i have a black 04 Nissan titan on 24s and I've been thinking about going through an automatic car wash , but I'm kind of scared to because i don't want it to scratch my truck or my rims. any insight would be great. thanks guys.:cheers:
titan-t10
#1 Automatic car washes are seldom maintained properly, i.e. changing out the "touchless strips"... They get crud embedded in them and then act like sandpaper on your paint. Even the "good" ones that change them once a month... After 2 or 3 washes, there's crap stuck in them, and I don't care what anyone says....
#2 They miss a LOT of spots on this truck.
#3 The dryer rag dudes then spread the "unwashed grit" around while attempting to do a poor job not drying your whole vehicle.
#4 The Titan is too tall and the CC cab is too long. There is NO ONE ON EARTH that can reach the whole thing to dry it without a stepladder and moving it 2 or 3 times.
#5 The rims will suffer if you have aftermarket wheels - they will not even get close to clean at the least and can get scuffed by the rails at the worst.
#6 I love my truck too much to let someone who could not care any less about it wash it. Think about it... Is that an upward career move for those guys? They don't give a **** about what YOU own... never will...
Nice sunny morning... tunes playing... cleaning her up right and having a nice cold one or two in the process... It don't get any better than that... Just do it! :cheers:
#2 They miss a LOT of spots on this truck.
#3 The dryer rag dudes then spread the "unwashed grit" around while attempting to do a poor job not drying your whole vehicle.
#4 The Titan is too tall and the CC cab is too long. There is NO ONE ON EARTH that can reach the whole thing to dry it without a stepladder and moving it 2 or 3 times.
#5 The rims will suffer if you have aftermarket wheels - they will not even get close to clean at the least and can get scuffed by the rails at the worst.
#6 I love my truck too much to let someone who could not care any less about it wash it. Think about it... Is that an upward career move for those guys? They don't give a **** about what YOU own... never will...
Nice sunny morning... tunes playing... cleaning her up right and having a nice cold one or two in the process... It don't get any better than that... Just do it! :cheers:
I'll only take my truck to a truely touch-less automatic car wash, it actually works really well. Definitely avoid any of the ones that have bristles, especially with a black vehicle. Unless you like swirls. 
Yup, if you can find a good touchless one they work good. You won't get it as clean as a you can at home, but in the winter it makes it easier.
Buy a second wand and have it shortened to a pistolgrip for tight places...Replace the normal tip with a fantip....Get in a rainsuit with a mask and get on your back....dig in
Excellent advice from skyboi. I'd like to add some comments and a caution or two.
Do set vehicle on jack-stands if you need the clearance to work and really need to wash undercarriage well. No problem with that. However, use only a garden hose if possible. if not, at least be aware of the following...
SAFETY: Pressure washers have very long wands as a safety feature, not just convenience. Use of a nozzle, directly in the gun is actually violation of industry standard practices. Sometimes, it is the only practical method though. The length helps prevent the gun from turning around on you and causing a water puncture wound. They can be serious, or even deadly. This type of wound was virtually unknown until when diesel fuel injection was invented, and now more common with pressure washers. Ours at work is 3,500 psi at 4 GPM. Consider even the 2,000 psi home owner versions can rip off your fingers without mercy. You are trying something in close quarters, more so than just washing off the outside at a comfortable distance, so just use a bit of extra caution. Protect your eyes with goggles. (skyboi is right on!)
CORROSION: Secondly, when you do spray underneath, be careful of any electrical connections that would normally not be exposed to pressure washing, putting water into them and causing corrosion later on. Steam Cleaning is notorious for this. You are fairly safe worth just pressure, but look around first, that's all.
Do set vehicle on jack-stands if you need the clearance to work and really need to wash undercarriage well. No problem with that. However, use only a garden hose if possible. if not, at least be aware of the following...
SAFETY: Pressure washers have very long wands as a safety feature, not just convenience. Use of a nozzle, directly in the gun is actually violation of industry standard practices. Sometimes, it is the only practical method though. The length helps prevent the gun from turning around on you and causing a water puncture wound. They can be serious, or even deadly. This type of wound was virtually unknown until when diesel fuel injection was invented, and now more common with pressure washers. Ours at work is 3,500 psi at 4 GPM. Consider even the 2,000 psi home owner versions can rip off your fingers without mercy. You are trying something in close quarters, more so than just washing off the outside at a comfortable distance, so just use a bit of extra caution. Protect your eyes with goggles. (skyboi is right on!)
CORROSION: Secondly, when you do spray underneath, be careful of any electrical connections that would normally not be exposed to pressure washing, putting water into them and causing corrosion later on. Steam Cleaning is notorious for this. You are fairly safe worth just pressure, but look around first, that's all.
Personally I feel automatic car washes are a waste because they never really get my truck as clean as I could by hand. When you're pressed for time they're good though. You should be fine against scratches because the car washes are brushless and you could also try and find one of those high pressure touchless car washes. I have to use touchless because I have a ladder rack on the back of my truck that gets all messed up with the mops hitting it.
There is a key element that all of you missed in regards to the auto wash..... The WATER itself
Even though it gets filtered for heavy particles...It is full of contamination that is not good for glass, aluminum and plastic lenses.
THink about what the 200 vehicles before you put into that water. Oil, gas, deisel, tireshine, engine degreaser, dog crap, fish guts, deer blood, spilled chemicals.
Seperate...some of these are no big deals...but in combination they create new harmful compounds.
Just some food for thought.....
Even though it gets filtered for heavy particles...It is full of contamination that is not good for glass, aluminum and plastic lenses.
THink about what the 200 vehicles before you put into that water. Oil, gas, deisel, tireshine, engine degreaser, dog crap, fish guts, deer blood, spilled chemicals.
Seperate...some of these are no big deals...but in combination they create new harmful compounds.
Just some food for thought.....
The first time swirls ever showed up on my old 04 Dakota was when I took it through an automatic car wash. Probably only did it 1-2 more times in 5 years. If the dirty spinning brushes and those black rubber strips hanging from the ceiling grinding away at your vehicle's paint and rubbing leftover dirt into it don't scare you, the little Mexican guy at the front scrubbing all those vehicles down with a big hard bristle broom before they go in should. And I have watched, most of them don't just use it for the rims.
In order of preference:
Hand wash
Paying someone to hand wash under my supervision
Touchless automated, followed by hand drying as those blowers don't normally get all the water off.
In order of preference:
Hand wash
Paying someone to hand wash under my supervision
Touchless automated, followed by hand drying as those blowers don't normally get all the water off.
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