Today, the majority of wheelchair vans use wheelchair tie-down systems with aluminum tracks or mounts on the floor. Our VCI Mobility Service Technicians have been finding that the new de-icing products used on roads/highways this past winter are now causing significant corrosion on those aluminum wheelchair tie-down tracks and brackets.
Our Service Technicians are seeing corrosion of the bolts and bolt holes that secure the wheelchair tie-down tracks to the floor of customers’ wheelchair vans. The majority of this corrosion occurs at the entry points, where you are most likely to step on the track as you enter from the ground. The corrosion seems to move quickly, and our concern is that it will eventually erode to the point that it would not be able to withstand the impact of a crash. It addition, the corrosion affecting the remainder of the track makes properly inserting wheelchair tie-down clips into the track difficult.
So, What Is the Solution?
So, even though winter is over, if you have not cleaned your tracks out, the corrosives are still there and working. A 2-minute cleaning job with a little WD-40 and a toothbrush will do the trick. Just spray a little bit of WD-40 on the track, scrub it around, and wipe it with a clean rag. By doing this, you will remove the corrosive compounds and apply a protective layer on to the track.
If you have any questions or need more information, please feel free to contact us.