How do you wash your vehicle?

[LaHabanaDaydreamin]

I’ve got a 100 series with a roof top tent. I usually go to the coin-operated car wash but can rarely get my truck as clean as I’d like. I spend a lot of time trying to clean off the roof under the tent but since I can’t get in there to dry it, it puts dirty streaks down the side of my vehicle as soon as I drive away.

Are detail shops willing to do a good wash/wax on your overland vehicle? I feel like I need to do that once or twice a year given the place I go and the stuff that accumulated on my truck.

 

[The other Sean]

Winter time it's the car wash at the gas station. Summer time, it's bucket wash in the driveway. Foam cannon soak if it is after a trip and it's extra muddy. Air nozzle and compressed air to blow out all the crevises that hold drip water.

 

[greydog]

Bucket with car wash soap and a big soft sponge and if it's really dirty I drag out the power washer to get all of the crud off the underneath. It's just the water here is so hard and full of minerals you have almost no time to dry it off before the spots show up even this time year.

 

[Steve]

Mine was clean when I bought it 30 months ago.

(I never washed my '88 Ranger 4X4 in the 11 year I had it, nor the F150 after the first couple months. WRX got washed the first year or two of the 14 years I had it, too.)

That's what rain is for! :)

 

[Ben Cleveland]

I like the coin car washes. If I’ve been one on a trip where it got really dirty, I’ll spend some time with a brush, degreased and a garden hose at my house first. I’ll get the worst of the mud and dirt off underneath then go to the car wash.

I have a full roof rack and my RTT Is on almost all the time as well. I’ve found high pressure rinse, followed by high pressure soap on the roof is the best method. Lots of volume of water gets it clean.

 

[GabrielSyler]

Step ladder, high pressure foam gun and then rinse with a 0- 90degree angle head works for me. The key is to get high so it's easier to control the lance.

 

[greydog]

Rain? what is this rain oh wait now I remember been so long I forgot that water does fall from the sky every now and then.

 

[Plasmajab]

Wash? Nah, the dirt does a better job of protecting the paint from tree pinstriping anyway.

In all seriousness, my town hasnt figured out how to use the plow on the front and wing on the side yet. So all they do is drive around and apply so much salt on the roads it makes EVE online and League of Legends look like a spice rack.

So every sunday I take her into work and give her a good rinse with a pressure washer.

 

[Fozzy325]

Jet spray at the coin place. During the winter and spring when we have a dump of snow i wait until the slush has frozen or the roads are dry then I take it to a place that does under vehicle spraying. I will do 4 passes then spray the rest of the vehicle to get rid of the chemicals or salt.

good Q&A article for Alberta winter maintenance.

 

[Morris Yarnell]

I find that I cannot get all the mud/dirt off and there is always a layer of dirt under it. Hardly rains enough to clean it. coin wash does the most but with a RR and a glass top it is never really clean. Can't seem to get it dry under the RR. After a few tries over the years I just gave up.
A lawn sprinkler under the vehicle after a particular dirty or muddy trip is easiest.

From other website. Second one down talks about washers.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/general-chat/267362-cheap-tools-work-well-what-have-you-got.html?s=c796e530a3446767b407125425e7355c

 

[Cpol]

Pressure washer and denatured alcohol for the pristine look

 

[Fozzy325]

As a young teenager I worked in a pub as a glass collector & washer, cellarman, odds and ends jobs for the pub. One day my boss bought loads of used pans for the kitchen, He brought in an industrial pressure washer so i could clean the pans up to new. One of the locals came and said he would give me 10 pounds to clean his car and engine pay with the pressure washer. Well when the car dried i didn't realise i pealed all the varnish off of the paintwork of the car..
oops

 

[Boucher]

I dont understand the question

 

[Cpol]

As a young teenager I worked in a pub as a glass collector & washer, cellarman, odds and ends jobs for the pub. One day my boss bought loads of used pans for the kitchen, He brought in an industrial pressure washer so i could clean the pans up to new. One of the locals came and said he would give me 10 pounds to clean his car and engine pay with the pressure washer. Well when the car dried i didn't realise i pealed all the varnish off of the paintwork of the car..
oops

Don’t use the highest pressure connection use the medium and to remove any build up use the denature alcohol

 

[Fozzy325]

Don’t use the highest pressure connection use the medium and to remove any build up use the denature alcohol

Yea I didn’t know that at 14

 

[chuckoverland]

4 parts unicorn tears 1 part chuprecabra urine. 200% koala fur sham cloth.

 

[Rexplorer]

At the landfill there is a under carraige pressure washer. I always find an excuse to go to the dump after getting muddy.

 

[Smileyshaun]

with a steel wool and Ajax for that metal fully clean

 

[sir.campalot]

I remove my RTT after every trip and pay $25/mo for unlimited car washes on my 80-series with a full length rack. At 7' tall, it barely clears the car wash equipment.

 

[Ben Cleveland]

I've seen too many stories about stuff getting ripped off a vehicle in those pull through car washes. I've had an antennae ripped off before. When I got my full length roof rack, I stopped going into them. When you look at the potential cost of an accident with that equipment, the small amount of time saved just isn't worth it. Especially with a snorkel now, pull through car washes are on the list of places my rig will never go again.

Every time my wife drives the rig (not very often), I remind her:

Don't pull through anywhere with under 7' clearance
No parking garages
No pull through car washes