With snowstorms nearly twice a week, my truck looks like a disaster; plastered with road salt and the suspension caked in sand. I'd like to wash it, but it's too cold to play in the water. I was wondering how a power washer would work on a pressure setting that wouldn't remove the paint with the road grime. I also see models that have detergent injection built into them and would appear to be the ultimate "touchless" car wash. Does anyone use one?

 

I have one that puts out 3500 PSI and it will remove the paint if you so desire. I use it all the time but I cut the pressure back some. Just be careful around decals, pinstriping, or anything stuck on to the sheet metal that you want to stay there. Hit that stuff head on and not at an angle. Learned that on my 4-wheelers. Blew all of the stickers off them cleaning them up. Didn't need them stinking stickers anyway.

 

I power wash mine usually 2 ro 3 times a month... Do to the wonderful road conditions here in chicago... <br>Leaving in the salt belt of America. I have not seen any problems yet.. i take it to the do it yourself wash.. blast the under carriage, frame rails... only problem i have sounds is the bed of the truck does not drain very well... <br><br>other than that... Cherry smelling soap all over the place and power wash it off...

 

Couple of questions here. Wick, do you actually have to touch the surface with a brush or anything, or will the surface come clean with water alone? Are talking about a gasoline engine powered washer or electric? I've heard the latter are inferior to combustion engine powered units.

 

[quote author=Commatoze link=board=10;threadid=9084;start=0#87320 date=1041526603]<br>Couple of questions here. Wick, do you actually have to touch the surface with a brush or anything, or will the surface come clean with water alone? Are talking about a gasoline engine powered washer or electric? I've heard the latter are inferior to combustion engine powered units.<br>[/quote]<br><br>You don't want to touch the surface with the nozzle and I use just plain water. The high pressure will knock off most of the big stuff but will normally leave just a film that needs to be cleaned with soft cloth and soap, lots of soap, to keep scratching down.<br><br>Get yourself a good gas powered unit, forget the electric stuff unless you have 480 volts at the house to power a good sized one. Mine is an 11 HP unit with and industrial Briggs engine. It will flat cut the wood when pressure washing the deck if you stop in one place with it cranked up. I also have a smaller unit that I bought at Sears. It is powered by a weed whipper engine and puts out about 800 pounds. The only thing is on it the hose is so short, you have to move it nearly every time you move. I use it on the mowers and under the hood and on my tractors and stuff like that.<br><br>Also, be very careful around the AC / radiator / trans cooler fins. That high pressure will flatten the fins right out and that is un-good.

 

[quote author=Commatoze link=board=10;threadid=9084;start=0#87320 date=1041526603]<br>Couple of questions here. Wick, do you actually have to touch the surface with a brush or anything, or will the surface come clean with water alone? Are talking about a gasoline engine powered washer or electric? I've heard the latter are inferior to combustion engine powered units.<br>[/quote]<br><br>If you keep a good coat of wax on it, and don't let bird crap or other junk set there too long, plain water will work pretty well most of the time.

 

I blast mine off with a pressure washer in the winter time and it works great. Keep the nozzle about a foot or so away from the truck and you'll be fine. I have a 3,600psi gas powered unit at home but it only injects soap at low pressure so I got to the quarter wash and drop about 3 bucks in and use the high pressure soap setting first, making sure to start with the underside of the truck and then go over the body. After I got her good and lathered up (the truck that is ) I take and rinse it all off and it usually looks pretty good. If I'm feeling real good I'll go home and pull it in the pole barn and hand wash it once I get back. But with the way the weather has been this year it's pretty much useless to get the truck to clean, cause the next day it's going to be dirty again. : :'(<br><br>DB

 

[quote author=Commatoze link=board=10;threadid=9084;start=0#87320 date=1041526603]<br>Couple of questions here. Wick, do you actually have to touch the surface with a brush or anything, or will the surface come clean with water alone? Are talking about a gasoline engine powered washer or electric? I've heard the latter are inferior to combustion engine powered units.<br>[/quote]<br><br>It is a do it your self wash station. The power is good. I have never had a problem getting the salt to come off and the paint has always stayed on. I usually high psi soap it then wash it with there wand there and then high psi spray it to get everything off.. <br>Or I will go through the Mobil Laser wash, there power heads do a real nice job. Depending on what color car u have. Mine is silver so water spots are heard to see. If u bought a black one I am sorry. <br>I prefer the manual wash stations though because the drive throughs gip u on the under carriage wash. <br>Remember u want to clean the truck not remove the paint. Electric is fine.

 

It has been established that some of these washers can take the sheet metal down to bare metal if you're not careful.<br><br>Does anyone have any experience with a particular detergent and/or wax when using their home power washer?

 

Good old Simple Green seems to work the best fot all-around cleaning for me. I tried some of the specialty washes for boats and cars and siding but just plain Simple Green seems to work the best.(plus it's alot cheaper) I buy it through work in 5gallon drums for about $30, and just put it in small gallon juggs and spray bottles for use around the house. 8)<br><br>DB

 

household detergents and degreasers are not a real good idea cause they strip all the wax off and leave the paint exposed ......<br><br>if you use a car wash specific soap it will not strip the wax away ....<br><br>Zip wax car wash soap is fairly cheap and available in 1 gallon jugs, it's always worked fine for me

 

Oops, I should have also said to wash the truck I buy Crystal Clear Car Wash to use in the pressure washer. The stuff is cheap at any discout store and works pretty good at cutting away the dirts and grime. In the summer I only hand wash the truck with Mequir's Gold Class This stuff is awesome if you have hard water, really helps reduce water spots. 8) <br><br>I only use a pressure washer when I need a quick cleanup and to get the road salts off. <br><br>DB