Who takes their truck through a car wash?

That's why I loved having a company car. Drive the company car like a rental, run it through the auto wash, bitch slap it around... who cares, just don't crash it. But hand wash the Tundra, and leave it in the garage for most of the week. Obligatory company car joke - What's the difference between a company car and a 4 wheel drive??? You can take the company car anywhere!

 

I just now bought this one. If the weather allows, I'll try it out this weekend and report back.

 

hey Tundra Dan.If you can find you a touchless car wash to go thru has revolving nozzles and good pre wash and wax and uses reverse osmosis so no hard water stains (got a friend in the car wash business) and goes around the car instead of going thru it when I can't get time to wash at home always see high end cars there because they don't want other cars dirt residue on their vehicle and just wipe her down after it gets blown off on last pull out. clay bar and detail and wax in or before spring and before winter! Hope that helps! smileytn1

 

I see most people using electric lower pressure, can you successfully use a larger gas (2800 psi) pressure washer with a cannon such as the MJJC with the correct orifice? Does larger pressure decrease foam?

 

I use one all the time. I see no evidence of paint swirling or any other damage. I do use a good spray wax/ceramic at least 8 times a year.

 

Yes you can. GPM is a larger determining factor as it pertains to the foam.

 

Touchless for a quick clean, hand wash 6-8 times a year depending on conditions

 

Thanks! I just got my truck and while my wife is doubting how long it will last I made the bold statement that I was going to take each/every other Saturday to wash all the family vehicles. While for years we’d use the local car wash I thought I’d try the foam cannon route. With that said I’m getting overwhelmed on the “correct/best” method. Obviously much of that is personal preference. Right now my approach is foam cannon with mirror finish touch less as the protection (not even sure it’s a true protection so someone please correct me if I’m wrong). Can I start this process with my truck only being a few weeks old (ie do I hold off on touchkess for certain period). Do I use touchless every week.

I still haven’t figured out a good product for wheels/tires or even interior. There are so many products and I’m struggling to differentiate them. Sams has a chemical guys bucket that appears good and I even see some Adam’s packages but for instance Adam’s has one product called interior detailed and one called total interior cleaner. I’m just striving for my car to stay in good shape consistently.

 

I hand wash and the lady & I will have washing date days.

 

Just looked up the Mirror Finish product. I'm not familiar with their lineup, but my guess is that the protection it leaves is more short term than long term. I'd prefer not to use a product like that as your base protection, but rather as a booster/sacrificial layer to help your base layer last longer. There are so many options for detailing products, it will drive you nuts. As an aside, here's how I see interior 'cleaners' vs interior 'detailers'.....cleaners are for more heavy duty cleaning tasks, detailers are more for basic wipe downs.

I'll shoot you a PM with a basic list of solid products for you to use.

 

thanks!!!

 

Me too. We have a good hand wash place in town that does a stellar job. Inside, outside, wheels and tires. It takes 20-30 minutes and well worth the cost (about $35.00). Otherwise I just do it myself, not really hard to do even at my age (74).

I NEVER use a drive-thru auto wash. The brushes will always scratch the paint.

Dan

 

It's been probably a year since I washed my truck. (No, seriously)
Quicksand was the best purchase ever!

 

I did with my Tacoma, but now that I paid $60k for a brand new tundra I just can't bring myself to do it yet.

I mainly use ONR in a pump sprayer and it does a really good job and is super quick.

 

I've always hand washed my vehicles. I started driving in 83?

until this year. We got very busy at work & my son is finishing his Masters and he will start the grind as a CPA.

so....Life is kinda in the way.

I'd rather take the boat out than wash the truck. it happens.

so...it's the car wash for me now.

these new car wash joints are pretty nice. they do a decent job.

I'll still hand wash & vacuum every blue moon.

I wax the cars every memorial day. Nu-Finish for the win.

 

MY24, quick wash, chemical/mechanical decon, then a quick polish with a rotary and red pad. Ceramic coating.

for 5 months I use an auto car wash. You can chooses touch less or “hybrid” which uses their soft touch brushes. Paint is still in fantastic condition.

I mainly wanted an undercarriage wash to remove salts. I have gone at least once a week. Sometimes twice a week.

I still plan to hand wash twice a year, spring and fall. Not so much cause I want to wash, but rather to maintain my paint by chemical and mechanical decontamination and to apply a water spot remover to freshen up (de clog) the coating. If the paint is feeling rough I will give it a quick “wash, clay, and wax”.

but usually twice a year to freshen it up is enough.

also planning,to,give the undercarriage and inside the frame a nice salt remover/water flush.

I used to really enjoy hand washing but as I get older it’s too much. I already hand wash my wife’s rav. It’s smaller, and easier/faster than the tundra.

 

I have a 23 TRD Pro... automatic car wash every week. No issues. no swirls... and if there are swirls.... was job will get them out.

 

The only way you won't see swirls if you're using brushes is if you don't look or you have white or light grey paint. Also the only way you can get rid of swirls is by using a polisher and you're limited on how many times you can polish a vehicle these days.

 

please


Whatever you do

don’t look at mine!

 

Its a truck.. and no swirls.... but if you look closely I bet you can see swirls in anything... so keep it in the garage and don't drive it.

 

I take my truck thru the auto car wash 4 to 5 times a month or more to get the mud, road grime, or dust off. The car wash is on my way home & it takes 4 minutes. It’s never going to be in a beauty pageant so I don’t stress about parking lot door dings or scratches.

 

I do all the time. Having having a decent, waterproof tonneau cover helps a lot.