Follow-up Questions about Salt Corrosion

[Longwell]

April and I read the posting by ONERUNNING about "Salt Air" and are very concerned.
We love to walk the beaches and to be by the ocean. Last year we spent 10 days at Myrtle Beach in our Jayco. Our bicycles were close to being ruined (3 days extensive disassembly and cleaning afterward) and we had a home base to hose off the trailer when we returned.

After reading posts by people at places by the ocean, such as South Padre Island, we had planned on staying by a beach several months a year when we start fulltiming in the Montana.

However, corrosion and rust would be major "no-no's" on our TV and especially on the Montana! We can't imagine being allowed to hose off the entire TV, bicycles, Montana and equipment every two or three days when in a campground.

2 questions:1)
How close to the beaches would it be safe to stay and avoid the salt air/mist (500 feet? 1 mile? 30 miles? etc.)
2) How do others stay months at South Padre Island and places like that without ruining their TV, Montana and equipment?
Any real-world experience and advice would really be appreciated.
Thanks.
Larry

[camper4]

The further you get away, the better. I would think a mile, in most cases , would be okay.

We stay in the Florida Keys and there is no way to be there and get away from the effects of the salt.

I think taking your rig to an automobile rustproofing place would help with the under body. As far as electronics in the house, keeping the windows closed, using the AC will help inside. Your AC unit will deteriorate no matter what.

People with condos and houses on the ocean pay a similar price.
Bottom line, if you want to live on the ocean/gulf, your equipment is going to suffer.

Whatever you do, enjoy it!

[SlickWillie]

Down here I have always heard it referred to as "Gulf coast cancer".

Just for kicks, I looked at the slide cylinder rods on the units at Camper Clinic, Montana dealer in Rockport. Yep, scaly rust all over the chrome, and they're probably a mile from the bay.

If you're gonna travel the coast, I would recommend having the RV and TV undercoated. There is a fellow in Corpus Christi that undercoats fifth wheels, starting at $600. TV undercoating seems to start around $100 IIRC. Just some ideas of costs involved. I was happy the 09 Chevy we bought in Houston was undercoated by the dealer. One other thing, GM has plastic rear inner fender liners for the 2500HD trucks. Not sure about the 3500s. Those will keep the undercoating from getting blasted off by road debris.

It all boils down to how much the coastal life style is worth to one I suppose.

[Jolu]

This is an interesting topic and very informative. We in the west and I suppose others who are not close to the east and west coast areas don't think that much about the salt air. If it is anything like the road salt in Indiana in the winter, it is amazing what it can do in a short time.
I was reminded of this when we brought the new rig home from IN in March. The axles, screws and any other metal parts exposed on the under carriage was rusty or corroded. I had not experienced this since I was a young man growing up in Michigan.
It reminded me of "Go West Young Man, Go West".

[Tom S.]

This is kind of off topic, but in a way it applies. Years ago when Ziebart was the big thing to do here in the 'rust belt', I was talking to a dealer who was also an acquaintance of mine. He told me the largest Ziebart dealership in the chain was located in Hawaii. Rust was a part of the problem, but he said another big seller there was the fabric treatment because the salt air also played havoc with the material.

[ONERUNNING]

Larry, what caused my concern, is we just bought our rig in Feb. 2010, and have only used it twice for four days at a time, at jekyll Island Ga. Driving in to the camp ground, you are right on the coast line, within sight of the ocean. However, the camp ground is several hundred yard off the ocean. Anyway, I have found some rust on the Montana in some spots and also on my Reese Hitch. None appears to be bad, and could just be normal. I'll keep my eye on things, and see if it continues to be a problem. Like Keith said, if you are going to camp close to the ocean, you'll have to live with the rust.
Joe