How to prep my 2025 Ranger Raptor for using a commercial car wash

[Red dirt raptor!]

Y'all please excuse my ignorance but since I've always had a dedicated hunting truck that I rarely washed because I didn't care how it looked and I washed my daily driver by hand, I'm at a loss on how to use a commercial car wash place.

I think I read that you should unscrew the small whip antenna on the roof. Yes?

How about mirrors? Should I fold them back?

Anything else?

If you use Auto hold, shut that off. If left ON, you're have the auto car wash attendant out pretty darn quick!

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[fordgt]

Sure, touchless is best, but most suck at getting all the dirt off. I just fold in the mirrors, nothing else. I even go thru the brushes with the tonneau cover still on.

Yup, I have a tri fold hard cover, sometimes I lock it open and get the bed washed out also.

 

[fordgt]

There are no cars wash locations near me. Of course, where I live in the county they call snow removal "Spring Thaw."

Mine is about 3/4 miles away, right in the Home Depot parking lot. I go there on the regular.

 

[John E Davies]

I use a touchless wash very rarely and only in winter when the weather is too horrible to do it myself. I would rather the truck stay dirty than use a commercial wash, but the nasty road deicer chemicals are very corrosive and they need to get removed, those cannot stay on long term.

THIS is why I will never use a brush type:

I went 3 times in a row after I got stuck in sand

PLEASE - if your truck is truly nasty, for example with red south Utah dirt, be considerate and get that off with a self serve spray car wash first, THEN go through the brush wash. Otherwise you just contaminate it for the rest of the users.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[JR RANGER]

Y'all please excuse my ignorance but since I've always had a dedicated hunting truck that I rarely washed because I didn't care how it looked and I washed my daily driver by hand, I'm at a loss on how to use a commercial car wash place.

I think I read that you should unscrew the small whip antenna on the roof. Yes?

How about mirrors? Should I fold them back?

Anything else?

Commercial car washes use very strong chemicals in order to get your car semi clean. You won't have any wax or sealant protecting the paint left. Use specific car soap that removes the dirt not any car paint protectant. 2 bucket method works well ( YouTube it if you haven't heard of that process.
JRRANGER

 

[Pops]

I have a shorty antenna on mine, don’t take it off to use car wash. I do fold the mirrors in. I go for the deluxe wash/wax and after six months I see no swirl marks. By the way this is on a black Raptor.

 

[0xFeels]

Rinseless wash is what I pretty much use these days. 20-30 minutes from setup to pack up, once you get the hang of it.

 

[ScottyRangerDanger]

don't overthink it brotha, just go to the car wash.

 

[ppfd]

I don't care enough about it.
I live in an apt and don't have wash facilities.
I run mine through a car wash a few times a year, still looks good enough.

 

[LDHunter]

If you use Auto hold, shut that off. If left ON, you're have the auto car wash attendant out pretty darn quick!

What is "Auto hold"?

 

[D.J. Swanson]

Where I live there are water restrictions so washing at home is a problem. But I got a nice power washer from Harbor Freight for $80 and it works great. Once a month wash, takes about 30 minutes, and all’s well. (The HOA is okay with the power washer because it doesn’t run water constantly.)

 

[purdyd]

I have a shorty antenna on mine, don’t take it off to use car wash. I do fold the mirrors in. I go for the deluxe wash/wax and after six months I see no swirl marks. By the way this is on a black Raptor.

if you take the antenna off, I would worry abut water getting into the connector.

I like my stubby too.

 

[cc1999]

I don’t remove antenna or fold mirrors…. No issues.

X2
‘Same here.
I have one of those $30 a month wash club memberships for a super deluxe wash once a day if I wanted. With the car wash I use it has two options 1 touch less, or 2 sponge brushes for a soft touch wash. It does a decent job, not as good as handwashing, but sure helps keep the salt off in the winter months.

 

[crawford]

i am not an expert, but here is what i do:
- full hand wash every now and again with one of those debris separator racks in the bottom of my wash bucket (i don't remember the correct name for this).
- put that meguires hybrid ceramic wax spray on it while it is wet and then dry the truck. this stuff is awesome and i think a lot of scratches come when i am drying and the wax sprays helps me dry it without adding new scratches.
- in between major washes i just put a layer of spray foam on...wait...rinse it and then repeat. this gets the truck pretty clean because that meguires spray keeps dirt from sticking. i dry it with more of the wax spray.
- winter time it is too cold, so i take it to a touchless car wash when i get gas. this might not get it perfectly clean but it is good enough to get salt off and rinse the bottom.

this works well enough for me. we i first got the new ranger in august i did a wash, iron decontamination and clay bar. i then put chemical guys hybrid ceramic wax on it but was very disappointed to see that all the beading was gone after one wash. it was then that i switched to the meguires stuff. here is a link:

Meguiar’s® Hybrid Ceramic Wax, G190526C, 26 oz (768 ml)

i hear the turtle wax one is very good as well.

i used to live in a condo and we had a spot in the parking area where we could wash our cars. condo board tried to get rid of it but enough people wanted it to stay so they kept it. if i didn't have that i would have went to one of those wash bay places but most of my washes would be in a automatic touchless car wash place. i would never put my truck through automatic car washes that have brushes.

 

[skinnyjimmy]

Do all the other cars/trucks/SUVs going in remove their antennae? No. Modern carwashes are designed to make it easy for every one and hassle free: drive in and get out. Don't over think it.

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