fresh water around the inside of the wheel wells trying to flush out all the salt and grime. Even with that, the crud got trapped between the frame and the rear brake line. One day, corrosion caused the line to fail - no rear brakes. As High_Plains suggests, drive something else when they are putting that stuff on the road.

I'm originally from Cleveland, Ohio but the family wised up and moved to the Deeeeeeeeeep South (as Foghorn leghorn would say).

I know it's a mess up there and cars rot to nothing due to the salt but If you have a car you don't want to turn into a rust bucket you either can't drive it or you have to wash it.

I think it's still a better alternative to cosmoline.

If it is a everyday driver then coat it good,I don’t drive the 54 in the winter and what I drive is rusting out ,I have tried all kinds of home brews but use fluid film ,the cosmoline sounds interesting but I have found the rubberized or hard coatings hold in the moisture and make it worse ,some stuff is not great for rubber but if it is oily it will creep and that is what you want .I don’t know about old motor oil as does it not have detergent in it ,you don’t want clean metal or it will rust quick .Maybe a mix but having a coating is good to have but for storing a good cleaning and a light film of your favourite stuff that can be cleaned off without to much effort is good in my area.

I like Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) not for the health and safety warnings but for what's in something. Cosmoline's ingredients are pretty unimpressive. Lime (calcium hydroxide), a cheap 6-carbon diol (double alcohol) and petroleum distillate.

There are the same corrosion concerns in another of my hobbies...a vintage Mercury outboard on a vintage boat. When old motors are used in salt water, people swear by Salt Away but it's just a detergent. For me, flushing and rinsing with fresh water can't be beat.

And I can't believe the price of these things.

High Plains Here in corn belt wilderness mostly all we get is brine on the bridges,with care we can avoid most salt applications. Had to change my 04 GMC fuel pump,I noticed most of the examples on the net were ate-up junk !

So, are you winterizing your truck yet?

Yep. Heater's working great. End of winter prep.

Mine is a year-round driver except for inclement weather. Snow sleet and very cold days. Otherwise it is a heated and A-C garage with cement floors.

I pull the heater control valve out under the dash and turn on the blower. Pretty easy prep.

Truck sits in the garage whenever its not out being driven (dry days) but i will take it out all year round during winter/spring as long as the roads are dry.

Checked the anti-freeze--good.
Threw some mouse poison in the cabs. Then last Saturday drove them to the place where I rent winter storage. Backed them inside, covered the cabs with a couple old sheets. Done.

Rich, all three?????

I just turned the A/C off.

Yes, Bill, it's finally gotten to temps where it's comfortable to drive mine!

I drive mine all year in central Illinois, but avoid wet salty roads in winter. I’m of the thought to never cover anything in the winter. Gives mice their favored warm cozy dark environment to nest in.

checked my coffee mug holder. All ready for the winter rides. On a serious note, just checking tire pressure, oil level, etc, are just a few item I look at when I foresee a change in the weather.

Yep! I don't drive them in the winter at all. In fact, I don't drive them as much as I should in the summer either.
The fourth one is in my shop. It needs a couple things done which I hope to accomplish over winter.

I like to drive mine, early this year I had mine out in a wet heavy snowstorm due to fact that my daily driver pickup was at the dealer for warranty work. I strapped a tarp over the grain box, loaded some tools and materials and set out to work on a couple of projects. I only had to drive 30 - 40 miles that day, had maybe 1500 lbs. of weight in the back, truck did a great job. I wash my vehicles as much as possible to keep the chloride off the undercarriage, this includes washing in the summer to rid the limestone/chloride slurry.

Putting a new coat of wood seal on your truck bed is a good idea before the storms come in.

Of course, we have "Winterizing your truck" link on the left of our screen which is full of good ideas.


When not being driven, my truck lives under a tarp tent between the redwood trees.

I kinda wish I had not winterized my panel truck so soon. Here is Wisconsin all next week,it will be highs in the 60`s and lows above freezing. No salt yet!

My ‘54 has been my daily driver all week. (Wisconsin weather has indeed been mild.)
It took 2 1/2 years to get that truck into a safe and presentable condition; I won’t winterize or store it until I absolutely have to.

The only thing I have to prepare for winter is me. The 54 sits in a heated AC garage. The furnace is 19 feet away. It has been spoiled for the last 22 years except for this summer I did not turn my AC on but once in the spring with the first hint of summer. The warmest it got was a couple of days of 83F.

It seems early to do the "Wintering your Truck" notice (great Tech Tip) but a huge cold front has hit us (thank you Canada! ) so ... better now than before it's too late.

Up until now my 54 as it is has never sat outside and the garage is heated, it is 66F out there right now.

Send it back it’s warmer than here .

I think winterizing my '57 might include fabricating some mounts so I can hang my snowplow on it. I've had this 50 year old plow on 3 Chevrolet trucks, no sense in stopping now!

Put 1000+ pounds of something in the bed and have fun in the snow!

Mike B

I might have to soften the drive tires, maybe down to 35 - 40 psi. It wouldn't be a good parking lot plow truck but for my 350 ft. driveway it would do fine. I have enough iron stuff that 1000 lbs. would be easy.

What is this Winter you speak of?

Don't rub it in, Craig. We had our first snow on the ground last Thursday morning. We go into hibernation, or get out of town (which we did that morning to SoCal).