DRIVING YOUR 4WD THROUGH SALT WATER; WHY IT’S A DUMB DECISION. DRIVING YOUR 4WD THROUGH SALT WATER; WHY IT’S A DUMB DECISION.

Rust in your chassis is very common too, but being a much thicker steel, the rust takes a lot longer. If you find rust in your chassis, you’ve likely got a much, much bigger problem!

by AARON SCHUBERT Part 1

There are plenty of ways you can neglect your 4WD. Ignoring the recommended service schedule, bouncing your way up a hill with wheels going everywhere, not adjusting your tyre pressures for the terrain or simply giving the engine a hard time. How you treat your 4WD is entirely up to you; it’s yours, and you are the one who must cough up the money to have it repaired. However, I am confused as to why people still seem to think there is nothing wrong with Driving their 4WDs through salt water. Water crossings are a part of 4WDing and happen all the time. Providing you take the recommended precautions; water crossings are no drama. However, if you like your 4WD, I’d seriously recommend you stay out of salt water! It’s high up on the list of 12 ways to wear your 4WD out faster.

-Pretty well all of the metal that makes up your 4WD is vulnerable to rust. When it comes from the factory, it is painted and protected (to an extent) from rusting. However, regardless of a 4WD’s age, rust is a serious threat. Driving through salt water in your 4WD is the best way to start a very expensive journey of future rust repairs. Water gets into everything and will sit in places you can’t wash out or even see, causing hugely expensive damage as time goes on.

-One of the most expensive repairs you can be doing on a 4WD is trying to fix panels that have rusted away. Rust is referred to as cancer for cars, and it really is a terrible thing. Once rust starts, getting rid of it is a nightmare, and a very costly exercise to do correctly. I’ve always believed prevention is better than cure. If you look after your 4WD, it has very little chance of rusting, and you will never have to worry about it. However, neglect your vehicle, and there’s a good chance in a few years it will be worth very little! Rust is a slow process. It doesn’t happen the day after you’ve driven through salt water. It starts slowly, and months go by before you will notice anything. By the time you can see evidence of rust though, it’s usually too late.

-Your body panels are the first thing to start rusting on a 4WD. The panels are not very thick and have plenty of spots where water can sit and start the rusting process. Gutters, windowsills, around the windscreen, wheel arches and the sills of the vehicle are the most common places for rust to start, and often you won’t see it until the rust has a good hold on your panels.

-A vehicle that cops a decent amount of salt water through the body is usually a writeoff. Sometimes this is due to damage to the electrical components, but if your 4WD gets caught at high tide and fills up with salt water, your 4WD insurance company will class it as a write-off. This is a pretty clear indication of how serious saltwater damage can be. If you’ve ever seen a 4WD that has done a lot of driving in salty conditions, it’s pretty obvious why they get written off. It is nasty stuff.

The most common place people drive through salt water is on the beach. Sometimes it’s to cross a river, or because the beach has become too narrow to continue. Other times, it’s just because people choose to drive through salt water. Sure, a photo of your 4WD driving down the beach with salt spray going everywhere is nice, but it’s going to cost you an arm and a leg in the long run. I’ve seen 4WDs drive along a beach that’s 50 meters wide, and they head straight down to the water, just to flick it around everywhere. It might be fun, but the bill you will have to pay in the future to repair the rust won’t be.