# Car Question...ice and snow buildup in wheel wells



## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

I have an '04 Nissan Altima that seems to have a poor design feature and gathers a lot of ice and snow buildup in all 4 wheel wells. It gets to the point that there is minimum clearance between the body of the car and the tires. Hence, going over any significant bumps causes the body of the car and the tires to impact on each other as there is no opportunity for the shocks/springs to dampen the bumps. 

I was considering going to the DIY carwash and washing out the ice and snow. I called the service manager at the dealership where I have the car serviced and he advised me against that approach as he was concerned that the water would freeze and could cause potential problems. I am not sure that his concern "holds water" (pun is intended) as the layer of ice would be very thin and would be no different than driving through puddles in the winter...IMHO 

I decided to to try and carefully remove it with a large (~18") screw driver and that worked quite well ...about 90% success.

Do any of have the same problem and what do you do about it? 

Thanks

Cheers

Dave


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## Bubb (Jan 16, 2008)

Assuming you have winter tires installed,I would say it's more a result of the tire's design (to keep the tread clear) and not so much a design fault of the car .
I have cleared out the build-up in a car wash before ,no issues
I will say just be sure after you clean the wheel wells that you do several brake checks just to make sure they haven't froze up.
I've had trouble after driving through some deep water ice fishing with frozen brakes .The friction does fix it quickly though .


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Yes, go wash it out. Any amount of water that will turn to ice in the wheel wells will be negligible.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Thanks for the replies and advice (re: brakes). Much appreciated.

Interesting/informative about the tires being the probable source of the problem and not the design of the car itself.

Cheers

Dave


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

The only major piece of advice that I can give is: after washing your car and or spraying down your wheelwells, make sure you ride your brakes for a little bit - especially if it's really cold out. Doing so will warm up your brake pads and rotors and get rid of that sheet of ice between them.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

It's an 04?

Kick the crud off every time you see it.

People have been doing so since there have been cars.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I use the boot-heel method that the milkman uses, also. Is there anything one might coat the wheel wells with to prevent stuff sticking to them? Do wheel-well heaters exist?


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## Option1 (May 26, 2012)

I use the boot-heel method on my '03 Altima (PoS model), but would add that you can expect at least one of the little plastic mudflap type things to then become dislodged/loose. Or so I discovered. :sEm_oops:

Neil


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Sigh...... been kicking for months now. It's been awful up north....dirty dirty winter. I have had to haul a trailer around for part of the winter so I have had to deal with a trailer that is a mess as well.....( not to mention wiring hassles because of the klingon's ) ....


What was the name that CBC came up with for the snow crap ?


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Milkman said:


> It's an 04?
> 
> Kick the crud off every time you see it.
> 
> People have been doing so since there have been cars.


I tried that....several times

However, the ice and snow gets packed in *all around the wheel well.*

If you can successfully kick this stuff out, I'll buy you a new pair of winter boots!

Cheers

Dave

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mhammer said:


> I use the boot-heel method that the milkman uses, also. *Is there anything one might coat the wheel wells with to prevent stuff sticking to them?* Do wheel-well heaters exist?


I read on some websites that using WD-40 will help prevent the snow/ice from sticking.

I might try it...as an experiment.

Cheers

Dave


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

greco said:


> I tried that....several times
> 
> However, the ice and snow gets packed in *all around the wheel well.*
> 
> ...


3

CAUTION: WD40 can attack and swell some rubber

I suggest silicone spray - thats what I use on my door seals. Maybe armour all.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

It may be the tires or maybe the struts are worn. I had the same year of Altima and don't remember having the same problem. 

I now drive a 2013 Altima V6 and it's also normal.

As others have said though, it's a dirty winter. I kicked the crud off at least three times today and that's just the drive to and from the office and out for lunch.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Park in an underground garage every now and then, so the ice will thaw and drop off.
maybe there's one at your local mall?


