Plastic Chrome Trim

[AlFischer]

I listen frequently to a radio program, "Dan Martino, your troubleshooter" www.troubleshooter.com and heard an interesting complaint from a new Dodge Ram owner. He was somewhere in Colorado. He got his new RAM in September 2004. The plastic chrome plated trim is deteriorating after only a few months. Said that the dealer would not do anything as it was the fault of the 'magnesium chloride' they put on the roads when it snows. They said they see 1 or 2 a week with this problem. The show host called a CHEVY dealer and they said there was no problem with GM products. Somebody called in and said they had seen the problem with a Jeep and made it sound like it was a common DC problem. What do you guys know about this kind of a problem?



Also he stated he had paid $40,000 and mentioned a 1500. Is that possible? Thought a 1500 was not $40K yet. .



Glad I live where there is NO SNOW!!

 

[crobertson1]

Al,



That mag-chloride is bad news in my opinion. I hate the stuff. I don't know how it works, but it seems pretty corrosive. It doesn't make the "chrome" peel or flake, but it stains it with little brown spots, looks like rust sort of. Chrome bumpers too. I was listening that day and was at a used car lot, and went and looked at an '04 Chevy Venture van and it had it as well, not very bad but it was there. I don't think it's exclusive to MOPARS. I looked at an older Land Cruiser today and it had too. I've heard, but don't know for sure, that it's bad on the wiring and everything else too. There is no reason the chrome should be replaced under the manufacturer warranty, it's not a defect. It's probably considered an environmental cause,which it is (sort of).



I havent' decided which is worse, the rock chips from the gravel to provide grip,or the effects of the mag-chloride. I cant imagine the mag-chloride is good for the water supply either. When they put the stuff on the road, it coats the road and looks wet. Then cars in front of you, cause it to spray up onto your headlights, which get dimmer and your windshield which smears when you hit the wipers! It seems greasy. All in all, I'd say I prefer the gravel.



You really struck a nerve!



Craig

 

[BHolm]

I thought I moved away from car rotting chemicals when we left Minnesota. Turns out the mag cloride might actually be worse than the salt they used in MN. Not only do they use it on the highways but they coat the gravel roads with it to keep the dust down in the summer. When it rains that stuff is the stickiest goo you ever did see. I end up using the car wash an aweful lot :{ The gravel I can live with but spare me the chemicals. Before I traded mt '03 Chev I noticed that in just one summer it had really taken its toll on the aluminum wheels of that truck.

 

[DocDetonancour]

Not sure what they use here in Spudland, but the crap will take the finish off Brite Aluminum Diamond plate in one season. I used to use it on Snow trailers, but for $100 it doesn't last. Haven't noticed it bothering the CTD, but it will hammer Ultra aluminum wheels.

 

[ceaman]

Mag chloride is safeer for the environment then sodium chloride. The "Brown" that Craig was speaking of is caused by the agricultural byproduct that they use (either beet juice or a corn byproduct) to lower the eutectic point of the deicer. These products are the only things used in the west and alowed by the Pacific Northwest Snowfighters (a group of states). IF you want to know more i have the MSDS and procedures for many of the liquid deicers.

 

[crobertson1]

Jeremy,



How harmful is the mag-chloride to cars? Is it in fact corrosive? I'd like to know all I can. Some of the pine trees in our neighborhood that are next to the road appear to be dying, and I was wondering if it might be from the mag-chloride or maybe just natural diseases. I know those brown spots are extremely difficult to remove, if not impossible. Thanks.



Craig

 

[BHolm]

I heard some pretty good horror stories about mag cloride. Is it true that it has been banned at airports because it is so corrosive? It also seems to have negative effects on the trees in my area as well. It seems that its worst feature, and this may be because of what it is mixed with, is that it is VERY sticky and hard to remove from about any surface. I know for a fact that it is very corrosive to metals. Maybe not as bad as soduim chloride but it seems to stick better making it just as bad. I would really prefer that they didn't use anything, I don't like the idea of protecting bad drivers from themselves at the expense of my vehicles. Like I said before, I can handle the sand and gravel they spread, the chemicals worry me though.

 

[ceaman]

Want more?

As far as I know Mag-chloride is still used in airport grounds maintenace but is no longer used in aircraft deicing, Non-Chlorides are used for aircraft deicing. I used various liquid deicers for several years in my snow removal buisness. I have used many products as well as porducing my own brine. The state of Indiana produces thier own sodum chloride brine as well as using mag/ag products. The home made brine can be as cheap as . 10 cents a gallon compared to $1 to $2 per gallon. The products sell retail for about $10 per gallon. These products are long lasting and usually applied before a storm, preventing the snow or ice from sticking to the surface (similar to greasing the cookie sheet) and alowing it to be easily plowed to the bare surface. Pre treating a surface requires aprox 50% less product to achive the same results being both better for the environment and the budget.



Mag chloride is a great canidate for early pre treating process as it is hygroscopic and therefore attracts moisture keeping it stuck to the road. Compared to soduim chloride which drys quickly and the dust is blown away from desired application areas. Pre applications are laid down in strips and use the trafic flow to spead the product.



Although pricier per gallon than just about anything else on the market, the agricultural deicers can be mixed with more common and much cheaper chemical deicers such as calcium chloride and magnesium chloride. This can bring down their freezing points, or — more importantly — inhibit the corrosiveness of the materials. That even goes for salt.



Certainly the best known agricultural deicer in this country, Ice Ban is the concentrated liquid residue of the fermentation and distillation of ethanol alcohol and the processing of other agricultural products such as corn and beet sugar. Natural Solutions Corporation introduced Ice Ban in 1995. Now, Caliber is 90% mag chloride and then it has a corrosion inhibitor and they say it performs enhancement [of the ] product that is derived of the agricultural byproduct added to it. ” Another product is Dow Armor which is calcium chloride mixed with the beet juice byproduct as a corrosion inhibitor.



The authority on the subject is a guy named Dale Keep. Known as the Ice Man, Keep was the long-time winter maintenance specialist at the Washington State Department of Transportation, one of the top agencies that continuously studies the performance and effects of anti-icing/deicing materials. Now Keep has his own training and consulting firm for winter operations, deicers, and associated technologies, called Ice & Snow Technologies, LLC and based in Walla Walla, Washington.



http://www.iceban.com

http://www.grainprocessing.com/horizon/geomeltminfo.htm

http://www.anti-icers.com/

http://www.roadsolutionsinc.com/

 

[p-Bar]

Glad I live in coastal So. Cal

 

[crobertson1]

p-Bar,



I'll take the mag-chloride over earthquakes, mudslides, smog, and all the other "benefits" of SoCal living anyday. No offense.

 

[EEdmondson]

crobertson, I wish about 20,000,000 Cal residents felt the same and would leave so we could have our nice state back. My parents are native californians since 1922.

 

[crobertson1]

RickE,



You and your family are a rare breed indeed! My wife's family has been here in Colorado for over a hundred years! I've only been here for 37. Yours is a beautiful state. I would think your population has decreased substantially though because there are an awful lot of Californians here now . We need some hard winters .

 

[EEdmondson]

crobertson,



They keep coming in faster than they're leaving. There are a lot of Californians in all the western states and a lot of Latinos in Calif. One friend moved to the Denver area and another went to Bend, OR. Just a comment... not trying to be a racist.

 

[DocDetonancour]

Drivers license stats say more from California to Spudland than any other state. Sell your home and move to the land of the tater and retire!