Drive-Through Car Wash Roll Call

All over Phoenix area...vac and air-hose to get into the nitty gritty places - in fact free places outnumber pay-places. You are referring to car cleaning right?

 

Guess I should have put a smiley face emoji in there

Sorry just couldn't help myself

 

I have some experience and advice with this.

I'm currently a freshman in college and when I was at high school I worked at a high end car wash (I still work there, but not really). The equipment we use is the same equipment you'll find at any Bentley dealership. We do daily inspections and weekly maintenance on all the equipment inside of the wash. There is also technology that can alert us if something is not right.

Not all car washes are the same, but most "big" car washes are very similar in structure.

Some car washes have a roller that roll over the top of the vehicle. Trucks with open beds are allowed through, but there is a switch that we can press to prevent the roller from rolling down into the bed. There is also a switch that can be pressed to prevent rollers from rolling behind the vehicle if you have a receiver hitch or a tire carrier.

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• Trucks with roof mounted lightbars SHOULD NOT be taken through a car wash. We don't allow it because it can seriously damage the car and the equipment.
• Roof top tents mounted on the roof should not go through the wash. In most cases the roof top tent will exceed the max height anyway.
• Roof top tents mounted on a mid-height bed rack can go through the car wash if the staff allow it.
• Ditch lights can go through, most roof racks can go through
• The largest tire size that'll fit on any track is a 315 or 12.5 inches wide

If you have any questions please let me know

 

They use high alkali and/or high acidic soaps and have to be deactivated, which isn't always the case.

 

I have a terrific automatic carwash close-by that's never left scratches or swirls (though I have silver too - which I always buy b/c they are easy to keep looking clean...). I don't have an RTT but do have a prinsu on the cab, and racks on my bed/tonneau. Occasionally they will make me remove my bike rack from my bed or kayak stackers that are sometimes mounted to the top of my cab. But anything I "mount" I can take off in less than a minute

 

Well, you may have just posted the definitive answer for most here. Based on your post this would be a roller style setup, but do you think with a touchless most of these wouldn't be an issue?

 

I roll Touchless... F*** a bunch of brushes that do more damage than good.

 

Anything can go through a touchless watch

 

Completely agree. Those things are known to break something or scratch something & DEFINITELY leave a ton of swirls. It’s like rubbing fine grit sandpaper alllllll over your paint.

 

Drive-through car washes around here generally refused to take my 2000 Ford Ranger with camper shell and Kargo-Master (ladder) rack. I haven't even bothered to ask regarding my Tacoma with Prinsu rack. I'm sure the answer would be no.

I rarely wash the trucks anyway. The way I see it, a coating of road dust is an additional protective layer. Eventually the rain will wash it away.

I'd like to see scientific studies proving whether regular washing helps or hurts paint longevity.