Give me your best ideas for winterizing an Apache

[VTX-Black]

This thread is meant to be fun. I am looking for creative ideas. No discouragement or naysayers allowed

Yes, I know that running one of these classics in the salt and snow is blasphemy, but I'll bet the collective group here can come up with ways to make these trucks survive better than some of the late model trucks are doing.

Here is the case I would like to make:

NEW TRUCK:
$40k purchase
$20k Value after 3 years depreciation
Parts = expensive
Frame shot after 6 years.

Classic truck made out of battleship steel:
$3k ->$10k purchase
Dispose after 3 years ($10k = half of a new truck depreciation).

Now, rather than dispute my numbers, how would you design the best 55-59 truck that you could to last forever?

I'll start:
-Paint underside
-shield the back of the headlights from slush.

Your turn = GO

[Highsider]

Rhino coat under fenders?
I am getting a new left front fender and was pondering at least some type of protection from rocks and debris thrown by the tires.
I don't drive mine after the first salt is spread and then not until drenching spring rains wash the roads.

I wanted to see your 59, but got this message:

Oops! Google Chrome could not find my new 59 blue fleetside truck

[VTX-Black]

Fixed! Thanks

[VTX-Black]

So, since I began this post I went searching online and found some interesting trucks (late 70's under $5k, well kept).

Typically the bad ones need cab corners and rocker panels.

That hasn't seemed to have changed since the 1950s. Recently my wife and I also looked at a 2003 that needed rocker panels.

What has gotten better, what has staid the same, and what can we improve on old trucks regardless of how often you want to drive them?

[buggy5872]

Get all of it galvanized dipped. Then you dont have to paint it. When I was into Jeeps I would send the frame out to get galvanized and they never rusted. Might not be the most appealing but would last.

[av8tr33337]

Move to Arizona!

[VTX-Black]

Ok, here are the suggestions so far:

1. Rhino coat the underside of the fenders
2. Get frame galvanized
3. Move to Arizona



One I dea I came up with is to get inner fender liners made. Hills customs makes inner fenders for early trucks that are slammed to the ground. I could borrow that idea and make liners for the front fenders to keep the slush out of the headlight buckets. (I'd bet that would even appeal to show truck owners wanting to keep dirt out of there).

Maybe the reason I am not getting more suggestions is that the idea of a running a 50's truck is too scary and emotionally charged?

Another example I found today was a 1978 sierra all redone for only $8900.00.
What else could you buy for that coin? Maybe a 6 year old already starting to rot Honda civic? In three more years the Honda wouldn't be worth much and would have plenty of corrosion.

Here is the 78
http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...AdIdZ552815935

Someone out there has to be crazy enough to get behind this idea, even if just for fun?

[dubie]

If I hadn't lowered my 56 as much as I did, I wouldn't even hesitate to drive it in the winter. But with the front axle only being 3" from the ground, I'd be plowing snow with it wherever I went. While I had mine apart I made sure to clean and fully coat the entire underside of everything in POR15 and then sprayed some bed liner over top of it to with stand the rock chipping. This way it'll prevent any further rot from happening in the areas you can't usually get at.

All I would do if I was to drive an old truck in the winter is swap out the oil to 0W-40, make sure it has a block heater installed, replace you heat duct material, it gets very brittle and cracks preventing a full blast of heat coming out of your fan,adjust your coolant mixture, change out your thermostat, and make sure you have good tires on it. Other than than, put a little weight in the bed and you'll get around just fine

[OrrieG]

I got my original AZ truck in 1976 and it was a daily driver year round until 2000 in AZ and Idaho. No salt on road here but they do use other chemicals and sand/small gravel mix. My strategy was undercoating the inside of fenders (front and bed), bottom of the cab and lower firewall. I kept the drain holes at the bottom of the cowl and doors open. Cab corners were going when I got the truck so did not worry to about them. Kept the rain gutters clear and washed off the inside of the fender wells when I washed the truck. Bed wood was shot so I just thru in some plywood. Places I had to replace rust were cab corners, headlight buckets (previous owner had done a good job of packing mud in them) and firewall below the battery. Also had some rust in the step at the brace, elected to just cut to good metal and weld in new, it will be covered anyway and the next generation can deal with it. I always kept paint on it to avoid surface rust (not primer it is not waterproof).

[Zach B]

I saw one once that had shields on it. Metal arms were bolted to the frame and went up to deflect some of the salt. Not the most effective method but it did cut down on the rust a little. I would defiantly play off that and make something that looked cool but could be removed and nobody ever notice was ever on it. Also Fiberglas wheel covers do help the cab but it does keep it under the fender.

[VTX-Black]

Good suggestions so far, thanks!

Where are the areas on task force trucks that tend to collect crud?

I've seen rotten rood drip rails and other body cavities on some of the threads here but having not opened one up yet I sometimes don't know what I am looking at in the pictures.

What would a list of the worst offending areas look like? I'll start with the froth of the fenders where crud can get flung up onto the back of the headlights and cause the top of the fenders to rot.

Other problem areas, or cavities than can be blocked, cleaned, coated or whatever?

[broey]

Originally Posted by av8tr33337

Move to Arizona!

hey we get rust out here....... just kidding, everything out here is awesome.

[VTX-Black]

Originally Posted by broey

hey we get rust out here....... just kidding, everything out here is awesome.

If anyone doubts that broey is kidding, here is what 55 years of Arizona rust looks like on my 59 fleet side. In Canada that is less than the equivalent of one winter!

[55metalmonkey]

Originally Posted by av8tr33337

Move to Arizona!

Ship it out to me in Victoria BC for the winter. Not many cars/ Trucks rust out on the island