I'm a bloomin' idiot....

So I drove home from work last night at around 9:30 and had my back windows about 1/4 of the way rolled down. It was dark in my driveway so I didn't notice them being down and feeling exhausted from being at work for past 12+ hours I forgot that they were down. Anyway, it poured down rain early this am when I was sleeping and when I came out to my truck to go to work, the backseats were soaked as were the carpets.

So, what do I do? I tried to use towels to get the surface water up but had to leave for work. Will my seats under the cloth get moldy and mildewy? Will the metal under the carpets rust? I am stressing! Tonite I plan on trying to use a wet dry vac but that's about 11 hours away. Suggestions? Advice? Any other names besides idiot?

 

haha. Same thing happened to me. My windows were all the way down and we got a torrential rain storm. My truck was drenched on the inside.

When I got home I opened all the doors and ran as many fans as I could. Everything is fine now.

If you want to be really sure, take out the seats and the carpet. Its about 2 hours work but you can make 100% sure everything is dry.

 

Wow that really blows dude.
This has never happened to me but here's what I googled

http://www.ehow.com/how_5063022_clean-flooddamaged-car-carpets.html

 

under your carpet and everything is painted. The water is rain water not salt. id be worried about mildew, and my truck smelling like a wet dog. if it stops raining and dries up just open the windows. Pop off the trim peices on the door sill and feel under the carpet. The sound proofing pad can hold water for days. Use a shop vac and get as much up as possible.

 

Take a shop vac to it, to get out as much water as possible, then get some fans on high to get as much air over to dry it out. Good luck.

 

Well next time you might want to roll up your windows before shutting the truck off, that might help keep the water out

JK

I know I have left the windows down all night once and hit the panic button when I got out to the truck the next day. I just make it a habit to look at all the windows before I get out or even turn it off.

But like others have already said, you may want to just get as much of it up with a shop vac and some towels as you can and let it air out, providing it's not raining out.

 

You know... If you had bought a 90,000 dollar BMW 7 series, it would have rolled up the windows for you if it detected rain.

Maybe just do that next time

 

All the above.

 

o come on thats the easy way out hahaa

 

Screw it! I'm just gonna go trade in my 2009 Tacoma with 2300 miles and saturated seats/carpets for a 2010 Tacoma.

 

It's only water......

Sop up what you can with towels & such and leave the windows open (when its not raining) a bit to let the air get in there and dry things out. It might take a while....

Just don't forget to lock you doors so someone can get in your truck and steal stuff. Or, don't leave bottles of fuel treatment on the front seat so it'll leak on your seats. Ask me how I know...

 

Is there any reason he couldn't run a dehumidifier in the cab overnight? When I've had wet carpet in my basement I run one and it sort of sucks the water out.

If the truck has a damp feel after a few days, you can get some stuff like damp rid at wal mart (usually for closets) - that might help a little.

 

Neat idea....assuming you could run a chord to it and still shut the door.
What type of de-humidifier would it be?

De-Humidifiers are purchased based on the room size you need it for. I'm not sure how a standard dehumidifier would work in such a confined space?
Or am I getting too technical about that?

 

Dry it out inside a garage with everything open. Go for a long drive or just run the AC with everything closed (recirculation on) for a few hours. AC by nature will dehumidify the truck.

I'd also pick up some damp rid and put 1-2 cans in the back (secure them so they don't pour out).

I dried out a civic I had picked up (theft recovery) which had the windows/sunroof open for 1-2 weeks during heavy FL rain. Took a while to get all the damp/mildew out but it's not impossible.

 

Now that is what a responsible person would do...

You should be ok man...maybe the perfect excuse to get some sound deadening material in.

 

I think dehumidifier sizing is probably more to make sure you have one big enough since most people use them in a basement. A room size unit would be overkill in a truck, but it seems like it would work. I used one in a small closet that got wet. It dried out teh closet really well. It did get teh closet warm (not hot), but 5-10 degrees warmer than the room outside.

I see no reason you couldn't set one in the floor , and run the power cord through a window that is open just a crack.

 

suck it out with a shop vac , park inside with windows down.................its a tacoma it can take it.