kozmonyet t1_iybpamx wrote on November 30, 2022 at 5:03 AM

Um, no. It's the salt.

Only recently did they start using salt compounds in soaking-wet Washington state...and only recently did undercarriage rust start showing up more than superficially. Magically those both correspond.

Old-school undercoating is a huge nasty problem of itself but that's another debate.

bill1024 t1_iyc46bb wrote on November 30, 2022 at 7:59 AM

Can confirm. In NS, we use tons of salt, and the damage is very apparent.

BabyTRexArms t1_iyc8tp9 wrote on November 30, 2022 at 9:06 AM

Fellow WA state here. I noticed we recently started salting roads and I am pretty pissed about it. It doesn’t help, is bad for the environment and horrible for vehicles. I don’t remember voting for it.

TraditionalSell5251 t1_iydjiut wrote on November 30, 2022 at 4:34 PM

It doesn't help? Was under the impression the salt added traction, lowered the melting point, and absorbed some of the water, is that not the case?

BabyTRexArms t1_iydqq2t wrote on November 30, 2022 at 5:20 PM

In theory, but the drawbacks heavily outweigh the benefits. They oversalt the roads here, and that mixes with meltwater and runs off into all of our water sources. Not to mention how bad it is for pretty much any surface whatsoever lol. I've never benefit from salted roads, sidewalks, anywhere.

LukeyLeukocyte t1_iyfawrd wrote on November 30, 2022 at 11:31 PM

There may be bad side effects, but those roads and sidewalks would be FAR more treacherous without the road salt, no? Do you live in an area where everyone has tire chains? I guess that would make the salt less-needed.

I always think about all the damage salt does (especially since my job is to fix parking garages - which get destroyed by road salt) but I always wonder how the heck we could live without it because society would come to a screeching halt when snow hits in my area without it. Would love an alternative but it seems far away.