What's the latest recommendation for removing corrosion stains from road salt?

[RickJ19Zeta8]

Just for reference, I bought a gallon of Citrisurf 77 and treated two trucks (my fathers and mine) with that gallon and I've got maybe an 1/4 or 1/8 of it left. I was -generous- with the application, in the shade for 20 minutes and used water in a 2nd spray bottle to keep it wet. I did NOT mask the plastic, and there was not impact to them. But I've never re-treated either. It was a 1 and done thing.

A hand wash with soap makes it look like new now. As I said, after winter if there is brake dust or other iron fallout, I may apply Citrisurf 77 again to remove that free iron. Thats common practice for me with all my painted vehicles in spring, they get a Iron and fallout deep cleaning and wax in spring. The Cybertruck just won't get the wax step.

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[Crissa]

and oxygen? ;P

Free oxygen is an ion. Doesn't have to be oxygen, that's just what we have alot of.

-Crissa

 

[HaulingAss]

I mean, parking it outside and "letting it get rained on" isn't even an option in the southwest or rocky mountain areas. It can go weeks or months at a time without any appreciable rainfall.

You can use a garden hose to spray it down too, once it's passivated, it's passivated. Use Citrisurf if you want to passivate it almost instantly.

Mostly we just get snow, sleet and scorching heat.

That's great, the bare, uncoated steel of the Cybertruck can handle scorching heat, sleet, hail and other harsh environments like no other truck on the market. No paint fading, no peeling of clearcoat and no dents from rocks and hail or door dings.

The harsher your environment, the more you will benefit from the ultra-hard steel. If the Cybertruck can't handle it, no truck can!

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Just for reference, I bought a gallon of Citrisurf 77 and treated two trucks (my fathers and mine) with that gallon and I've got maybe an 1/4 or 1/8 of it left. I was -generous- with the application, in the shade for 20 minutes and used water in a 2nd spray bottle to keep it wet. I did NOT mask the plastic, and there was not impact to them. But I've never re-treated either. It was a 1 and done thing.

A hand wash with soap makes it look like new now. As I said, after winter if there is brake dust or other iron fallout, I may apply Citrisurf 77 again to remove that free iron. Thats common practice for me with all my painted vehicles in spring, they get a Iron and fallout deep cleaning and wax in spring. The Cybertruck just won't get the wax step.

Bingo . That’s 5.8 22oz bottles of Citisurf 77. Or about 2 bottles per truck in 1 sitting. Hahaha, @HaulingAss I’m glad you loved the post because this underscored what I said ?. Typical of you @HaulingAss. Oh no…. Nobody would ever use that much. ?????

 

[HaulingAss]

Bingo . That’s 5.8 22oz bottles of Citisurf 77. Or about 2 bottles per truck in 1 sitting. Hahaha, @HaulingAss I’m glad you loved the post because this underscored what I said ?. Typical of you @HaulingAss. Oh no…. Nobody would ever use that much. ?????

Your claim was "easily 24 bottle per year". But @RickJ19Zeta8 said, "But I've never re-treated either. It was a 1 and done thing." And he did two Cybertrucks.

Maybe you don't understand what "one and done" actually means?

You must just like to argue dumb narratives. 24 bottle per year, LOL! Only someone who didn't have a clue would do that.

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Your claim was "easily 24 bottle per year". But @RickJ19Zeta8 said, "But I've never re-treated either. It was a 1 and done thing." And he did two Cybertrucks.

Maybe you don't understand what "one and done" actually means?

You must just like to argue dumb narratives. 24 bottle per year, LOL! Only someone who didn't have a clue would do that.

? dude... you pontificate and spew poor knowledge. The only one who is clueless is you. I have a slew of DMs from other members who think you are a complete tool. You play the know-it all card, like your crappy knowledge of tires... and any time I showed you that you were wrong via expert information or manuals of a product, you either ignore it or you make comments like "Oh that was probably written by some 19yo kid"... LOLLLLL!! ... and your claim of having great knowledge of trucks, when the only truck you owned is an old F150 ? Have you ever seen a trail over a 4 rating? But you argue with folks who have 3-4 trucks. Its hilarious. You claim great knowledge of offroading, but your only experience seems to be with dirt roads carrying logs.

You are a joke dude. You remind me of another member here who does the same same thing whose user id rhymes with Prissa. It makes me wonder if you are the same person or closely related ?

