Can Winter Salt Damage My Painted Wheels Even If My Car Is Parked In The Driveway?

This is a really great and interesting question. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it all kinds of unique challenges and concerns that most of us have never faced before, let alone for such a protracted length of time. 

Many people have switched to working mostly or entirely from home, which means their car is not going anywhere, not having to contend with the hazards of icy, snowy, pothole-laden roads. So do you need to be concerned about salt eroding the metals of your car? And more specifically, can your beautifully painted wheels be damaged by salt even if your car is stationary?

The short answer is yes, your wheels can be damaged by salt. Even if your car never moves a muscle or shifts a gear the entire winter, if it is parked mostly or even part of the time in an exposed driveway, residual or freshly-laid salt can be flung onto your car by passing vehicles, even moving at slow speeds. Fine spatter is still spatter, and those droplets can contain all manner of car-surface irritants and corrosives. 

Somewhat scarily, the road salt used by city crews also routinely becomes aerosolized, so the sodium and chloride that were originally solid and supposed to stay on the roads get broken into tiny particles and carried in the air across the valley. This also creates some larger climate issues which environmentalists are currently debating, because this aerosolized sodium and chloride contributes to bad wintertime air quality and pollution problems. But on a smaller scale, your wheels (and metal car body) can absolutely be affected by these corrosive particles. 

For that reason, even if you never drive to work once during the season of shivers, it’s still very important to get your car washed regularly to remove the buildup of that salt. Even if you can’t see it, it’s there. And it’s burrowing it’s way into the nice, cosy recesses of your wheels and car body, creating rust and corrosion wherever it goes. 

If it’s too late and you’ve found corrosion on your beautiful wheels (whether they’re painted or not), it’s time to call in the experts at Salt City Wheels. As our name implies, we’ve been dealing with the unique naughtiness of salt in the Salt Lake Valley and beyond for donkey’s years, and we know a thing or two about restoring your wheels to optimal condition. 

Give us a call now at 801 425 3044 before the corrosion burrows its way past the point of no return, and we’ll have your wheels restored to their former glory in a jiffy.