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Tesla: You Have to Wipe Bugs/Bird Poop Off Your Cybertruck to Avoid Corrosion

42 points by mikequinlan 3y ago

mikequinlan 3y ago
"Owners are finding the exposed stainless steel may be much more fragile than they expected."
anigbrowl 3y ago
Bottom text I'm imagining for sale ads a few years from now 'Cybertruck. Runs good. Lots of character. Must sign waiver of liability.'
IronWolve 3y ago
Pine tar ruins car roofs all the time, road tar on paint, etc. Comparing a ford f150 to a ford maverick, on the underbody and protection, the maverick is already rusting so quick compared due to lack of protection to keep the price down. I've always wondered why car reviews sites don't actually review stuff that matters more to longevity and use, rust protection, frame coating, exposed parts, skid plates, wheel wells (felt/plastic/etc), common costs and repair times for (quarter panels, common parts that fail, belts, hoses, etc), audio quality, window noise (acoustic glass vs normal), suspension, etc. Tesla cars have had major water and dirt issues collecting in its underbody, but its a car, so dirt and gravel roads really are bad on it.
- CharlesW 3y ago
  > Pine tar ruins car roofs all the time, road tar on paint, etc. The point is that this happens even though a typical car body is protected by an electrocoat, primer, basecoat, clearcoat, etc. The Cybertruck doesn't even have a clearcoat, which is insane.
  - geoelectric 3y ago
    That was the exact thing that just went through my head reading this. “…they didn’t clearcoat it?!” Tesla is great at batteries and wheeled computers, but man, they have some serious blind spots when it comes to building vehicles. I wonder if you can get an aftermarket ceramic coat or similar protectant on it.
  - RetroTechie 3y ago
    > The Cybertruck doesn't even have a clearcoat, which is insane. Why? Conventional car body is steel, which rusts easily. So it's (most likely) galvanized + protected by various layers of paint. If that paint is damaged (scratch, dent, whatever) the underlying steel will rust. Repair may be along the lines of "sand down, apply primer, apply color, apply clearcoat". Stainless steel is different. The base material itself doesn't corrode (as) easily. Similar to say, aluminium, titanium or even copper. Repair: sand down until scratch / ugly spot is gone, sand down with increasingly finer grit, finish with polishing material (wool or whatever), done. There is a catch: some conditions may corrode even stainless steel. A common culprit is salt(s). Especially repeated wetting / drying cycles where droplets of salt water concentrate, potentially causing so-called "pitting". Various grades of stainless have various degrees of resistance to this. According to this article: (thx Wikipedia!) https://www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-cybertruck-electric-pickup-bulletproof-stainless-steel-body/ https://www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-cybertruck-electric-pi... The Cybertruck uses 301 alloy stainless? Perhaps the thought was "if it's good enough for rockets, it's good enough for a car". But... exactly that may not be so! It's not hard to imagine road or environmental conditions that don't apply (significantly) to rockets: ocean breeze containing salty droplets, winter road conditions (including de-icing salts), small stones hitting a car's underside, etc etc. Also 1.4~3 mm. thickness is more easily compromised than whatever thickness a rocket's hull is. 304 stainless is common (and good enough for maaany applications). 301 is probably similar. But in eg. marine applications, 316 (or 316L) alloy is common. So maybe Tesla goofed (or penny-pinched?) on their choice of alloy? Or they didn't, and this is a non-issue blown out of proportion? Who knows. I wouldn't worry about it unless dipping-in-salty-water is regular pasttime.
    - Veedrac 3y ago
      > It's not hard to imagine road or environmental conditions that don't apply (significantly) to rockets: ocean breeze containing salty droplets This one is very much a staple of SpaceX's rockets.
    - StreetChief 3y ago
      What, if any, are the advantages of skipping a clear coat?
BenFranklin100 3y ago
I like it when automobile manufacturers push the design and technology envelope, like BMW did with Smart Car. I view the CyberTruck in a similar vein. But still, I’ll wait till version 2.0 with this one.
- petre 3y ago
  "Smart is a division of Daimler AG, the parent corporation of Mercedes-Benz." BMW owns the Mini brand, which is not really pushing the envelope that much. But I like what they tried with the i3.
andrewmcwatters 3y ago
Psst, you have to do this to normal cars too, or it eats through your clear coat. Plenty of stupid things about the Cybertruck if you want to be a hater. This isn’t one of them. Personally, I want one.
- pyvpx 3y ago
  bird shit caking on a 20 year white toyota corolla has done zip to the paint surface. so, no. you are entirely incorrect. hope you get and enjoy your truck though
  - fuzzfactor 3y ago
    I used to wash my truck once a year, then I just ran out of time.
  - andrewmcwatters 3y ago
    Yeah because you have 20-year old white Toyota Corolla, you wouldn’t see it. It’s likely you barely have any remaining non-hazed clear coat to begin with. It’s still happening. You’re just oblivious. Ask someone who actually owns a new car with nice paint.
    - pyvpx 3y ago
      you know who owns new cars without nice paint? cybertruck buyers gl;hf
- d1sxeyes 3y ago
  Difficult to eat through something that isn’t there: > The stainless steel body panels have no translucent “clear coat” paint.
  - andrewmcwatters 3y ago
    The acidity of bird droppings causes deterioration in clear coatings _and_ corrosion. I’m not making a statement about clear coats that don’t exist on Cybertrucks.
tetris11 3y ago
Related Simpsons: https://frinkiac.com/caption/S10E15/310476 https://frinkiac.com/caption/S10E15/310476 Homer: OH, CANYONERO... Gil: ( chuckling ) GO AHEAD. DROOL ALL YOU WANT. YOU CAN'T HURT THAT FINISH. NOW, RAINWATER, THAT'LL STRIP IT RIGHT OFF...
mazingo 3y ago
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42 points by mikequinlan 3y ago

"Owners are finding the exposed stainless steel may be much more fragile than they expected."

