I mean, I assume Ford puts those there to strengthen it, but geez, what a PITA those are ! Total water traps :-(

I'm sure this has been talked about before. But anyway, this morning I was thinking about going to the car wash, for a quick "touchless" dust job... Just a quick high pressure spray, followed by a soft water rinse.

{note: when I've done this with my car, a couple days after a regular soap and water wash, the fact that their is no rubbing on the car, means their is no static charge produced, causing my car to become a dust magnet.... and I swear my car stays dust free 3 times as long !}

But with those freaking water troughs on the roof of my F150, I don't think the soft water spray at the car wash puts out enough pressure to evacuate those.... So I can just see 10 gallons of hard water, and all the calicium carbonate therin, spilling all over the top of my bed cover, and down the sides of my cab, immediatly thereafter.....

Urgggg....

So how do you guys deal with this ???

Thanks,
Fish

 

I just climb into the bed and soak it up with a waffle weave microfiber towel and continue on. I to have wondered why, but they are there for some purpose or another and its not like it will change. I just have to live with it so doen't do me much good to think about it.

I hope it didn't come off as me raggin' on you or something like that. I was just thinking "out loud" if you will.

 

They're there to strengthen / stiffen the roof panel. Without them, you'd be surprised how weak your roof panel would be.

How do I deal with them? I use my leaf blower as the first part of my drying process. Actually, the roof is the least PITA area. My mirrors hold more water than anything but the ice cube trays in the front cowl.

 

05'... ragging ? Yours was a very friendly post compared to some I've seen on these forums :-) LOL
Seriously though, I have a fiberglass bedcover, so I can't stand "in my bed"... Guess I could stand "on it".... but then I'd be dealing with boot prints, instead of hard water spots :-)

Hey 2stroked, I don't have a leaf blower, but I bet that would work. Dang, I didn't even think about the "icecube trays" as you called them.

I'll probably get ragged on to admit this, but the few washes my F150 has had so far, were the $12 lazy man's type..... but the nice part of those is (besides not having to lift a finger) is that they have the high pressure jet blower, which not only emptys the troughs on the roof, but also the ice cube trays.

Think I'll just keep the sprayer pointed downward (at least with the regular hard spray water) and try to keep that water from getting on the roof.
Then rinse the whole thing with soft water.

Peace,
Fish

 

My 2000 Has these as well, i have always wondered what they were for.

I knew that it was not a roof rack...

 

Blow it away with the leaf blower. Thats the first part of my dry off, 2nd is blowing any water out the bed.

 

I usually just reach over and grab them with a towel



i think its easier then the bottom 1/3 of my truck

 

i usually use a dry towel or sponge to soak up the water. they are annoying. but i think the bed rail caps and mirrors are the worst. no matter how much i wipe away some water and walk away, there is a new line of water running down the side when i come back to it. very annoying.

 

2 things:

Pat-- that's a SWEET front LP thing you have going on... Definitely will remember that if I decide to remove my bracket or for future truck(s)...

Why didnt FMC do the kind of roof support on the tops of F250 PSDs? At least on the 2001 MY, they are raised rather than lowered... I think it looks better, too...

 

thanks, i actually made a bracket for it too (after that picture) I made it more of a curved design. Actually just pulled it back out, might come up with something new later.





when i bought the valence it didnt come with any license plate bracket, so i had to get creative

 

All the drips after drying drives me nuts too. One of the best tips I found here is to use the leaf blower. Get all the water out of the drip spots, and gets the water out of my recessed lugs.

 

We have it easy. You should see the ones on the roof of my E-350. Plus the molding around the top is a b!tch too.

 

I did like I mentioned... (remember, my truck was just washed yesterday morning, I just wanted to get the layer of light dust off of it, and keep it that way a little longer)

I just did a quick pressure spray, being careful not to get regular hard water on the roof of the truck, then did a generous soft water rinse (cost me $4)
I then took it out on the freeway, for about 2 miles at 70mph, for a quick blow dry. Pulled off at the next exit, parked, and dried any remaining water, mostly where the wind wouldn't blow it off... back window, tailgate, and all the annoying parts where water keeps streaming out of, sidemirrors, trim around front windows, etc.
And it came out great ! Sparkling, and no water spots anywhere :-) Best part is, since I barely rubbed a towel over it, I know from experience it will not attract dust nearly as quick as a wash, and a hand dry.

Peace,
Fish

 

I do the same procedure after it gets a little dirty or I dont have time for a full wash. I live a block away from the the freeway so I take it for a spin dry. I just use my own washer.

 

You can always bondo them up!