Road Salt & Your Vehicle | Joe & Tony's Service Inc.

We're always talking about rust and corrosion created by road salt and other chemicals used to de-ice the  roads in the winter. Most of the references are about the damage to brake and fuel lines and undercar suspension parts (trailing arms etc.). But recently a 2004 Chrysler Sebring with 74,000 miles on the odometer came in with a complaint about a "banging" sound from the rear and it demonstrated how pervasive and insidious these chemicals are.

As this photo shows salt (white discoloration) had gotten to the very top of the left rear strut and weakened the bracket that holds the strut to the vehicle. A broken piece of the strut bracket is visible in the picture. The failure was creating the noise that our customer's passengers who were riding in the rear seat complained about.

This kind of damage is never seen, but makes even experienced repair people wonder how much other automotive infrastructure has been compromised in the yearly effort to keep the roadways passable. Maybe it's time for a new standard for the materials used in vehicles or better yet some R & D on non corrosive chemicals to combat ice and snow.

Salt Damaged Rear Strut
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