hand wash or nothing.

 

Hand wash all year long (weather permitting), usually once a week, or once every two weeks if I'm too busy.

During the winter months, and especially after the last salting of the roads, I take it to a DIY pressure washer place. After the pressure wash (especially the underside of the truck!), I pull it around back into one of the detail bays (for vacuuming, etc.) and spray detail + microfiber cloth to dry. The spray detailer lifts the leftover dirt, and the MF dries it well.

I try to wax 3 to 5 times during the warmer months.

-John

 

hand wash at the car wash, forget doing it yourself it takes too damn long

 

Unless the car wash is using clean mitts, water and towels on every single vehicle, this could be the same as running it through a tunnel with brushes.

 

Same here......This time of year in my area the pollen, and those damnable canker worms ensure your trunk won't be clean for one day. So, the touchless helps until the end of May. Then it's time for an all day truck wash, and wax.

 

I might run mine through whatever automatic car wash is closests once a month or two.

 

Hand wash with two bucket method using Optimum No-Rinse. I haven't used a hose to wash a vehicle in years. Winter time I'll run in through the touchless automatics. Apply sealant at least two or three times yearly.

 

I go to the self wash to get the frame and inside the fenders. I use the brush to clean the inside fenders and tires....then I hit the brushless auto. Around here, while the brushless automatic is going, they have dudes scrub and I let em know not to use it. I drive down the highway for a bit to air dry and then get a spray detailer with micro fiber towels after putting on some tire shine on the tires and inside front fenders. I hit the undercarriage with black spray paint now and then to keep it clean. Ill do the cleaner, polish, wax every 3 months or so.

 

Exactly.

 

The touchless car-washers are BS, you not going to power off the dirt.
I hand wash when I can, Car wash when I have too.
I don't own a show truck.

 

I only hand wash mine. Between wheels /tires /wheel wells/paint and dryinging , it's only 3 hours a week.

 

I have a place right down the road that hand washes your car/truck with a team of 3-5 guys in a heated garage! They use compressed air & chamois to dry. I use them exclusively during the cold winter months on both my truck & Crown Victoria!

 

Automatic Touch-less weekly or more in the winter. If it gets above 40 I hand wash it. The automatic ones do suck, but I hate cold weather and I just accept that my truck will look like crap occasionally.

March - November - Hand wash 2 to 3 times a month with the two bucket method. Once a quarter I use my pressure washer (Electric, good basic Campbell Hausfeld model 1800 PSI) on the undercarriage, wheels, tires, and then body with it dialed way down and then follow with a hand wash. I use a majority of Megiuar's products and have had pretty good luck with them. I have also used some Surf City Garage products and had some success. I haven't really felt the need to go buying extremely expensive stuff although I know it is better based on what I have read on here and discussed with my buddies who use it.

My truck is also a garage queen now that hasn't moved more than 5 miles in the past week...

 

Here's a https://www.f150online.com/forums/ca...ml#post5006955. Hope it helps.

 

I drive through the rain to wash mine off!

I have a customer in SE Iowa that I visit weekly. They have a huge welding/fab shop, and I've noticed I'm getting tiny rust spots all over the back half of my truck. After some investigating, I think we've determined it is due to my truck sitting outside of the big overhead doors, and metal dust is settling on the paint and oxidizing. All of their shop trucks are doing the same thing. That's why I bought silver, to hide the little paint issues that crop up.

Speaking of crop, I also got splattered by a crop duster yesterday. Talk about an oily mess. It smears all over the paint and won't come off very easy. I'll leave it on until this weekend, then run it through a car wash.

This is fun, its like telling scary paint stories around a campfire. =)