Garage or no? Curious how folks' trucks hold up outside.

[joeydurango]

Informal poll: garage or no garage?

I don't have one, although I'd love it for repair purposes. Even if I did, though, I think I'd use it for working on the truck and storing other stuff rather than parking the truck in it all the time.

I live in southwest Colorado on the border between mountains and desert. Dry air, lots of sunshine, but it does rain and snow here. My truck is a 50-footer, but doesn't have any pervasive rust, or really any besides some minor surface rust on parts of the undercarriage. But every time it snows, I can't help but wonder if I'm slowly shooting myself in the foot. Am I going to be faced with a rust bucket in 10 years?

Other mountain/desert folks care to chime in on your experiences?

[CST10]

I keep one in the shop and one under an open carport. Why? The shop ain't big enough. Live in the wet Deep South Louisiana.

[gipper]

My is snuggled up in my pole barn under cover and on jack stands.

[68shortwide]

Mines sat out in the elements of st Louis for a decade. Another won't hurt it lol the Camaro though will probably be under a cover if not inside.

[dubds10]

I find it's not so much the wetness causing rust as it the wetness degrading the interior, seals etc. Until our new place is built ours staying under a car tent.

[slow-1]

I had a garage when I got my trucks rust fixed and got her painted, then we moved to a cheaper house so my wife could stay home with our 3 kids. So my truck has lived outside the last 12 years or so and it needs to be fixed again.

But the cheaper house is almost paid for and I will be building a nice shop soon to keep Ole Green nice and protected after the next redo.

I would do the whole thing again for my kids, but it would have been nice to have a garage.

[57taskforce]

Howdy from Farmington! Very nice k/10! I think the biggest thing we have to worry about out here is the uv rays eating the paint alive. The amount of snow and rain we get won't kill them too quickly. The salt if used to melt the snow isn't good but the snow alone I wouldn't worry much about. I'm from Virginia originally... That climate is rough on stuff. 40+ inches of precip a year and 70%+ humidity in the summer. The dry air is pretty friendly to these old trucks.

[msgross]

I just built a 1,000sq ft pole barn... now I can park all vehicles, work on my truck and store all of the toys...

[Vintage Windmills]

i agree with 57 task force on not worrying about snow itself. The snow is probably the best thing for the truck. Salt is the worst, followed by the sun, then rain, then dry cloudy, then snow. Parking on soils that retain moisture (like ag land or good black dirt) cause chassis rust. The sun will destroy anything that isn't metal on your truck long before pure snow causes a problem. Corrosion is also proportional to air temperature. Why do you think accelerated corrosion and aging tests are done at elevated temps? Corrosion of metal and aging of plastic are chemical reactions that need energy to occur.

The most severely rusted vehicles I've seen (and I know rust living in MN lol), are those which get salted in the day, then pulled in a warmer garage at night. Its better to park outside if there is salt on it.

Nice truck!

[CST10]

Originally Posted by CST10

I keep one in the shop and one under an open carport. Why? The shop ain't big enough. Live in the wet Deep South Louisiana.

I like to call it a shop, but really it's a converted ol barn. Lol. But it works.

[Already Gone]

With our long cold snowy Winters up here in the Great White North my trucks are stored in a garage during the Winter and sit outside in the Summer. If I know I wont have a need/use for the truck for say 10 days or so in the Summer she goes back into the garage for that time.

[tcrist]

Mine is a garage rat. Mostly so no one messes with it but also keeps the valley sun from destroying everything and it is not driven everyday.

I also have an 06 Silverado that is my DD. It stays outside.

[joeydurango]

Thanks, everyone, for all the replies! No salt on the roads up here so all good in that respect. 57taskforce, yup, could see UV being an issue for sure. At least I keep the interior and bedwood shaded all day.

As of yesterday, things were dry and melted out. As of this morning, the truck (and everything else) is sitting under at least 8" of snow, with more coming! Thought about those fancy covers in lieu of a garage, but that seems faintly ridiculous for my not-show-quality truck.

Check back in ten years, and I'll let you know what shape it's in!

[special-K]

In a building is best, or under a roof at least. I haven't had any inside storage for five years or more and I hate it. I have sold off a couple vehicles because I couldn't see them getting under cover any time soon. Trying to figure out what I can build here (kind of complicated) or just move to a garage that has a house

[benner]

I wish I could get mine in my Garage...stuff happens so my rig sits out and has since 1992! It has seen 4 foot dumps of snow where I can't find it. We are East side of Cascades so hot and dry summers. Truck takes it all. If yours is a fifty footer, mine is a 100 footer, where it looks good. I have a small leak somewhere so moisture inside freezes as frost on inside so I scrape in and out. Hilarious!

