In article PcqdnbxO4tImoD_FnZ2dnUU7-
, lcb11211@swbelldotnet
says...

On 2/13/2017 10:14 AM, J. Clarke wrote:
In article ,
says...

On 2/12/2017 1:27 PM, J. Clarke wrote:
GM recalled my truck for the tailgate straps that could (but didn't)
rust. No problem with ABS brake failure, or brake lines rusting out,
but sure wouldn't want tailgate to drop 6 inches. How is it I have
stainless steel exhaust but break lines on every GM product I've owned
have rusted out?

Contrary to popular belief, stainless steel
corrodes under the right circumstances. If you
want it to last you have to keep it pretty
clean.

Not true with my exhaust system. The stainless steel exhaust has never
once been cleaned and it is now 16+ years old, and in the rust belt.
Surely GM could have used the same stuff in the brake lines, which is
magnitudes more important than the exhaust system as far as safety goes.

So you never go through a car wash?

In the south a good many car washes do not hit the bottom of the
vehicle, only the wheels/wheel wells and the body.

In the south corrosion from road salt is not an
issue. Driving on the beach on the other hand .
.. .

Town I grew up in (north Florida)had a couple of
pulp mills. The pulp mills provided a
drivethrough rinsedown as a courtesy to
employees to clean the fly ash off their cars.
The rinsedown hit the underside. Everybody who
knew about it went over to the pulp mill and ran
through the rinsedown after driving on the beach
(it was a different world then--security was a
lot less stringent).



But the old exhaust systems rusted from within. Lot's of nasty crap
coming from inside the exhaust including condensation that mixes to form
some concoction. Remember the sulfur smell that was very common with GM
vehicles equipped with catalytic converters in the 70's? These systems
rusted out quickly and then the stainless steel exhaust systems began
showing up and the problem has virtually gone away down here.
The old steel exhaust systems looked fine on the outside but with just a
little pressure with a pair of channel locks and you could easily crush
and put a hole in the pipe.