Regardless of the vehicle, corrosion is a dirty word that continues to be thrown around in the industry. While the cause of corrosion is more obvious during the winter months up north or in the thick salty breezes of the coasts, a solution hasn't been as easy.
EVERYONE'S PROBLEM
"I think it is a universal problem," says the city of Madison, Wisconsin's motor equipment superintendent, Bill Vanden Brook. "I don't know what climate wouldn't have some sort of a corrosion problem," he says.
"Geography plays an important part as well as the vocation or use of the truck," says Mike Eaves, product manager for medium duty trucks for General Motors. "Vehicles that would have problems would be those used in the most arduous applications like dump trucks or road repair maintenance.
"Places where vehicles operate in an unfriendly environment like a snow plow, fertilizer spreader, vehicles dropping chemicals that could be corrosive—all of these vehicles would be an ideal target for corrosion," Eaves says.
CORROSION TYPES
While manufacturers continue to make improvements to their frames and bodies to prevent corrosion, something as simple as forgetting to insulate the steel frame from the aluminum body could have potentially devastating effects.
According to Winston Moore, product service manager for Workhorse Custom Chassis, if one uses two dissimilar metals against each other, rapid corrosion could be the result.
"Galvanic action, which occurs when two dissimilar metals are in direct contact for an extended amount of time, is usually preventable by placing an insulator or plastic material between the body and the frame.
"There are other areas where you can get corrosion. For example, 20 years ago, we heard of an instance where the frame on vehicles rusted in two," Moore says. "I don't think those problems still exist because there have been a lot of frame paint changes, a lot of coatings that go on the frame and the smaller components of the frame, as well as the frame just being stronger, thicker and made to last longer," he says.
OTHER COMPONENTS
With all the improvements that continue to be made by the OEMs, frame and body corrosion don't seem to be the only issues.
"It's frame corrosion and component corrosion. The components that are generally most affected are the ones you see once you get past the frame because that's what is integral to the vehicle: the brakes, wheels and electrical systems," Vanden Brook says.
"There is a corrosion problem with the wiring," says Moore from Workhorse. "If you don't have all the connectors and the wiring sealed, you could get water in it and that's when they corrode. But you also have another part that accelerates the corrosion; its the fact that you have electricity running through it.
"So we have seen some cases where wiring harnesses were not properly connected or for some reason leaked and got water in them and caused some failure, primarily in wiring and lights. For example harnesses that go along the rail and are routed back outside to the tail light. It is a problem where the connector somehow leaked or was pulled apart and wasn't put back together properly," Moore says.
"The connections are exposed. The manufacturers have gotten much better with weather-tight connectors, but they are still subject so some difficulties," says Madison's Vanden Brook.
"Say you get snow on a wire," he continues. "If it builds up, it will add strain and stress and it could come unplugged. Now, not only do you have a light that doesn't work, but the wire is totally exposed to the elements."
GM's Eaves warns fleets, "There are other lines on the vehicle like brake lines, fuel tank lines, etc' that you need to keep clean."
PROBLEMATIC REMOVAL
There are two specific items that Vanden Brook says has been his headache as far as corrosion is concerned: oil pans and dual rear wheels.
Vanden Brook has had a considerable amount of time spent on changing rusted out oil pans on a number of different engines.
"We have had to change out at least four pans in the last month due to corrosion. Not only is this problem expensive, but it is also very time consuming.
"We also have a significant corrosion problem with dual rear wheels on a certain truck," he continues. "We have had a lot of difficulties just taking wheels off when we have a flat in the last couple of years. The wheels weld themselves to the axle with rust.
"The center of the wheel where it goes over the axle rusts in place to the point where you can't really get the wheel off without a special puller. I've talked with the manufacturers, they tell me that in 2007 these problems will be designed out, but that doesn't help me with what we own today," Vanden Brook says.
"On large trucks, they have a hub piloted wheel where the hub/axle typically has four small tabs that locate the wheel and center it on the axle. You finish by putting the lug nuts on," he says.
"On the vehicle I am talking about, it's the entire axle that acts as the centering device or the pilot, if you will. That's what is causing the problem. It's the entire circumference that corrodes so the entire inside part of the wheel rusts to the axle. In a perfect world, it works great to get the wheel on straight and true, it's taking the wheel off that's the problem," he says.
Vanden Brook has spent a lot of money on special tools in order to ensure the safety of his technicians while removing the wheels.
"We've actually had to purchase three $1400 puller tools for our shops just to remove the wheel safely. If you talk to the tire replacement people, there are all kinds of techniques people use to remove tires, and none of their practices are really safe," he warns.
Techniques as primal as using a sledge hammer to knock off the wheel to loosening the lug nuts and taking sharp corners in the parking lot until the wheel separates from the axle are currently practiced at local shops.
"I had one manufacturer representative tell me that if I had a flat tire, why didn't I just call roadside assistance?" says Vanden Brook.
"I told him that it wasn't a solution to the problem. It isn't even a good band-aid. Not only will the problem continue to happen, but it also will not be very cost-effective. I would have a vehicle out of service, and who knows how long it would take to fix the issue by roadside assistance," he says.
It's not just a problem for fleets. It's not just a problem for tire repair shops. It's also a problem in the manufacturer's dealer network. Manufacturers are dealing with the same issues.
Sometimes the problem is the fact that the manufacturers just don't know the issues.
Wally Cook, an account executive for Mill Supply, Inc. and chairperson of the Technology and Maintenance Council's (TMC) S.14 Light and Medium Duty Body and Frame Corrosion Task Force is concerned about the lack of attendence at the task force meetings TMC provides.
The meetings are a great way for fleets to communicate their issues to the manufacturers as well as gain ideas from other fleets.
"If you had more and more people complain, I think there would be more that the manufacturer would try to correct and address," Cook says.
PREVENTION TIPS
Corrosion doesn't have to be a losing battle. All the manufacturers agree that the best way to help prevent corrosion is for fleets to have a quality truck washing program.
"Washing the vehicle is critical," Moore from Workhorse asserts. "If you don't wash it, the salt will stay there and it will get wet and dry out. It will become a vicious cycle that will eat away at the metal. The metals used are usually quite resistant to corrosion, and if fleets wash the vehicles, they should see a reduction in corrosion," he says.
From the brakes to the cap latch, Dan Cutler, executive director of development for low cab forward trucks for Isuzu, warns fleets that the path to prevention is lubrication.
"We have to be careful of corrosion in areas where there are brake parts that work or accelerator parts that work—anything that is safety related that is a moving part like a cap latch. Fleets have to make sure the the moving parts are lubed and protected so that they don't lock up as the result of corrosion," Cutler says.
"We have to make sure that those parts are very well protected against corrosion so that they don't end up becoming a problem," he says. Manufacturers take various steps in helping to protect vehicles against corrosion.
Cutler warns that salt is not a friend of any part —painted or not. He encourages fleets to keep their vehicles clean and well greased. "Don't let the salt eat away at the protection on the vehicle."
FINAL THOUGHTS
From the words of our experts, corrosion is an enemy, and we have to treat it as such. "I don't really know what the answer is, and that's what we are trying to find out with task forces in TMC," Cook says. "We're trying to find out what we can do to solve some of the problems. There will be people who hear about what's going on at the TMC meetings, both fleets and manufacturers. Our hopes are that they can bring tips and improvements to the table. This is how we hope to come up with a solution."