[Lemield]

My garage is full so both my trucks sit outside. They seem to do OK. I wouldn't want to spoil them.

I try not to drive my K20 in the winter slop.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by slow-1

I had a garage when I got my trucks rust fixed and got her painted, then we moved to a cheaper house so my wife could stay home with our 3 kids. So my truck has lived outside the last 12 years or so and it needs to be fixed again.

But the cheaper house is almost paid for and I will be building a nice shop soon to keep Ole Green nice and protected after the next redo.

I would do the whole thing again for my kids, but it would have been nice to have a garage.

Same problem. Restored truck in 2006. Lived in an apartment. Truck outside. Bought house in 2009! Truck has garage! Brought home 67 firebird in 2010, shared space with truck. 2011 bought extremely nice 65 Mustang. Car is worth more than double what the truck is and needed classic insurance on it. Truck with stated value insurance kicked out of garage again. January 2015: Truck looks like ass. Both rear step fenders are badly faded on top, white roof looks terrible, hood starting to fade, and will likely start peeling in a couple years.

Good news is our house is 1/2 paid for and I'm almost done with the remodel, so I'm looking at adding a shop in a few years. Until then I decided to kick the firebird (project car) out of the garage for now to rebuild the truck again as a fleetside CST shop truck.

I've had my Mustang for 3 years. I wax it once a year and because it's garaged it stays fairly clean so it sees limited water.

A garage (or any dry storage with cover) makes a huge difference.

[57taskforce]

Originally Posted by special-K

In a building is best, or under a roof at least. I haven't had any inside storage for five years or more and I hate it. I have sold off a couple vehicles because I couldn't see them getting under cover any time soon. Trying to figure out what I can build here (kind of complicated) or just move to a garage that has a house

I love how you worded that... A garage that has a house! Haha you and I have very similar priorities!
Joey, have fun with that snow! I'm jealous! It's all rain down here at least when the snow melts it's gradual mud, it's all mud right away here. Needless to say I'm ready for spring!

[dmartin1]

all of mine have been outside all there lives, and still no rust.barely even surface

its extremely dry air here and get rain only 2-3 times a year. 40-50 degrees here is freezing

[joeydurango]

Larry, how many years has that pictured K20 been sitting out in the Colorado sun and weather? Looks similar to mine and if you tell me that's been outside for 10 years or something I won't complain any more.

DMartin, if I lived where you did I wouldn't worry about it at all, besides the UV. Unfortunately, that snow is still coming down, and these years it seems to fall almost as slush down here in the valleys.

57taskforce, I'd almost prefer rain - that or actual cold, dry snow. It's still coming down and I have power here at work, but that heavy wet stuff knocked power out at the house, all around the county, and is breaking trees in my neighborhood. Kinda miss actual winters...

[Lemield]

Originally Posted by joeydurango

Larry, how many years has that pictured K20 been sitting out in the Colorado sun and weather? Looks similar to mine and if you tell me that's been outside for 10 years or something I won't complain any more.

Hey Joeydurango....

It's been sitting out since I bought it 3 years ago. Before that it was garaged...had to be since it is the original paint and it was still shiny. I wax it once a year and try to avoid driving it in the sloppy weather and so far it seems to be doing OK. It has ZERO rust because the original owner didn't drive it in the winter...if he did, then he washed it off well. I would love to park it in the garage but I have other vehicles in there including the wife's Toyota and my 1949 Willys.

[joeydurango]

Cool, thanks! That's heartening, considering the winters you guys have had over the last couple years. I try not to drive mine when it's nasty either, and if I need to, I do make sure to clean it off well.

Nice truck! I like it.

[splehigh]

I'm thinking about building a 24x32 or 24x36 in the spring. I'm debating if I should spend the money and do it or wait until I can buy a property with more land.

[Lemield]

Originally Posted by joeydurango

Cool, thanks! That's heartening, considering the winters you guys have had over the last couple years. I try not to drive mine when it's nasty either, and if I need to, I do make sure to clean it off well.

Nice truck! I like it.

Thanks. It took a long time to find a good one.

[Coley]

Mine currently resides outside in the northern (wet) winter....no worries, no sweat. They are covered.
The difference for me is I have always 'rustchecked' my vehicles prior to storing them outside and they have always resisted rusting due to moisture....its great stuff but it takes a few hours to do it right.
I would never leave them in a damp environment without that process/product....ever....that is the dinner bell for inviting rust.
My two bits
Coley