Corrosion differences when no salt on roads - images attached.

I find it amazing to see the levels of corrosion in general on Freelanders (well - all vehicles really!) in images that people post of uk vehicles during servicing etc. Suspension arms and fittings heavily rusted, bolts corroded and seized, factory under-seal flaking or gone.
It is all down the the salt used in winter - a necessary evil though.

Just as a comparison to the UK vehicles of similar or far newer age to mine - here are some shots under my 1998 L series Freeby. (Portugal) - NO Salt ever used on roads here !
Note the manufacturers stickers can still be seen on some parts. Also note the bolts etc. The vehicle is 18 years old with 212,000 Km on the clock.
Vehicles are VERY expensive over here compared to UK, - main reason is they never rot away. !. a totally mechanically knackered Freeby would still fetch around 3K here....

Anyway, some images of the underside of my high mileage 18 year old freeby that has never seen salt. mostly it is in a similar condition to when it came out of the factory.









It should last longer than me ...
Joe

that's why it is good to have a underneath oil spray before winter

teddywood1 said:

that's why it is good to have a underneath oil spray before winter

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Hi Teddy, when I lived in the UK I used to always do that ! - we used to mix engine oil and paraffin and get it on the ramp at quick fit and hook the paraffin gun up to their compressor for the cost of a few pints ... probably 'frowned upon' by the tree huggers these days..... Always sprayed the suspension bushes with waxoyl and allowed it to go off first though to protect them from the oil... it also (the waxoyl) keeps them quiet. !

If ever I have a vehicle that is noticeably quieter when it rains - I use thinned waxoyl on all the mounts and bushes to lubricate them as the water when raining tends to act as a lubricant for a short time and shows up a bit of wear..

Years and years ago, we used old black engine oil for underneath. (only a few drips ).. Eeeeeeeeeeeeee it were grand - a mate of mine worked as a fettler in the mills and had access to some humongously thick oil of some sorts - a bit like a glue - that mixed with petrol / paraffin was superb sprayed into chassis members - it just sort of semi dried.. marvellous stuff... was a bit of a bugger to weld though when the inevitable salt rot set in ...
(Just a small fire!)

The amount of rust under Freelanders I looked at recently was one of the main reasons I didn't buy one!

I don't know if its a "necessary" evil. We get lots of snow, ice and frost - but no ice gets put down. Don't know if more people crash and die because of it, but the remaining cars stay in good nick

lol, no salt gets put down!

GrumpyGel said:

I don't know if its a "necessary" evil. We get lots of snow, ice and frost - but no ice gets put down. Don't know if more people crash and die because of it, but the remaining cars stay in good nick

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Hi GG, that is a bit mean lol - putting ICE down !!! - must make for interesting driving ha !
Joe

Actually the snow/ice is quite good. I had the 3 Amigos lit with the faults coming back as the shuttle valves in the modulator - it was lit for ages and I was coming up for a WOF (MOT). However, I was doing donuts in the snow and the extra work the ABS/TC system was putting in must have cleared it because the lights went out. I bunged the car in for a WOF and the lights came back a week later. So bought myself 6 months.

Joe_H said:

I find it amazing to see the levels of corrosion in general on Freelanders (well - all vehicles really!) in images that people post of uk vehicles during servicing etc. Suspension arms and fittings heavily rusted, bolts corroded and seized, factory under-seal flaking or gone.
It is all down the the salt used in winter - a necessary evil though.

Just as a comparison to the UK vehicles of similar or far newer age to mine - here are some shots under my 1998 L series Freeby. (Portugal) - NO Salt ever used on roads here !
Note the manufacturers stickers can still be seen on some parts. Also note the bolts etc. The vehicle is 18 years old with 212,000 Km on the clock.
Vehicles are VERY expensive over here compared to UK, - main reason is they never rot away. !. a totally mechanically knackered Freeby would still fetch around 3K here....

Anyway, some images of the underside of my high mileage 18 year old freeby that has never seen salt. mostly it is in a similar condition to when it came out of the factory.

View attachment 101621

View attachment 101622

View attachment 101623

View attachment 101624

It should last longer than me ...
Joe

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Mine looks like that, admittedly you'd have to scrape all the waxoyle off!!!
Glad I put it on, all bolts etc come off lovely.
I have to spread salt in winter as part of my job. Hate the stuff, if you saw what's it's done to the bed of my transit tipper, you'd want it banned. People always moan at me saying you should be gritting the roads as soon as there's a flake of snow falling. I always say, this is Yorkshire, it snows, learn to drive properly. And they are oblivious to the environmental impact of the stuff
Rant over
Mike

Removed

Skinny Mike said:

Mine looks like that, admittedly you'd have to scrape all the waxoyle off!!!
Glad I put it on, all bolts etc come off lovely.
I have to spread salt in winter as part of my job. Hate the stuff, if you saw what's it's done to the bed of my transit tipper, you'd want it banned. People always moan at me saying you should be gritting the roads as soon as there's a flake of snow falling. I always say, this is Yorkshire, it snows, learn to drive properly. And they are oblivious to the environmental impact of the stuff
Rant over
Mike

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Damn good point Mike !