Go look at the Cirtisurf 77 manual, chief. It's all right there. Your claims of "well spritz it with water..." is idiotic. What happens when you spritz it with water? It runs down the truck... so then you are diluting it. But thats right... as you said, you never used Citrisurf 77... you only have a bottle of it. Once again the expert who speaks of things he has never done or used ? But hey... really shitty idea to make your own for a few dollars a bottle... where you can use 100 bottles if you want and its a crap ton cheaper than Citrisurf. ?

@HaulingAss have you thought about going into comedy? You are a really funny dude!

 

[HaulingAss]

? dude... you pontificate and spew poor knowledge. The only one who is clueless is you. I have a slew of DMs from other members who think you are a complete tool. You play the know-it all card, like your crappy knowledge of tires... and any time I showed you that you were wrong via expert information or manuals of a product, you either ignore it or you make comments like "Oh that was probably written by some 19yo kid"... LOLLLLL!! ... and your claim of having great knowledge of trucks, when the only truck you owned is an old F150 ? Have you ever seen a trail over a 4 rating? But you argue with folks who have 3-4 trucks. Its hilarious. You claim great knowledge of offroading, but your only experience seems to be with dirt roads carrying logs.

You are a joke dude. You remind me of another member here who does the same same thing whose user id rhymes with Prissa. It makes me wonder if you are the same person or closely related ?

Go look at the Cirtisurf 77 manual, chief. It's all right there. Your claims of "well spritz it with water..." is idiotic. What happens when you spritz it with water? It runs down the truck... so then you are diluting it. But thats right... as you said, you never used Citrisurf 77... you only have a bottle of it. Once again the expert who speaks of things he has never done or used ? But hey... really shitty idea to make your own for a few dollars a bottle... where you can use 100 bottles if you want and its a crap ton cheaper than Citrisurf. ?

@HaulingAss have you thought about going into comedy? You are a really funny dude!

I've owned 2 F-150s and short-wheelbase Nissan Patrol 4x4s (3 of them). . I've off-roaded all over Mexico, Canada, the Rocky Mountains, and the Cascades. I've gone weeks without seeing blacktop. You know not what you are talking about. It's sad.

When Citrasurf evaporates and begins to dry on the surface, the acidity naturally rises (pH lowers). Because only the water evaporates. Basic science. So, if you spray it with distilled water to maintain the same level of wetness, you are not diluting the acidity. Again, basic science.

A lot of people think Elon is an idiot too. They are the dumbest people you can find. I suggest you find smarter people to commiserate with. And learn some basic chemistry. Even the Citrasurf instructions say to keep it moist, but they don't tell you to keep adding more Citrasurf to replace the moisture that has evaporated.

Go ahead and use more than 24 bottles a year to maintain a single Cybertruck, you will be the laughing stock of everyone who knows how ridiculous that is. You don't need to passivate the metal everytime you wash the truck. ?

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

When Citrasurf evaporates and begins to dry on the surface, the acidity naturally rises (pH lowers). Because only the water evaporates. Basic science. So, if you spray it with distilled water to maintain the same level of wetness, you are not diluting the acidity. Again, basic science.

A lot of people think Elon is an idiot too. They are the dumbest people you can find. I suggest you find smarter people to commiserate with. And learn some basic chemistry. Even the Citrasurf instructions say to keep it moist, but they don't tell you to keep adding more Citrasurf to replace the moisture that has evaporated.

Ahhh... so for a guy who has never used it... you think that is correct? Try spraying it on your vehicle. It immediately runs down your truck and drips on the floor. Now spray some water on it... that runs down... and it dilutes it.... and after a few minutes, it's very diluted... it didnt get that 15-30 minutes now did it? After a few minutes, you have pure water on your truck... no more Citrisurf!

Try it @HaulingAss ... see how it works!

Go ahead and use more than 24 bottles a year to maintain a single Cybertruck, you will be the laughing stock of everyone who knows how ridiculous that is. You don't need to passivate the metal everytime you wash the truck. ?

You sure? I made it with citric acid. Cost me very little. Who is gonna laugh? Certainly not the moron who spent $36 for a single bottle, right? Because if he buys 24 bottles, that would cost him $864. But no...I am the laughing stock for having 24 bottles for the price of a single Citrisurf 77 bottle. ?

