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How Does Road Salt Affect Your Vehicle?

Posted by Agota Szabo on Nov 19th 2019

How Does Road Salt Affect Your Vehicle?

How Does Road Salt Affect Your Vehicle?

Posted by Agota Szabo at Priority Tire on Nov 19th 2019

Road salt is essential for winter weather driving, there’s no question about it.

This neat little invention was first implemented on winter roads in the 1930s. Road salt is used to melt the ice formed on the road surface and to prevent water from freezing in colder temperatures. Road salt chemically lowers the freezing point of water, resisting ice block formations across the road surface. In this way, the road salt allows the tires to maintain contact with the pavement during their performance and reduces black ice.

As a result, road salt ensures a safer winter weather driving performance as tires do not have to conquer dangerous icy road surface conditions.

There’s no argument, road salt is an important and useful tool in winter conditions as it makes winter weather roads safer. However, it does have some drawbacks, too.

road salt and slush caked on the undercarriage

road salt and slush caked on the undercarriage

Vehicles are made from metal and metals rust. The chemical structure of road salt consists free-radical ions. When mixed with water, which contains carbon dioxide and oxygen, road salt creates iron oxide which speeds up the rusting process.

In other words, road salt causes the vehicles’ accelerated rusting. As most vehicles have a wide undercarriage, road salt can pack into various areas on the car if it is left to sit. In winter conditions, after driving on the road salt covered surfaces, most vehicles are left to sit on the driveway or in the garage, giving enough time for road salt to do its worst.

As a result, it can cause damage that may shorten the vehicle’s lifespan. Since the underbelly of your vehicle is not particularly easy to visually inspect, especially when there’s snow on the ground, it’s recommended that you get it professionally checked out if you believe rust may be an issue.

One way to combat the damaging effects of road salt is to frequently visit the car wash, preferably after every major ice or snow storm. Cleaning your car, especially the underside, will remove road salt and minimize the vehicle’s exposure to the substance. This will significantly lower the negative effects road salt has on your vehicle, ensuring a safer driving experience. 

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