? RVs and Salt Air?

My 5th wheel has been parked on the NC coast for 3 years. There is 1 row of houses and a 2 lane road between us and the beach. Based on my personal experience and that of my camper neighbors, they do not hold up well at all.

RV Air conditioners seem to only last 3 or 4 years. The gear teeth on slideouts rust away. Hard lines for LP rust out. Eventually tongues fall off and frames are eaten away.

Products like Fluid Film and POR-15 can delay the inevitable. In the end, the rust wins.

We've camped on the Gulf Coast in the past with our Class C. Most of the surfaces dealt with the salt spray just fine; but our tow bar setup was almost amazing in its ability to rust more (noticeably!) every day....sigh.

Personally, as someone who lives in a state that uses copious amounts of road salt in the winter - the salt spray from the ocean is stickier/greasier and does more damage?

Now we're snowbirds about 5 miles as the crow flies, from the Atlantic, with 2 barrier islands separating us; and I still find that salty/greasy film on my windows....

The responses in this thread are hilarious. Lived on the OR coast for 9 years about 2 blocks from the ocean. I still have my aluminum bodied car, which is in perfect condition. My trailer I had for two years out there before moving away. And my truck which did not fit in the garage.

None of them are rusty/oxidized mess which is what this thread would have one believe.

STBRetired wrote:
So, at what distance do you worry about salt exposure? 500 feet? 1 mile? 5 miles? 10 miles? I would think that 500 feet is a yes and 10 miles would be a no, but what about the distances in between?

My simple rule of thumb. If you can see and smell the ocean, there's salt in the air. Then, look at your surroundings. Do you see the red/orange/brown signs of rust on fixed elevated exterior surfaces? If so, sooner or later the salt will get to you!

Chum lee

STBRetired wrote:
So, at what distance do you worry about salt exposure? 500 feet? 1 mile? 5 miles? 10 miles? I would think that 500 feet is a yes and 10 miles would be a no, but what about the distances in between?

The important stuff is the prevailing wind, the average strength of the wind, the distance of the fetch & the type of shore.

If you are somewhere that the wind is almost always offshore, no problem. If it is onshore but seldom over 20kts, not much of a problem.

If you are protected by barrier islands of some sort & the fetch is short therefore no chance for a sea to build in a wind, not much of a problem. In my case I look offshore & there is NOTHING for well over 1000 miles.

If your nearby shore is a saltwater marsh, not too much of a problem. If your nearby shore is a beach without a barrier island not too far away salt will not be a big problem except on very windy onshore days.

If your nearby shore is broken rocks, big ones, or craggy waves breaking on those rocks will create spray. The more wind, the more spray. The more wind the further that spray gets carried inland.

Worst case you can have is about what I have. I am real close, like about 600' from the ocean, the shore is rocky. The fetch is very long & the water is hundreds of feet deep less than a half mile from shore meaning that those 20'-30' storm swells get very close to shore before getting knocked down & producing all kinds of salt spray as they break.

Thankfully the worst case scenario only happens a few times a year when the air is heavy with salt & blowing mist. I am a stickler when it comes to keeping the car in my garage.

I hate to think what my trailer would look like if it were possible to use it in Bermuda. Rust stains would be everywhere from bleeding fasteners.

The short answer to RVs spending time near the ocean is, it depends.

gbopp wrote:

dcmac214 wrote:
retired Navy Sailor mentioned how his auto insurance paid for salt air exposure to his cars when he was stationed in Hawaii.

That sounds like a 'Sea Story' to me. I think the insurance company would go bankrupt fixing all the rusted cars in Hawaii and other coastal areas.
Rust isn't sudden or accidental. I think it would be a failure to maintain the vehicle.
But, I've been wrong before. :)

You may have been wrong before but not this time. Definitely not sudden and accidental.

So, at what distance do you worry about salt exposure? 500 feet? 1 mile? 5 miles? 10 miles? I would think that 500 feet is a yes and 10 miles would be a no, but what about the distances in between?

Veebyes wrote:


No, WD40 is not going to work. The stuff is good for temporary fixes for squeaks but it is not a rust discourager by any stretch of the imagination

I believe it's a moisture inhibitor. It works for a while.

Half the Navy are fulltime painters to keep those rust buckets afloat!

I guess my m/h never read a thread like this......

It lived within sight of the Gulf of Mexico for the first 22 years of its life. The underside is still white paint, no rust.