4 Rust Prevention Tips to Improve the Longevity of your Off-Road Vehicles
Martin Banks 05.15.23
Your toys are your pride and joy, but they’re also investments that require care. Proper maintenance keeps your quads and dirt bikes as points of pride while preserving their resale value. You’re proud to show off the goods when they look factory-kept. Improvements in materials and technology are only part of the picture – you have to do the rest. Here are four rust prevention tips for off-road vehicles.
Rust Prevention – Keep Your Vehicles in Good Condition
What causes rust, anyway? It results from a chemical reaction when iron interacts with water and oxygen. Various other substances — like minerals in the dirt — can speed up this process. Rusting is basically metal returning to its unrefined state.
Therefore, one of the best things you can do to prevent rust on your off-road vehicles is to give them a good bath now and then. Ensure you check these particularly rust-prone areas:
- Corners
- Exhaust
- Fenders
- Frames
- Panels
- Wheel wells
If lathering up in your driveway, use a soap designed for washing cars — ordinary dish soap can contain grease busters that can damage the finish. What happens if you travel for playtime? Should you drive home with your ATV coated in grime after playing in the sand down at the dunes? Your best bet is to pull through a non-automated car wash and give your vehicles a hose-down instead of leaving the filth to cake.
Whichever route you choose, ensure you dry your vehicles with a soft microfiber cloth or chamois. Remember, water reacts with metal and oxygen, so drying your baby to a shine helps protect her even when you don’t follow a bath with a sealing treatment.
Garage-Kept Is Best
Furthermore, you shouldn’t store your ATVs in your backyard. That means it’s time to clean out the garage or work on building a carport that provides shelter from the elements.
Rain rarely falls in neat, vertical sheets. It blows in from various directions, bringing dust and debris with it. Unless you want to spend every Saturday washing your fleet, investing in a heavy-duty cover is a must. Keep your toys as close to the nearest wall as possible to break the wind and consider a chain to deter theft. You should also keep your eyes on your tires and battery, inflating before storage and investing in a tender in cold-weather climates.
Of course, if you can keep your ride inside, you should. You can always consider a shed for additional storage if you lack garage space. Storing your ATVs inside your hauler protects them from the elements, although you’ll still want to winterize them.
Apply a Protective Coating
The right protective coating helps deter rust. Be careful using the WD-40 trick, though. Although this substance shouldn’t harm your paint, it attracts dirt like mad, speeding up the oxidation process if you don’t take immediate action to wash off the gunk after every ride. Your best bet is a product specially designed for off-road vehicle rust protection.
Also, install skid plates if your ride didn’t already come with them. Your undercarriage is a prime target for rust as it’s closer to the dirt and harder to wash. Some models — like the Yamaha Wolverine X2 — include these as part of the factory installation, but consider after-market models if not.
Make Immediate Repairs
Rust has to begin somewhere. It starts small, often where there’s a scratch in your off-road vehicle’s protective coating. Therefore, take a few minutes to inspect your toys when you wash them after an excursion. You can often remove light scratches by polishing the clear coat with rubbing compound. Those that extend to the primer require sanding and refinishing.
What if you buy a used ride that’s already covered with rust? You could go with the old-fashioned hand route, but this often means leaving bits in corners where it can spread again. Fortunately, technology has a solution. The Cleanlaser instantly removes rust from steel with laser pulses that produce microplasma bursts and sonic pressure to blast away the brown stuff. It’s faster and more effective than traditional methods.
Keep Your Off-Road Vehicles Looking Brand New
Your off-road vehicles are your pride and joy. You need rust prevention tips to keep them looking like they just came off the showroom floor, no matter how hard you play.
These rust prevention tips for off-road vehicles will help you keep your toys looking new. You’ll increase your enjoyment season after season while displaying your pride in ownership.
