rstl99

Hi folks,
My newly-acquired 96 2500 will be sitting in my driveway all winter. Should I cover it up with a tarp or just leave it alone? It has a moulded plastic liner inside the box. I thought of maybe covering up the cabin part in case there may be some water ingress via the door seals, sliding window, roof brake light? But possibly the truck would be quite happy to stand proud under a blanket of snow.
I will take the batteries indoors though, I presume I don't have to do much else to "winterize" it?
Thoughts?

Blueboy

Run old fuel out, fill with new to the top.

SIXSLUG

Make sure antifreeze is able to handle cold temps.

Junk Man

Don't cover it with a tarp. They trap moisture. You can dump something like startron in the tank to keep the diesel. Order from West Marine. I had some algae in my 85SD's fuel. Startron saved me from dropping the tank. Previously I thought it was snake oil.

Put your batteries on trickle charge or take them in the house. Don't leave batteries sit on concrete. Harbor Freight has chargers for <$15.

infidel

Not only do tarps trap moisture they can get hopelessly frozen to the truck if you want to remove and use the truck.

rstl99

Thanks folks.
- Antifreeze ok for harsh Canadian winter - Check!
- Top up fuel tank - will do!
- Remove batteries and store in the house - will do!
- Don't cover with tarp - check!

Dinner

How old is the oil? How long will the truck be sitting for? I would either get additives to mix with the oil, or replace with new oil. Old oil will deteriorate while sitting and can actually begin to etch into bearings, etc.

johnh

"Don't leave batteries sit on concrete. "
why not? if you think it will discharge the battery ,not so! concrete is a non conductor as is wood or plastic......but the steel in your battery tray in the truck is a real good conductor..... a dirty battery will discharge no matter what you set it on.........the dirt and crud on a battery creates a circuit between the posts

Silver R/T

Concrete is cold and batteries don't like cold

rstl99

Good question, I'll look at the records that came with the truck. I believe oil and filter were replaced less than 1,000 miles ago, 2-3 months ago. I've generally replaced oil in my seasonal vehicles before winter, but have been lazier in recent years, and generally do it in the Spring.

Since I need to get the fuel tank topped up, I'll get the truck warmed up, fill up the tank, then drain and replace the oil before winter, and let it run for a while. Then take the batteries out and store them in my basement (on a styrofoam pad, which is what I normally do for my other seasonal vehicle).

mariner

If you can either put the truck under a car port and shelter would be the best thing - just to keep off the snow build up.

I mention this because I neglected to put my 2002 3500 away before the snow arrived here in Prince George area of BC. With the first snow fall we had the following thaw and freeze cycles for about a week and then more snow and then cold temperatures. By this time I had decided I should put the truck in the covered storage area (unheated) and tried to get the snow off the vehicle and the ice off the windows etc. First I had one hell of a time getting the driver door open - frowzen to the door seal and had to use window washer fluid sprayed with bottle sprayer. Once opened and I got the engine running ok (I had plugged block heater in for several hours before) I had to play with the heater controls before I could get the defrost working properly - the cold temperatures outside affecting everything.

After scraping the bulk of the accumulated ice of all the windows I tried using the windshield washer to spray the -40C washer fluid onto the windshield to help the ice melt - the sprayer worked but the wipers didn't !. I unstuck them from the windshield and still no worky - grrrrr! (probably blown fuse but didn't bother checking at this time - too mad). I used the same hand spray bottle with washer fluid to accelerate the ice melting on the windshield and a hand sqweegy to scrape windshield clean. The Door windows were all frozen closed (elecctric windows - tried to work but didn't) and did not thaw out in the time I drove the truck and put it under shelter. I tried to lift the hood and it got hung up about 1/2 way and when I checked, found that the foam rubber seal under the hood by the cowling, had frozen to the hood metal. Trying to get this free I broke/tore the foam seal.

The truck got stored finally but still has snow and ice on the roof and canopy. With the temperatures being in the area of around -28C (-18F) the last few days, there will be little chance of the snow and ice melting for a while.

I guess what I am trying to say is, it would be much more preferable to store the truck under some sort of shelter to keep the snow off during the winter - especially if your ambient temps drop to -30C or so. I had a hell of a job to get my truck somewhat cleared of snow and ice - just to be able to drive it a couple of hundred yards to get it out of the winter weather.

Of course, there others who say no problem. Well, your truck - your choice.

Just thought I would mention my recent experiences and winter hasn't really started yet.

I think my 1986 F250 6.9 engined truck seems to fair much better in the really cold winters up here in central BC. The 2002 Dodge should do as well - but it sure doesn't seem to want to. I have owned both trucks since new.

mariner

rstl99

Mariner,
I hear you! I wish I had a car port or shelter to store the truck under for the winter, but don't.

In my case, once it sits, it's going to sit until Spring (no batteries, no insurance), so no worry about all of a sudden having to chip off snow/ice to move it. And it's pretty well parked right now where it's going to sit all winter (went out last night to fill the tank with diesel).

The truck certainly has strong enough suspension to whitstand snow/ice in the back. And I recently had it rust-proofed profusely with Krown at a shop, so am not concerned about water getting in anywhere, except maybe the cab, through possibly leaking window seals etc. (I did put a silicone bead around the inside cover of the brake light!). The rusty look of the seat legs lead me to believe that water/moisture got in there at some point in the past, probably when winter-store in the PO's driveway over the years.

I suppose I'm debating the pros and cons of putting a heavy duty tarp on it (I have a large one that would cover it quite well...

Thanks.

p.s. I checked and the oil and filter was changed in August and the truck has barely driven 600 miles since then, so I think I can spare myself the pre-winter oil change and 10L of oil!