Bottom text I'm imagining for sale ads a few years from now 'Cybertruck. Runs good. Lots of character. Must sign waiver of liability.'

IronWolve 3y ago

Pine tar ruins car roofs all the time, road tar on paint, etc. Comparing a ford f150 to a ford maverick, on the underbody and protection, the maverick is already rusting so quick compared due to lack of protection to keep the price down. I've always wondered why car reviews sites don't actually review stuff that matters more to longevity and use, rust protection, frame coating, exposed parts, skid plates, wheel wells (felt/plastic/etc), common costs and repair times for (quarter panels, common parts that fail, belts, hoses, etc), audio quality, window noise (acoustic glass vs normal), suspension, etc. Tesla cars have had major water and dirt issues collecting in its underbody, but its a car, so dirt and gravel roads really are bad on it.

CharlesW 3y ago
> Pine tar ruins car roofs all the time, road tar on paint, etc. The point is that this happens even though a typical car body is protected by an electrocoat, primer, basecoat, clearcoat, etc. The Cybertruck doesn't even have a clearcoat, which is insane.
- geoelectric 3y ago
  That was the exact thing that just went through my head reading this. “…they didn’t clearcoat it?!” Tesla is great at batteries and wheeled computers, but man, they have some serious blind spots when it comes to building vehicles. I wonder if you can get an aftermarket ceramic coat or similar protectant on it.
- RetroTechie 3y ago
  > The Cybertruck doesn't even have a clearcoat, which is insane. Why? Conventional car body is steel, which rusts easily. So it's (most likely) galvanized + protected by various layers of paint. If that paint is damaged (scratch, dent, whatever) the underlying steel will rust. Repair may be along the lines of "sand down, apply primer, apply color, apply clearcoat". Stainless steel is different. The base material itself doesn't corrode (as) easily. Similar to say, aluminium, titanium or even copper. Repair: sand down until scratch / ugly spot is gone, sand down with increasingly finer grit, finish with polishing material (wool or whatever), done. There is a catch: some conditions may corrode even stainless steel. A common culprit is salt(s). Especially repeated wetting / drying cycles where droplets of salt water concentrate, potentially causing so-called "pitting". Various grades of stainless have various degrees of resistance to this. According to this article: (thx Wikipedia!) https://www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-cybertruck-electric-pickup-bulletproof-stainless-steel-body/ https://www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-cybertruck-electric-pi... The Cybertruck uses 301 alloy stainless? Perhaps the thought was "if it's good enough for rockets, it's good enough for a car". But... exactly that may not be so! It's not hard to imagine road or environmental conditions that don't apply (significantly) to rockets: ocean breeze containing salty droplets, winter road conditions (including de-icing salts), small stones hitting a car's underside, etc etc. Also 1.4~3 mm. thickness is more easily compromised than whatever thickness a rocket's hull is. 304 stainless is common (and good enough for maaany applications). 301 is probably similar. But in eg. marine applications, 316 (or 316L) alloy is common. So maybe Tesla goofed (or penny-pinched?) on their choice of alloy? Or they didn't, and this is a non-issue blown out of proportion? Who knows. I wouldn't worry about it unless dipping-in-salty-water is regular pasttime.
  - Veedrac 3y ago
    > It's not hard to imagine road or environmental conditions that don't apply (significantly) to rockets: ocean breeze containing salty droplets This one is very much a staple of SpaceX's rockets.
  - StreetChief 3y ago
    What, if any, are the advantages of skipping a clear coat?

BenFranklin100 3y ago

I like it when automobile manufacturers push the design and technology envelope, like BMW did with Smart Car. I view the CyberTruck in a similar vein. But still, I’ll wait till version 2.0 with this one.

petre 3y ago
"Smart is a division of Daimler AG, the parent corporation of Mercedes-Benz." BMW owns the Mini brand, which is not really pushing the envelope that much. But I like what they tried with the i3.

andrewmcwatters 3y ago

Psst, you have to do this to normal cars too, or it eats through your clear coat. Plenty of stupid things about the Cybertruck if you want to be a hater. This isn’t one of them. Personally, I want one.

pyvpx 3y ago
bird shit caking on a 20 year white toyota corolla has done zip to the paint surface. so, no. you are entirely incorrect. hope you get and enjoy your truck though
- fuzzfactor 3y ago
  I used to wash my truck once a year, then I just ran out of time.
- andrewmcwatters 3y ago
  Yeah because you have 20-year old white Toyota Corolla, you wouldn’t see it. It’s likely you barely have any remaining non-hazed clear coat to begin with. It’s still happening. You’re just oblivious. Ask someone who actually owns a new car with nice paint.
  - pyvpx 3y ago
    you know who owns new cars without nice paint? cybertruck buyers gl;hf
d1sxeyes 3y ago
Difficult to eat through something that isn’t there: > The stainless steel body panels have no translucent “clear coat” paint.
- andrewmcwatters 3y ago
  The acidity of bird droppings causes deterioration in clear coatings _and_ corrosion. I’m not making a statement about clear coats that don’t exist on Cybertrucks.

tetris11 3y ago

Related Simpsons: https://frinkiac.com/caption/S10E15/310476 https://frinkiac.com/caption/S10E15/310476 Homer: OH, CANYONERO... Gil: ( chuckling ) GO AHEAD. DROOL ALL YOU WANT. YOU CAN'T HURT THAT FINISH. NOW, RAINWATER, THAT'LL STRIP IT RIGHT OFF...

mazingo 3y ago

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