Ok... @HaulingAss quick! Get the last word! Make a fool of yourself...

 

[HaulingAss]

Ahhh... so for a guy who has never used it... you think that is correct? Try spraying it on your vehicle. It immediately runs down your truck and drips on the floor. Now spray some water on it... that runs down... and it dilutes it.... and after a few minutes, it's very diluted... it didnt get that 15-30 minutes now did it? After a few minutes, you have pure water on your truck... no more Citrisurf!

Try it @HaulingAss ... see how it works!




You sure? I made it with citric acid. Cost me very little. Who is gonna laugh? Certainly not the moron who spent $36 for a single bottle, right? Because if he buys 24 bottles, that would cost him $864. But no...I am the laughing stock for having 24 bottles for the price of a single Citrisurf 77 bottle. ?

Ok... @HaulingAss quick! Get the last word! Make a fool of yourself...

Who is making a fool of themselves?

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Who is making a fool of themselves?

 

[canyoncarver]

We finally got a warm day today when I had some real time to try to attend to this and wanted to provide an update.

I hand washed the truck in the shade (temps in mid 50’s) and then after drying each panel I applied a generous coating of Citrisurf 77, then re-sprayed it with reverse osmosis water to keep it wet.

I set a timer for 20 minutes.

Citrisurf 77 did remove some of the tarnish but could not remove all of it, even with this generous application and a lot of elbow grease and a damp sponge. You could actually see where it would streak down the panel and those areas where it would collect further down would be a bit cleaner than the upper areas.

There just isn’t enough viscosity to keep it on the panel long enough to get the serious amount of tarnish off.

I moved to the spray Barkeeper’s Friend but wasn’t having much better results with that so in frustration I moved to the liquid “soft” BKF and used that.

I really had to scrub the panels hard with a clean microfiber cloth to get the stubborn stains off.

In the end I spent two hours and got the truck probably 85% improved from where it was when I started.

As we’ve got another couple of months of snowy wet weather left it doesn’t make sense to take the next step which would be a random orbital polisher with a clay pad and the soft BKF and really go over everything… this will also involve taping off the plastic parts so they are not damaged in the process of polishing.

This entire process has been miserable and anyone who purchases CT in this part of the country and does not have a warm garage to immediately wash it in should very strongly consider doing a wrap on it just to keep from having to deal with the very fast onset of corrosion.

I also used the entire bottle of Citrisurf 77 doing the truck one time and would absolutely need much larger quantities if this was going to be my normal winter maintenance routine.

I will now be wasting $200 on a portable camp shower that I can fill up with heated water and have the ability to rinse some of the salt off the truck in the winter time when the temps are too cold for regular cleaning. I will have to do this either in the garage followed by mopping or I will have to do it in the freezing weather outside then pull the truck in after.

This entire experience has sucked. While I greatly enjoy driving the Cybertruck the winter ownership experience in the rockies has been terrible compared to nearly any other vehicle I have ever owned or used here and I’ve had around 30 cars.

The biggest gripes;

1. Almost immediate onset of serious corrosion after just a week of wet salt on the steel when the temps are below freezing and there is no opportunity to remove it.

2. The rear camera becoming almost instantly covered with salt and road film when the roads are wet. This makes parking the truck more difficult and disables some of the autopilot capabilities.

3. The wiper when the windshield is covered in salt spray is nearly useless. It streaks badly, even if you expend a lot of washer fluid trying to clean it. I’ve owned very cheap used older cars that have windshield wipers that work properly.

4. Various squeaks/rattles that began to become noticeable in the colder temps.

Overall I give Cybertruck a B- overall. It will have to substantially improve by the time my current lease is up to even entertain the idea of getting another one. Otherwise I’ll move to something like redesigned Model X and just get a 2nd real pickup truck that can handle the winters here.

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Yep… similar situation as you. Just get that mag chloride off as quickly as you can. The chloride part reacts with the stainless. Every place I have mag chloride you can see the spots on the steel. It’s been such a PITA for me, I only use my Fords when it’s snowing or wet. The CT is for dry times during the winter for me.

A tip for you… what I found works great is using an electric buffer. You can get cheap ones for $40-$50. You will literally see the black come off of it. I used citric acid and kept it wet for 15-20 minutes, then threw a power buffer on it. It cleaned it up perfectly. The areas that I only used elbow grease, I had the same experience as you.

