hey guys Im looking forward to my winter up here in mass. Well lets say im hooked on keeping my black truck nice and shiny. Winters are rough up here with alot of salt for roads. Is there anything that I could put on to help protect the paint. thanks anything would help...

 

I usually apply a couple of coats of NXT as late in the fall as I can, before it gets too cold out.

Frequent rinsing to keep the salt from building up is also a really good idea. Don't forget to rinse under the truck. Use lots and lots of water.

 

The gurus here will probably not approve of this, but I would use a touchless tunnel wash that has an undercarriage spray as often as possible - whenever it gets above freezing for any period of time. Plan on a full detail in the spring because it won't be nice and shiny any more.

NXT 2.0 is good stuff, but I doubt it will be effective all winter. Maybe topping it with something like Collinite 845 would be your best shot.

 

What's wrong with touchless car washes in the winter?? I don't know what other option you have unless you've got a nice heated shop with drain.

 

There really aren't any good options - the problem with tunnel washes is the chemistry in their soap and their recycled water. This is going to eat away at any protection you have and leave a scummy film. Still better than salt eating it away I guess.

 

If you have a garage, you can use a small space heater or something to warm it up just a bit and then use something like Optimum No Rinse. Many people use it all year as a way of washing.

 

I'd say in any even go with the Collonite. But that's my personal choice since I have an aversion to NXT that a lot of people don't agree with.

Choice 1: heat the garage (if you have one) and ONR it.
Choice 2: Car wash tunnel (however if you do, anything you have put on it will be long gone by spring)
Choice 3: Make sure it's good and protected then fix problems in the spring.

As long as it's not above freezing then the salt and water in frozen form shouldn't damage anything much. It's when it gets warm enough to turn to liquid that you'll want to get under there somehow and dilute that salt.

 

Exactly - if you are in the middle of a cold snap where everything is staying frozen, leave it alone.

 

sorry for me not knowing, but what is NXT

 

A garage and a winter vehicle

 

NXT is a synthetic wax made by Meguiars.

 

Isn't part of the point of having a truck to be able to use it as winter vehicle? At least for me it is.

I live in western NY and have the same problems with salt. How cold can it get before you can't apply NXT? I want to apply it again as late in the fall as I can.

 

It gets rough trying to apply and remove wax when it's below 50 F.

 

Having lived in the salt capital of the northeast for all of my life, let me offer you my thoughts. First, as other have said, get something on the vehicle while it’s still warm outside to protect it. Once it starts to get cold, unless you have a heated garage, you just won’t be able to do a very high quality job.

As for what to put on, I’m not a huge fan of NXT because even the 2.0 formula just doesn’t seem to last more than 2-3 weeks. In fact, for the winter I value protection over appearance. My personal favorites for durability are Zaino or Collonite 845 or 476S and they look great too. Whatever you choose though, make sure you apply it to all surfaces. That includes door jambs, edges of your tailgate, under the hood, etc. I even run some WD-40 down into the bottom seam on my doors.

Getting beyond paint and appearance, I also use WD-40 on all lock cylinders, lubricate all hinges and latches with White Lithium grease. I apply 303 Aerospace Protectant to all rubber door seals. Don’t forget to apply WD-40 to your trailer plug if you have one too. (I even follow that up with purple battery terminal spray.)

If you’re really into getting ready for winter, you also might want to pull your wheels off and apply Never Sieze to the threads on the lugs. If you have aluminum wheels, some of us even apply some to the mating hub surface to prevent the two from oxidizing together. And, for the truly ****, you can apply Dielectric Grease to all electrical connections such as light bulbs and weather tight connectors. Hope that helps!

 

2stroked,

Goodnight, you do get ready for winter do you! Good advise!