[jwholden]

It was such a balmy day today (high 20's) that I figured I'd wash my truck which looked like a big ball of salt and sand. I had a hot water spigot installed a year ago which kept my hose from freezing up. It was VERY NICE being outdoors.

I donned my Sorrells, flap hat, orange water proof gloves, long handled washing brush, long johns and insulated pants and managed to stay 'comfortable' through the process. I couldn't imagine doing this without the hot water, even with warm water the water was freezing on the truck after about 3 minutes.

Did anyone else get out and wash the truck today? What is the coldest you've washed your truck at? What are your secrets to make the process go smoothly?

While we're talking about washing trucks do you guys use a pressure washer to wash yours. I just got one and am eagerly waiting to use it, just not sure if I will blast the paint off my truck. If you use the power washer and cleaning concentrate do you still end up using a sponge? Is it too dangerous to risk scratching the paint? Should I save the power washer for the deck and equipment?

[scl]

$3 at the Superwash, you get 20 minutes, a brush, and a really great feature called the spot free rinse. The advantage here isn't the "spot free" part, its that the water literally runs off like a slick coat of wax leaving nothing to freeze. I was gonna wash my little pig today, it was way up in the twenties here too but I figured with a storm coming and some plowing ahead, hopefully, it would just be a waste.
The pressure washer shouldn't hurt your paint, mine works quite well, even though its only a 1500 pounder. Keep it off the decals

[Stonehenge]

What's the coldest we've ever washed a vehicle?

I towed a '54 Chev pickup to my parents' house on the West side of Wisconsin a couple years ago, and when we got into town the thing was covered with junk from the trip. At the time I think it was something like zero. We were able to get the junk cleaned off the truck, but the rinse water was frozen to the truck before it left the stall. I believe the ice came off in springtime.

As for the 'fleet', yeah, we pressure wash at the local car wash. Quick, and does a decent (not great) job.

[diginahole]

Most times I use the pressure washer and a bucket of soapy water and brush at the shop. When it dips below about -8*c I go to the coin op and just rinse off with the spray wax. I wipe off the door seals when I am done to keep the doors from freezing shut.

A few weeks ago I got got really disgusted looking at all the salt and sand on my pick up and decided to spray it off at the shop. I managed to knock off all the dirty ice and applied a nice fresh clean batch of ice. It is going up to -2 c today, I'll be washing even though I'll be out plowing again tomorrow.

[diginahole]

A word of caution John.... Pressure washers don't take kindly to being frozen. The one I use at the shop is kept in a well insulated and heated pump house and still managed to freeze in the cold temps we had in January. It is a costly repair.

[jwholden]

I've heard more than one story about frozen pressure washers. I have it inside in my office now to keep the water they used to test it at the factory from freezing.

The directions said if the pump will be in freezing conditions run some RV antifreeze through it before putting it in storage. What the heck is RV antifreeze? Recreational vehicle? Something that won't destroy the environment?

It's supposed to be up around 40 tommorow around here!

[diginahole]

yup, RV antifreeze is for potable water systems in recreational vehicles.

Prestone RV antifreeze