Truck wash questions

To the op, is this your truck?

Or is this a company truck?

If it is a company truck, then is it leased or purchased.

This is a tool, it is not a collector car or anything like that.

The builders of that truck know that these trucks are acid washed in the real world, that's why they use epoxy paint.

 

I have my doubts about them using epoxy paint, more likely base/clear coat or enamel.

 

It’s not an epoxy paint. Some colors are base/clear, many of them are single stage.

And who cares how often he wants to wash it? Some of us take a little more pride in our trucks than others.

 

My way of washing.
Step 1)
Soak the truck completely on soap cycle.
Step 2)
Wash the truck on soap cycle and blow all the dirt, grease, bugs and mud off.
Open hood, wash frame and suspension but not the engine which you do last.
Step 3)
Switch to foaming brush and scrub entire truck thoroughly.
If you have your own soft brush, fill pail with soapy water and use your own brush.
Step 4)
Switch to hot rinse, start at the top of truck and rinse downward.
Rinse engine bay last with hot rinse, wash engine too top to bottom, should be cool enough.
Step 5)
Go over truck again with hot rinse or wax.
Wipe down with soft cloth to remove standing water, door jams and everything.

Step 6) Optional
Wax truck and polish chrome by hand, not required ar every wash.

Acid is a no no.
It can be used to clean aluminum effectively. but not in spray form and it's a 2 person job.
I would practice on an old fuel tank or aluminum wheel before using on your truck.

Mix acid and water in a pail, brush it on and scrub while the other person uses a high pressure washer to immediately rinse what you just scrubbed, while you're still scrubbing.
As they rinse you dip the brush and scrub a new section and they follow with the rinse until you're done.
As they spray it dilutes the acid on the brush, so by the time you washed a section your brush is acid free and scrubbing clean metal.
You can't let the acid sit for very long or the metal will turn grey.

The tanks and aluminum wheels on this truck were acid washed as described, a 2 man effort.

 

Step 3: Switch to foaming brush and scratch entire truck thoroughly.

 

Yep you are right but ... I have had a number of trucks with epoxy paint, most of them were freight liners, some WS and didn't think about the urethanes.

Some of the paints on the truck are polyurethane, many are urethanes replacing the acrylics which are too soft when comparing them to these modern paints.

 

Was that on older trucks? I’m sure there was a lot of variation of paint types back before DuPont came out with their Imron line and I shouldn’t have made a blanket statement. The Imron 5000 and 2000 are polyurethane. You can shoot a truck now with a single stage paint and it will have the gloss of a base/clear.

 

Brightener/Acid is to soften the aluminum and get the debris out of the pits. Really it should only be used just before you cut and polish the aluminum. Other then that the acid only does damage to the metal. Bc once you soften the metal and don’t polish it, you strip all protective coating off the aluminum it begins to oxidize and pit almost immediately. Which is why a lot of trucks especially on the east coast have aluminum wheels that look like sandpaper. Everyone likes Shiny Buff. Unfortunately, Shiny Buff takes a lot of work.

 

Most of my issued tractors were steel wheeled. I did not really get to appreciate the joys of aluminum until the mid 90's on. They sure have some advantages.

 

What I prefer to do is wash my truck when I’m home. About an hour and it’s done. Rinse, spray foam, wash mit and ladder, rinse and repeat if it’s really bad (post snow storm bad).

Once a month I’ll wax the paint (have found that Extreme Topcoat from Chemical Guys works best for me) and every 6 months I’ll use a sealant then wax. In between I’ll use a spray wax or a detail mist.

Aluminum I’ll cut/color every 3 months and that usually takes me one evening/night.

if I use a truck wash, I always moan and groan afterwards cause you pay over 100$ for a wash that I wouldn’t pay more than 30 for.