Nasty salt

Looks like the local car wash is closed and it's too cold for me to go do a full clean myself. This was after one highway trip yesterday. Any ideas on how safe it is to leave this layer of salt on the truck for a couple of days? Or is it worth at least just rinsing with water for now and doing a full wash this weekend?

I don't think I've ever seen such a bad salt blasting on a car, and I'm sure these oversized Cooper Discoverers aren't helping throw salts and slush up!

 

Yeah just wash it good with water and you will be fine for a few days.

 

If it were my truck Id put my big boy pants on and wash that thing asap!

Bare minimum rinse it!

 

Yeah, I'm leaning towards at least rinsing. I can't bear to look at it like this.

 

Go to one of those self serve washes where you get out there and use the wand. In New England we get this type of stuff ALL THE TIME. No big deal. I’m 60 and never had issues with it like that.

 

pro tip if you do decide to wash it by hand, use warm water (not hot, just warm), makes washing the truck in the cold a tiny bit less shitty.

 

That’s a light dusting. Give it a road trip to Vermont and back and you can’t see the original color. Dealer choice but I try to was that off every couple weeks at most mid winter. After 15 years I’m up for a new truck any.

 

Well, gave it a shot, but the outside hose is frozen solid. Also would probably just freeze a layer of ice on it overnight anyway in spots I couldn't dry in the dark.

Looks like it might just be a trip to the hand wash place 20 minutes away tomorrow if I can't get enough warmth and sun to de-ice my hose. (That's what she said)

 

I use SA32 Salt -S-Away when i take my truck to big bear, dont want it to rust!

 

At minimum use the pressure washer wand at the self serve car wash. If your rear brakes become wet careful about using the parking brake. They can freeze up.

 

You can see the salt on my Sport a lot more because it's Midnight Black. I didn't even think to goto a local car wash and power wash it...I'll just wait until the garden hose isn't frozen anymore.

Good call on not using the parking brake!

Ed

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Former supervisor of mine in Connecticut invested in a hotsy heated pressure washer just for this reason.

 

Heck, that's a little icing on the cake. Wait till it builds up to what you would see on the rim of a marguerita glass and then go to a self serve car wash and spray away. On a serious note, I always pay attention to the underbed spare tire mount and wash away as much salty crap as possible. I think that if there is ever a spot that corrosion could make a bad day even worse, it's there.

 

Margarita! lol

That's pretty bad. I am thinking of taking some ramps and reverse onto them to power wash/clean up that spare tire area...and the front as well.

Ed

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I put mine through the car wash yesterday as it did warm up a bit at -10 but it was -27-30 a couple of days ago. No issues with anything freezing up. My Red Barcelona Taco was white for about a week from road salts and sand now it is back at nice shinny red.

 

This is exactly why I heated my garage. I can run through a carwash regardless of outside temps. However with the warmer temps the last few days, lines are rediculously long. May have to make a midnight run...

 

It will rain in a couple of days. It will wash off. However, until it rains, the door area will mess up your cloth when getting in and out. So, pee around the door area just to wash it off. Perhaps, a couple of rounds, I hope this helps.

 

I could wash mine today, as it looks like that or maybe a bit worse lol.

I would have to wash it again tomorrow though, because after my work commute it will look exactly the same.



I do pressure wash at the local rubber ducky every week or two, just makes me feel a bit better for a short while.

 

Mine looks just like that - covered in salt and white powder. Tomorrow is Taco Wash time.

 

make sure you get the underbody. That salt goes everywhere. I'd also make certain that the temps aren't frigid. You don't want to ruin anything due to things freezing up....