Corruption, corrosion, and preventing junk parts

I don't know how much you folks get subjected to the onslaught of corrosive de-icing agents down where-abouts you are all at, but being a NY resident for my entire life, I have seen and lived with varying levels of rust and destruction from salt, and now from the chlorides and brines that are now being laid down on our highways, so those who can't drive suddenly can.... anyway, where I'm headed with this is-

I just had to do brakes on my plow truck ( now there's a vehicle constantly bathed in corrosives for 7 months out of the year). Both front calipers were seized on the sliders, on the pistons, and the pads were seized in the anchors. One rear caliper was the same. Now in the process of replacing them, I discovered one thing- the bleeder screws on all 4 calipers came loose with a quick turn of a 3/8 ratchet. One might ask- "if those calipers were bound up that tight from corrosion, how come the bleeders came loose?" Don't know how much trouble you folks have with that type of thing down there, but the secret to my success with this ( and some of you already know how to keep those bleeders free) is that every time I replace a caliper or wheel cylinder, after everything that is metal to metal is anti-seized, and the sliders have had additional grease applied, I remove the bleeders, and anti seize the threads to excess, reinstall them after the air is out, then I take a 1 inch long piece of vacuum hose that fits the bleeder tightly, insert a tight fitting screw in one end, pack it full of chassis grease, and force it down over the bleeder. They will come out every time.

Now up here in the brush and redneck country of NYS, we are blessed with many fellers that refuse to install hubcaps on their pickups. Big deal, right? Well, with all the salt and brine, our lugs suffer the same fate as bleeder screws many times. So the curse of having your nuts show (on your wheels, that is) is that after a couple winters here without protection, it is almost impossible to get the wheel nuts off without stripping or breaking the studs off. Quick and easy cure- and this is something I have done on all the commercial and farm customers who run their vehicles in VERY unforgiving environments, (including cow $hit) is to take a piece of heater hose and cut short sections of hose just a bit longer than the exposed threads of the studs, paint the studs with either anti seize or chassis grease (I'm a bit partial to anti seize) and force the piece of heater hose over the studs after the wheels are on. Guarantee the next time you take them off, the nuts will run right off without objection. In fact, I usually don't bother pulling the hose sections off, I just slip the deep impact socket right over the stud, and as the nut comes off, so does the hose. Hope this helps somebody out, and with a little thought of other things you run into, you will find other applications to do simple stuff like this to make your life easier. Maybe you don't battle the corrosion so much down there, but if you do, these suggestions should help a great deal.

Now if I could just figger out how to keep my pickup from smelling like used oil after filling the lower door skins, dog legs, and rocker panels with used oil for corrosion prevention. Don't mind it so much on the truck, but the Mrs. ain't real pleased with it, so her car doesn't get "the treatment." The smell goes away about halfway through winter.

Some good tip that are overlooked. We have the same issues in Northern Ky and southern Ohio. It use to be just salt now they have this brine. I have heard it's harder on our cars than just the salt. Not sure if that's true but you never know.

It is much harder on them than the salt. It eats oil pans up, brake lines are gone in 3-5 years.