Winter Car Care: What I Do. (Adam from Adam's Polish)
What is the best way to prepare your vehicle for winter? Why bother? Because driving your vehicle in the rain, snow, and mud certainly takes its toll on your finish... less washing, more dirt, salted roads, etc.
Here is what I do to prepare our vehicles for winter:
Apply a heavy coat of our Invisible Undercarriage Spray to the wheel wells. (This helps prevent corrosion from the wet weather and salted roads. Also, it keeps your wheel wells easy to clean.)
Apply an extra thick coat of VRT to your plastic and rubber, especially in the door jambs. This keeps them from freezing shut.
Machine apply a coat of our polymer sealant, the Machine SuperWax, or, 2 coats of our Americana Premium Paste Wax. (Important to keep a sealant or wax on vehicles that experiences winter driving, as it makes them easier to clean. Also, a slick, protected finish will minimize scratching when the inevitable touch happens, when the vehicle is super dirty.)
Apply Brilliant Spray Glaze to the windows, inside and out. Let haze for 30 minutes, then remove. (Keeps the glass from fogging, and keeps the glass sealed, so water beads, and runs off the windscreen.)
Thoroughly clean the interior, and apply a heavy coat of Leather & Interior Dressing to the door panels, dash, and any leather upholstery. (Muddy, dirty winters take a toll on the interior, and dressing before it gets nasty makes it easy to clean later!)
Great list. Let me see if I can add a few more. In addition to your list, I:
- Spray WD-40 in all lock cylinders
- Apply White Lithium Grease spray to all hinges and latches. (This includes doors, hood, etc.)
- Spray WD-40 into my 7-pin and 4 pin trailer connectors, then follow it up shortly with battery terminal spray in the 7-pin. I fill the holes in my 4-pin trailer connection with Dielectric Grease
- Clean and wax (Zaino actually) all door, hood and tailgate jambs
Then of course there's the regular stuff like:
- Check the pressure in all tires - including the spare
- Change over to Rain-X windshield washer fluid
- Put new batteries in flashlights
- Check flares
- Check tow chain and tow straps
Getting the frame and body panels oiled helps A LOT also. I get it done every year in October before it gets too cold. Matter of fact it's goin in on the 31st to get done.
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96 F150 351 Windsor 160,000 miles. K&N Drop In, FlowMaster 40, Clear Head Lights and Tails, 31" General Grabbers, Remote Start, Sirius Satellite Radio.
Good tips. How about washing it by hand, or dare to say take it throught the car wash, or the jet spray only car wash???
I can only offer my personal opinion here. I don't have a heated garage, but as long as it's above about 25 degrees, I can use it to wash my car or truck. Before I do that though, I go to the local "quarter car wash" and use the high pressure wand on "rinse" only to knock the major stuff off. Then I drive home and use abut 4 buckets of luke warm water with Optimum No Rinse car wash to get the rest off and dry with microfiber towels doing a couple of panels at a time. About twice a winter I go to a heated garage and do a full detail. I generally use Zaino topped with Collonite 845 for the winter because it seems to last longer.
Don't forget to wash/rinse your exhaust pipes if you have a custom set-up. Keeps them looking new
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John
Thanks Watson91 at S-FX
PTM Century Tonneau
Remote Start 14" si/do Magnaflow 45'd behind rear tires
4" x 18" SS Tips
Roush Grille
Billet Bumper Grille
PTM Mirror caps
DVW Intake w/ K&N drop in
Quote:
Originally Posted by 05RedFX4
Best of luck to you, and hopefully you don't have the same attitude when you go into the dealer to get your trans fixed, because if you do your gonna need a big jar of vaseline cause they are gonna stick it to you, HARD
The self serve washes in my area use heated water. I'm sure all others in winter climates are the same. Its a good idea to use these to clean the under carriage of the vehicle no matter how you wash during winter. it keeps the salt and grime from accumulating in that area.
On my truck I apply a good wax (in my case Meg's #16) to the rear wheel wells and I don't remove it. This can be done in other metal areas as well that are mostly hidden.
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2006 F150 FX4
Luxury Package
20" Rims
3.73 Limited Slip Axle
Audiophile 6 CD Sound System
Heated Leather Trim chairs
XM Radio
Wax every little bit of paint & metals, including wheel wells, door jams ( especially lower jams that you never see ), frame, a-arms, crossmembers, coils, nuts & bolts visible, keep trim protectant on and re-apply every few weeks when you wash, and spray it down & under after every highway trip, or until its white.
Thanks Watson91 at S-FX
PTM Century Tonneau
Remote Start 14" si/do Magnaflow 45'd behind rear tires
4" x 18" SS Tips
Roush Grille
Billet Bumper Grille
PTM Mirror caps
DVW Intake w/ K&N drop in
Quote:
Originally Posted by 05RedFX4
Best of luck to you, and hopefully you don't have the same attitude when you go into the dealer to get your trans fixed, because if you do your gonna need a big jar of vaseline cause they are gonna stick it to you, HARD
i tried that with my wheels, waxing them and all and they still got messed up with the salt roads. thats why this year i just bought a diff pair of wheels that i dont mind messing up for the winter. my 22's are sitting in the garage nice and safe...lol
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