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## james on bass (Feb 4, 2006)

Had my wife's car today and I could not get the rear fenders clear, even after numerous kicks. Was doing an oil change / tire rotation later in the day and a two foot crowbar managed to dislodge the build-up just fine.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

We have an '08 Altima with the same problem. Issue seems to be not having enough clearance between the tires and the wheelwells. We just spray 'em out weekly at the local spray carwash joint.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I guess the roads are so shitty and rough this time of year it's hard to tell whether it's build up in the wheel wells or just the ruts.

Maybe it's happening to me and I haven't noticed.

Actually though, I have three company cars at my disposal. One is a Honda Pilot (full sized SUV), and there's an Accord Crosstour (AWD).

The Altima is better than either of the other two in the snow IMO. The SUV and Crosstour sit for most of the winter.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

mhammer said:


> I use the boot-heel method that the milkman uses, also. Is there anything one might coat the wheel wells with to prevent stuff sticking to them? Do wheel-well heaters exist?


Some cheap cooking spray in the wheel wells works, thar's what I use. On the car and the truck...it lasts a few days so has to bw applied often. Works on door and trunk seals too.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

gtone said:


> We have an '08 Altima with the same problem. Issue seems to be not having enough clearance between the tires and the wheelwells. We just spray 'em out weekly at the local spray carwash joint.


Thanks very much for all the responses.

I have owned this car for several years (bought it used) and this same problem has happened in some of the past winters. 

I am now looking at every Altima I see in parking lots...LOL

Cheers

Dave


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

You could move to Florida.:smiley-faces-75:


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Some people around here use Pam cooking spray to keep snow/ice from sticking to the blades of their snow blowers. You could try that.


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## TA462 (Oct 30, 2012)

mrmatt1972 said:


> Some people around here use Pam cooking spray to keep snow/ice from sticking to the blades of their snow blowers. You could try that.


As well as satellite dishes.

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TWRC said:


> The only major piece of advice that I can give is: after washing your car and or spraying down your wheelwells, make sure you ride your brakes for a little bit - especially if it's really cold out. Doing so will warm up your brake pads and rotors and get rid of that sheet of ice between them.


Never ever ride your brakes. All that will do is warp your rotors. BAD advice. Your brakes will heat up enough just by driving the vehicle as you would normally.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Not bad advice but not necessary. The ice is usually gone within 10 ft or so. As for warping the rotors, that takes almost constant riding of the brakes. And, according to some of the ads, some cars now pulse the brakes when moisture is sensed.


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## TA462 (Oct 30, 2012)

Electraglide said:


> Not bad advice but not necessary. The ice is usually gone within 10 ft or so. As for warping the rotors, that takes almost constant riding of the brakes. And, according to some of the ads, some cars now pulse the brakes when moisture is sensed.


Last time I looked we were talking about a '04 Nissan Altima. Like I said, BAD advice.


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

interesting thread...I have an 04 toyota matrix & there's lots of clearance, luckily, I can kick that crud out pretty easily

my front disc brakes often get chunks of ice in them though, I can hear it & feel the pedal kick back as it gets ground down...kind of freaky when you're trying to stop


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

You would think that somebody would have come up with teflon-coated wheel-well liners by now.

Maybe there's a new industry for Ontario. For the time being, though, I like the idea of some sort of oil-based coating to prevent sticking. The car's been in the garage for a couple days, now. Maybe I'll give the wells a shpritz tonight and see if that helps.

Don't know if anyone here remembers, but when the downtown elevated highway in Montreal, that connects the Decarie Expressway with the Bonaventure Expressway, was first built and opened, it had this fabulous hood-level continuous fluorescent lighting, that was one long ribbon-o'-light. It seemed like a great idea, given the fact that the route was above the level of other sources of street light. Of course, the very first snowfall that hit the city saw the expressway go pitch black because of all the dirty snow kicked up by the cars that coated the lighting. They eventually had to remove it all and install conventional overhead lamp-posts. I guess whoever designed the original didn't live where they had snow.


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## deadear (Nov 24, 2011)

Kick them off before they freeze. Sometimes get out the snow brush and knock them out before they freeze. I did make the mistake of giving a froozen one the boot on the rocker panel and a big hunk of rust came with it.


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