 

[canyoncarver]

Yep… similar situation as you. Just get that mag chloride off as quickly as you can. The chloride part reacts with the stainless. Every place I have mag chloride you can see the spots on the steel. It’s been such a PITA for me, I only use my Fords when it’s snowing or wet. The CT is for dry times during the winter for me.

A tip for you… what I found works great is using an electric buffer. You can get cheap ones for $40-$50. You will literally see the black come off of it. I used citric acid and kept it wet for 15-20 minutes, then threw a power buffer on it. It cleaned it up perfectly. The areas that I only used elbow grease, I had the same experience as you.

I have a very good random orbital polisher. What kind of pad did you use? I heard a guy at a glass shop say that they would use a clay pad which is a very mildly abrasive pad, if they were faced with the same situation.

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

I have a very good random orbital polisher. What kind of pad did you use? I heard a guy at a glass shop say that they would use a clay pad which is a very mildly abrasive pad, if they were faced with the same situation.

I use the fine polishing pad which is blue on this pack:

https://www.amazon.com/CASOMAN-7-Inch-Buffing-Polishing-Pieces/dp/B07Q453NF2

 

[SentinelOne]

We finally got a warm day today when I had some real time to try to attend to this and wanted to provide an update.

I hand washed the truck in the shade (temps in mid 50’s) and then after drying each panel I applied a generous coating of Citrisurf 77, then re-sprayed it with reverse osmosis water to keep it wet.

I set a timer for 20 minutes.

Citrisurf 77 did remove some of the tarnish but could not remove all of it, even with this generous application and a lot of elbow grease and a damp sponge. You could actually see where it would streak down the panel and those areas where it would collect further down would be a bit cleaner than the upper areas.

There just isn’t enough viscosity to keep it on the panel long enough to get the serious amount of tarnish off.

I moved to the spray Barkeeper’s Friend but wasn’t having much better results with that so in frustration I moved to the liquid “soft” BKF and used that.

I really had to scrub the panels hard with a clean microfiber cloth to get the stubborn stains off.

In the end I spent two hours and got the truck probably 85% improved from where it was when I started.

As we’ve got another couple of months of snowy wet weather left it doesn’t make sense to take the next step which would be a random orbital polisher with a clay pad and the soft BKF and really go over everything… this will also involve taping off the plastic parts so they are not damaged in the process of polishing.

This entire process has been miserable and anyone who purchases CT in this part of the country and does not have a warm garage to immediately wash it in should very strongly consider doing a wrap on it just to keep from having to deal with the very fast onset of corrosion.

I also used the entire bottle of Citrisurf 77 doing the truck one time and would absolutely need much larger quantities if this was going to be my normal winter maintenance routine.

I will now be wasting $200 on a portable camp shower that I can fill up with heated water and have the ability to rinse some of the salt off the truck in the winter time when the temps are too cold for regular cleaning. I will have to do this either in the garage followed by mopping or I will have to do it in the freezing weather outside then pull the truck in after.

This entire experience has sucked. While I greatly enjoy driving the Cybertruck the winter ownership experience in the rockies has been terrible compared to nearly any other vehicle I have ever owned or used here and I’ve had around 30 cars.

The biggest gripes;

1. Almost immediate onset of serious corrosion after just a week of wet salt on the steel when the temps are below freezing and there is no opportunity to remove it.

2. The rear camera becoming almost instantly covered with salt and road film when the roads are wet. This makes parking the truck more difficult and disables some of the autopilot capabilities.

3. The wiper when the windshield is covered in salt spray is nearly useless. It streaks badly, even if you expend a lot of washer fluid trying to clean it. I’ve owned very cheap used older cars that have windshield wipers that work properly.

4. Various squeaks/rattles that began to become noticeable in the colder temps.

Overall I give Cybertruck a B- overall. It will have to substantially improve by the time my current lease is up to even entertain the idea of getting another one. Otherwise I’ll move to something like redesigned Model X and just get a 2nd real pickup truck that can handle the winters here.

Colorado here, I just take it to a touchless car wash after each snow/mag chl on the road...get's most of the crap off, looks reasonable and low effort. (sure as hell dont want to do the wash outside or garage stunt). Once spring comes around I'll give her a deep clean!

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