The worst states for rust.

[F8-4life]

I am a younger guy who lives in Ohio and being around rust my whole life I was wondering, what are the most rusty states in the USA?
In your experience dealing in classics where did the most rotted cars come from? You western guys can laugh it up about now lol.
I have to believe Ohio is right at the top 5 at least.

[myk]

I'm pretty close to the water on the west coast.  My car is from Arizona but it still ended up rusting in the usual spots, it just took longer.  True, I don't have to deal with snow or road salt but rust will be our enemy no matter where in the world we are...

[F8-4life]

I'm pretty close to the water on the west coast.  My car is from Arizona but it still ended up rusting in the usual spots, it just took longer.  True, I don't have to deal with snow or road salt but rust will be our enemy no matter where in the world we are...

A good point, these chargers are so old now even AZ cars are eaten up.

[hemi-hampton]

Michigans gotta be in top 5 states.   LEON.

[charger1972]

I`m in NY and ..... yeah , we gotta be up towards the top of the list .

[Davtona]

Bought a Charger that lived its short 7 or 8 year life around the Pittsburg PA area. Was told by the locals at the time the steel mills contributed to its demise along with the usual winter stuff. Car was the worst car I had ever seen as of 1980. Made what we had in the northern midwest area look good.

[Old Moparz]

.

[70 sublime]

And you guys have nothing to complain about untill you see some of the rusty stuff north of the US boarder  

[toocheaptosmoke]

Another vote for PA, I swear it's something in the air.    I've brought junk home from places up north that already were rusted, but once they hit the weather down here it's like fresh rust just starts blooming. Makes me feel better though about my junk vehicles when I see trucks less than 8 years old with cab corners and bedsides completely wasted.  I swear the brine and salt they've been putting on the road the last few years is worse than it ever has been before!

[Ghoste]

Upper Midwest mostly.  Michigan, Ohio, NY anywhere they use salt.

[chargerman69]

And you guys have nothing to complain about untill you see some of the rusty stuff north of the US boarder  

True am in ont, ill post a picture of my rusted out 73

[stripedelete]

Michigan, Ohio, PA, New york?  They don't call it the "rust belt" for nothin'.

[hemi-hampton]

Hows Wisconsin & Minnesota for rust?

[MaximRecoil]

Maine.

My father bought a 1976 Chevrolet K10 pickup in 1982; he got a good deal on it because the rocker panels, cab corners, floorboards, and the tops of the rear wheel openings all were rusted through.

[MaximRecoil]

Michigan, Ohio, PA, New york?  They don't call it the "rust belt" for nothin'.

You may already know this, but it is just a coincidence that vehicles rust quickly in the "rust belt". The term has nothing to do with actual rust.

[stripedelete]

Michigan, Ohio, PA, New york?  They don't call it the "rust belt" for nothin'.

You may already know this, but it is just a coincidence that vehicles rust quickly in the "rust belt". The term has nothing to do with actual rust.

I had no idea there would be a quiz.
Yes, actually I do.  Late 70's ealy 80's reference to the economy/type of/lack of in the industrial midwest.
But, yet a double entendra.  The same situation in the Southwest would not have been "coined" the rust belt.

[MaximRecoil]

The same situation in the Southwest would not have been "coined" the rust belt.

One of the names the area was previously referred to was the "steel belt", due to the heavy usage of steel in the manufacturing industry. As the manufacturing industry decayed, rust, which decays steel, became an apt metaphor for the situation. The metaphor applies regardless of any given area's weather conditions, so if the Southwest had been part of the "steel belt", there is no reason that it wouldn't now be part of the "rust belt".

There are people who do think the term "rust belt" applies to literal rust, such as with cars. For example:

"Rust belt" meaning.

I've lived in New England all my life, and I've never had any notion that "Rust Belt" referred to some degrading of the economy of cities...I'd always taken it to mean the North, where it gets cold in the winter and we have to worry about our cars rusting away from the salt on the roads every winter. The Rust belt is northern states that use salt on the roads in the winter. Like the alternate to the "Corn Belt" or "Bible Belt". Thus I was surprised at the claim that it "has no specific geographical boundaries" and that it refers specifically to economical conditions. Maybe it refers to machines and tooling "rusting away" from disuse, but that's news to me. Road salt and a geographical area seems more logical to me..45Colt 17:51, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

[Bob]

PA

[JB400]

 

I see quite a bit of rust in my area, but it's due more because of lifestyle than just winter salt.  We have a lot of rural dirt roads, quite a few farmers that drive off road checking fields and equipment, and plus our additional off road recreational activities.  Quite a few good fishing holes aren't that easily accessible without a 4x4.

[MaximRecoil]

It probably corresponds fairly well with this "U.S. Average Snow State Rank" list:

http://www.usa.com/rank/us--average-snow--state-rank.htm

My state, Maine, is number 2 on the list, with about 6½ feet of snow per year.

In general, the more snow you get, the more road salt gets laid down. The more road salt that gets laid down, the more your car will be exposed to it. The more your car is exposed to road salt, the faster it will rust.

And it isn't just the road salt that accelerates rust, but also snow and cruddy slush kicked up from the tires accumulates and freezes into every opening and crevice in the lower parts of the car, and can stay there for a long time if not intentionally removed. This longterm exposure to moisture (which typically also contains road salt) = rust city.

Also, snowy states tend to have very muddy "mud seasons" in the spring because of all the snow melting, and mud is another thing that likes to find every possible place to hang out on your car and stay there holding moisture, and even when it finally dries into tight clumps of dirt, it is just waiting for rain to become mud again, like a dry sponge.

On top of that, Maine is very humid in the summer, and has 228 miles of coastline (i.e., humid and salty air). Given that, I doubt that any state in the country beats Maine for rust.

[Nwcharger]

I'm located in oregon and besides our coast which rots cars pretty bad, depending on where a car has sat can get fairly rusty but nothing like what I'm seeing on the east coast. I was at a junkyard outside Boston mass and was literally afraid to crawl under some of the cars out there. Never in my life have I seen such rust. Buckle frames, snapped leaf springs. These cars were not very old either, 10-15 years. I took a trip with nhcharger and our wife's downtown to sightsee and they have a large Pyle of salt in the town that nhcharger said was small right now. Looked to be 60 feet tall at least, and its fairly large pieces like gravel. I drove my 93 dodge cummins out here and have had a dozen people ask me how I keep my truck so clean and rust free. Salting roads should be a crime.

[MaximRecoil]

I was at a junkyard outside Boston mass and was literally afraid to crawl under some of the cars out there. Never in my life have I seen such rust. Buckle frames, snapped leaf springs. These cars were not very old either, 10-15 years.

Here in Maine, I've seen vehicles break when put on the lift before, ones that people were still driving on the road no less. I recently saw the rear section of the frame behind the rear wheels, along with the rear bumper, simply fall off a late '90s Ford Ranger as it went up on the lift.

There is an early 2000s Dodge Ram 4WD sitting up to my friend's garage/junkyard right now with about a 4 foot section of the passenger side frame under the cab area rusted completely through; it is owned by a cop who didn't even realize the frame was bad, or so he claims (I'd like to know how he got his last inspection sticker, or the one before that, for that matter). It shouldn't even be on the road.

[billssuperbird]

Pa

[73rallye440magnum]

Northern Wisconsin is absolutely terrible.

[Ghoste]

Never knew that about the rust belt nickname, I had thought it was because of our vehicles.