Good tip JDaddy. I always insure I get areas the touchless can't get so as to insure its clean every where...

 

A couple of points to follow up on:

wiping the door jambs and specifically the weather stripping is also a must in winter because if they are still wet and it freezes overnight you'll have fun trying to get your doors open before work the next morning. This used to happen to me all the time in my Daytona. I've heard that people put WD40 on the weather strips to prevent freezing but I've never done it. I believe an occasional wipedown with your favorite rubber/plastic cleaner (meguiars/vinylex/etc) should also do the trick, and keeps them looking sharp.

And to reiterate my previous post: check around for some different carwashes. Elitists such as myself would prefer a place where touchless means touchless. No brushes, no strips dragging across any part of the truck, and nobody wiping your truck off as you leave. Who knows what kind of towels they are using and how many dirt particles they've picked up from previous autos. Go to a place with an air-dryer and take along your own quality cotton WW towel to get any beads the blower missed. In my case, the bed rails collect water so I usually drive a couple of blocks to let the water run down and then dry them off.

 

I use the WD40 like you mentioned and it works great. In my 10 years back here I have never had a door stick on me...

 

Wher I live there are not many options for Car washes. The local one does seem adequate and has several garuantees like a rewash if it rains in 24 hours, or redo if you think it did not do a good job and lastlty a free one on your birthday. Yes it does have the strips trailing over the top but so far no problems. It does beat having to do it in the cold.

 

That’s what I like about the touchless I have to use at times. Nothing touches the truck. You pull into a stall and as doing so it has a powerful undercarriage wash. Once inside the stall the doors close. It has like a big wand that covers a little over half the truck that sweeps or travels from the right front of the truck to the left front of the truck.

It then travels from the left front to the rear of the truck, the from the right rear of the truck to the front again. It does this for the pre-soak twice, then the high power wash, then clearcoat protectant, then if you choose it will do the wax, then it has a final soft rinse (low pressure water).

After that it gets one hell of a blow job, it has 4 blowers about 20” – 25” in diameter that sit up on a rail which are approx. 1 – 1 ½’ above the top of the truck and it does a real nice job of getting all the water off.

I just like the fact that nothing every actually touches the truck itself. The undercarriage wash or blast does a real nice job of getting all the salt and road grime off the undercarriage. It still looks new under my truck, mostly because of the undercoating they do at the dealer. That is common here and I would imagine most states that see lots of snow which means salt on the roads.

The other real nice thing about this car wash is the gentleman that owns it is always there and keeps this place spotless. This car wash is like a cash cow. It is the same price as most the other car washes that look like they are 20 years old and neglected. On about any given day I have been there and use to drive by it there is approx. 20 cars there either waiting for the touchless stalls or to use the stalls themselves by hand.

It has 3 touchless stalls and 4 open stalls to wash by hand using the wand and/or brush. It cost me $9.00 for using the touchless.

 

01 XLT Sport-

When going through the dryer, do you ever notice the header inside the truck kind of push down (almost looks as if the roof is being pushed in around the sun visors?)

Mine does this on occasion and I'm not sure what's happening. I'm sure the roof isn't actually caving because there's no "popping" sound when it moves. I also don't see how the air could be getting in under the fabric or around the windshield as it stays sealed from the water.

My guess is that somehow a vacuum is being created that's causing the fabric to ripple on the inside, but I'm still not sure how it's occuring. Guess I'd feel better if someone else had this experience and could tell me what's going on.

-G

 

Yep, it happens ever time on mine as well. First time scared the chit out of me...

Dosen't seem to hurt anything. I have gone through that touchless at least 30 - 40 times now and the roof looks fine, paint looks fine, no bow to it at all...

 

That's a BIG relief. I didn't think anything was being harmed but it's always better to know someone else out there has had the same experience with no problems.

Thanks!

 

That's a BIG relief. I didn't think anything was being harmed but it's always better to know someone else out there has had the same experience with no problems.

Thanks!

 

A touchless car wash is nice but if you have a car wash where you can pluck a couple of dollars in and wash your truck yourself it is well worth it. This way you will be able to spray all the salt off in the fender wells. Just remember never to use the brush at these places, your paint job will thank you for it.

 

Very good point westbeach.

If at all possible, I'll simply utilize the hot water at a car wash and give the truck a good spray down (wheel wells etc)... I'll spend one round of quarters on filling up my own wash buckets... I'll wash it faster than you can say chopped salami, and then dump another round of quarters into it to rinse.

I'd still rather do it at home but, this winter-time method works like a charm for me.

RP

 

bad idea. WD40 has no lubricants in it. It is a solvent (hold a match to it when dispensing if you dont believe me)

Active ingredients are kerosene and propane.

It works by displacing and thinning existing lubricant. These solvents will break down the rubber on the seals.

Manufacturers actually have recommendations on what to use. In my 98 owners manual in the car wash / cleaning section Ford recommends spray silicone to keep seals from freezing in winter.

 

Thanks for the tip J-150, next time I have to do them, silicone it will be...

 

Great tip J-150... I'll definately keep that in mind.

I used to carry one of those 'lock de-icer' things (pocket sized aresol can)... know anything about those things as a deicer? Are they simply compressed glycol?

RP

 

whats wrong with using one of the soft cloth car washes instead of the touchless ones. can they damage your car? i went through a normal car wash, not the touchless ones the other day. after the wash i noticed a couple scratches on the rear side of my bed near the rear fender. i didnt really think the car wash did it, or did it? maybe i will stay away from them now. i never really thought they were to bad for your car. i always tell them not to use the scrub brushes at the begining of the wash, because they smack the crap out of my car when they use those.