Snow rolling in, NOW what?

[DaraSue]

Thanks, guys... I looked at the UHaul car trailers and their website didn't give the option to rent anything but a moving truck to go with the trailer, although if I drove back at least as far as Vegas or St. George to pick up the truck it would be half the price of getting it in Oceanside (I'm planning on going down to SoCal after I pick the car up in a couple weeks.) IDK if anybody I know down there is going to have a pickup truck they can do without for a week, although my cousin's got a 4-Runner that has a tow hitch so maybe.

The snow frequently does melt off quickly, especially earlier in the season, although I'm going over a few 6000' passes on the way back and it might stick more up there. The weather can be weird here - sometimes we'll have a warm snap and it's 50F in Jan. so maybe if I could find a short-term storage in Vegas or St. George that would be the easiest option. I do have quite a bit of Southwest credit so at least I could fly down and drive it on the weekends

I've driven in snow storms before but it's always been in front wheel drive cars. If it unexpectedly started dumping I'd plan on just pulling over and waiting it out, but it's more the salt I'm worried about sticking to things. I was probably going to have to drive it on the road during the winter for a few miles anyway b/c I'm trying to buy a house but a couple hundred miles is a bit different than across town.

[DMCMW Dave]

It's not the snow that trashes the car (unless of course it makes you skid into something), it's the road salt commonly used up here in the north to melt the snow. It's insanely corrosive and melts steel as well. . .

I'm not sure if they salt roads in your area, although I know you have lots of salt around there in the form of salt flats and salt lake. . . .

Most important thing if you do get a car salted up is to wash the underside as soon and as thoroughly as you can, and don't lock it up wet in a sealed garage.

[DMCVegas]

Driving in the snow, on salted roads one time isn't going to hurt the car. Trust me. I've taken 6585 through snow, across lawns, dirt, gravel roads, through mud, silt, raw sewage, industrial waste, and even jumped her. Through all of that, the chassis itself has been just fine. So you will be just fine. Just wash the underside.

No matter what car you choose to use during the winter, you should be cleaning the undercarriage anyway if you live in an area that uses road salt. Many car washes have them, though I would seriously recommend getting yourself a pressure washer and an undercarriage attachment to spray both salt neutralizer as well as rise water on the underside to keep things clean. Not just for the DeLorean, but ALL of your vehicles to keep them lasting for years to come.

If you do decide to store your vehicle, you'll just need a 15'x10' unit. 10' will give you more than enough room to open the doors, and the car is only 14' and some inches, so it'll store inside no problem. If you tell the owner it is for a car, be prepared to have to bring a copy of your title since they'll want a copy just in case you ever default on the unit. Or, you can just not tell them what is going inside. If you went to that 50's garage, there looks to be a storage unit place behind them. Also, please let us all know how your experience was.

If you tow it back, you have to have an appropriate tow vehicle by U-Haul standards, AND you have to make sure that you click on vehicle towing at the top AFTER you choose to rent a trailer.

[David T]

I would say wait a day or so till the roads melt and some of the salt washes off and then drive home. Once home rinse the underside as thoroughly as you can.

[DaraSue]

If I bring it home and rinse it off, would letting sit outside for a couple hours be sufficient to let it dry? I assume I'd just be getting more salt on it if I drove it around. Or could I dry it off with a hair dryer?

[David T]

If I bring it home and rinse it off, would letting sit outside for a couple hours be sufficient to let it dry? I assume I'd just be getting more salt on it if I drove it around. Or could I dry it off with a hair dryer?

It would dry off as long as it is above freezing. Best to just park it in a warm garage, heated would be best. If you are that particular you could raise the car and wipe it off manually.

[Rich_NYS]

I drove for many, many years throughout the winters in upstate New York.

Where in NYS?

If I could do it all over again, I would never drive the D on the salted roads. Ever!

+1

I've seen a bazillion salt-damaged cars and experienced corrosion in every crack & crevice on a car. If I had no choice but to drive on a salted road, I'd neurotically clean the underside multiple times, and continue to do so into the warm weather.

One mild Winter season (~6 road saltings) shows on a DD....it's very frustrating.

I think trailering would be less of a hassle than cleaning afterward.

[DMC5180]

If I bring it home and rinse it off, would letting sit outside for a couple hours be sufficient to let it dry? I assume I'd just be getting more salt on it if I drove it around. Or could I dry it off with a hair dryer?

Park it it outside on a breezy sunny day.

If you park it in a garage, you could set up a box fan to blow air under the car accelerate evaporation.

If you knew there weren't any area roads that had not been previously salted, I'd just go for drive. That will dry the car the quickest.

[DaraSue]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but how do you know if the road has been salted? If there's no white residue, is it probably safe? I've seen salt trucks on the freeway in heavy snow but I'm not sure about the smaller roads.

[DMC5180]

If there is no white residue, you're probably okay as long as the surface is dry. It's the water/salt combination that does the most potential damage.

Back here in the upper Midwest many communities have been starting to pretreat roads with salt brine or calcium chloride to help the melting process during the early stages of a snowfall. The service manager at my local GM dealer said, they have really noticed an up tick in the presence of rust appearing on underside components much earlier than it used to start showing on newer vehicles.



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