Not rinsing after beach driving
 

I was talking to a guy at work and he said neither he nor his father ever rinse off their jeep after beach driving and have never had rust issues. He explained by saying the salt that is in the sand is dry and blows away when driving. When you wet your jeep down it dissolves the salt and causes it to creep and it never all rinses clean away. Thoughts? I would like to not have to rinse all the time.

I rinse mine but I do drive it first. I drive home which is about 45 min and then I rinse it either when I get home or the next morning. I mainly rinse out inside the frame rails.

I made the mistake of driving my Jeep through the shallow waters of San Felipe, Mexico, and never bothered to rinse the undercarriage or suspension until weeks later.

I've been paying for it ever since. Things that most people can remove with a "BFH" have taken a shop press at several tons to separate (e.g. my hub bearing unit from axle half shaft), or other extreme measures with blow torches, 4' breaker bar, PB Blaster, etc. I've had issues with literally everything we've tried to separate. These days, everything gets a generous helping of anti-seize, and I avoid salt water at all costs.

My vote is for rinsing it.

-Dawn

No matter what time it is when I get home from the beach I will go to a self service car wash with a pressure washer and put about 9 bucks into it and just completely rinse the entire undercarriage. Also put the hose in the holes on the sides of the frame.

The guy at work and his father are fools.

It's probably best to take a tiered approach.

If the sand is dry, it's best to blow it out or let it come off with a little bit of driving. But beware that you're on borrowed time. Salt is reactive when dry, but especially when wet and diluted in water. This includes ambient air, which will add moisture and cause corrosion. So, first bang, shake, blow it all out as best as you can. It's kind of like a Hazmat approach. Get the thing away from salt first, knock off all the big hunks.

Then rinse. Hose 'er down like never before. Rinse rinse rinse. The more you can wash off and dilute, and wash away, the better. This is where your buddy and his dad are wrong. You need to rinse. They haven't had any adverse corrosion effects YET. Have they crawled under there? How long have they owned the Jeep? Time and abuse WILL catch up to a vehicle and consume it.

Then, DRY. Make sure the vehicle dries out. Water and salt sitting together on metal = BAD.

Most undercarriages have corrosion protection but it's not a failsafe. Salt and sand will get into nooks, crannies and stay there, and will get wet and be affected by moisture. So there's inherently some risk in salt/sand driving...you will never completely rid your vehicle of it.

If you submerge your vehicle up to the axles in salt water, may the force be with you. You're inviting all sorts of unwanted corrosion and potentially electrical issues as well.

Electrolyte solutions facilitate the oxidation of iron. Chemistry 101. If you can't avoid driving in salt water, then rinse it off ASAP afterwards.
And every time I've driven anywhere near a beach, I get salt spray on my windshield. I can wash it off with the windshield wipers, but you can tell where the salt is stuck to the glass where the wipers don't travel...even if it's dry it's still there and as soon as the humidity goes up or you get a little drizzle, you now have aqueous salt solution that will immediately hasten iron oxidation. And the old saying is very much true: Rust is car (or jeep) cancer.

I would definitely spray it off any time you are around salt water. Not doing it is just asking for corrosion...

There is a product to chemically neutralise salt called " SALT AWAY " It was developed for marine applications. Google it, dilute with water, spray on to dissolve salt . I have used it, gets rid of salt residue in those interior spaces. Might make salt water flood salvage possible .

I go on a week long trip to an unpaved / sand road area at the beach. The jeep never leaves the sand during that time. To remedy corrosion I spray the underside with "Shield"...then rinse after driving each day with "salt away" in a hose / sprayer attachment that hooks on a garden hose. When applying the"shield" I avoid the exhaust areas and it stays on pretty much the whole week. Never had any rust issues...
"Shield" is an aerosol spraycan that is used for guns and guncleaning / protecting.... there may be a better way, but it works for me