Gladiator through a car wash? Experiences?

[scrimmer]

We have a subscription carwash. It has the floppy cloth brushes. Not crazy about the carwash. I have found small scratches on the side of the Gladiator. I haven’t changed out the OEM antenna so it beats the crap out of it. We live in a rural area, so our radio signal isn’t very good!

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[agoldxj]

Same here. There is 2 that I run mine through. The one at Sheetz at $16.00 does a better job than Tidal Wave at $26.00. The Sheetz one is closed down right now. They torn down the whole place and are rebuilding. I only run my vehicles through in the winter to get the salt off.

I was curious about the sheetz wash, the one by me is always busy with pretty good line. Next time it’s empty I’ll give it a shot.

 

[NC_Overland]

I do it all the time in the winter months. No leaks. No issues. I just keep a decent coat of wax on it so I don’t get micro scratches

 

[articcatbill]

I do touchless in the winter to get rid of salt and clean the undercarriage. I do tend to choose the option that does not include the turbo drying, I just drive it home and let it blowoff on the ride.

 

[White Eagle]

I’m off road every day. I focus on keeping the inside extra clean and hand wash once per month. Once you get the proper brushes and hand mitt, there really isn’t much to wash anyway. Takes maybe 10 minutes.

 

[cb4017]

@cb4017 You need to talk to the general manager, not assistant manager, about this "machine interference" in the carwash and how it's physically hitting your truck and they need to correct the issue. If there's a dent/scratch, take pics under different lighting to show the damage, then show them the pictures and tell them they fix their mistake and pay for the damages...or "see you in small claims court for criminal negligence and property damage".

I'm not one for courts, but sometimes people don't learn without "authority persuasion".

Thanks everyone.

I should clarify there is no machine interference causing the dents. The 23-24 Colorado has roof tin so thin that just the dryer blower would cause oil canning and damage. It was enough of an issue that GM put out a TSB on it to reinforce the roof. I think later years have the reinforcement braces from the factory. I always hand washed it for that reason.

I usually hand wash using either a foam cannon or aircraft spray and wipe cleaner, first using an electric pressure washer to remove any dirt, dust, debris or mud. Sometimes in the winter though that is not an option or I'm just too lazy.

Thanks again folks. I feel better about an occasional trip through the car wash.

 

[TBlain]

I’ve not had any problems and I use a tunnel wash. A lot of them will let you go brushless if that’s what you desire. Still get wax scratch marks on occasion, try to use the brush/pad mode every other time. A hand wax once a year should take care of any wax Scratch marks you get, in my opinion. Even though they go through plenty of water and foam soap, you never know what was on the three cars ahead of you, sand, road grime, salt, etc…::
Never had any problem with body panels and only been through one wash where I had a little bit of leaking down the middle scene of my hard tub. Other than that does great. If you have a winch, or a flip up license plate on the front, that may be a concern depending on the wash system.
Good luck and enjoy your ride

 

[RandyO]

The Colorado ZR2 I traded for my JTM could not be run through a car wash because the blower would dent the roof., really. I only hand washed it.

Now, being in my 70s, there are times I just don't have the energy or desire to hand wash a vehicle and need a quick clean.

For folks that regularly run their JT through a car wash, any problems?

I've been running mine through the local carwash two or three times a week for the last two years with no problems.

 

[Zachanadandy]

Gotta love the car wash threads. You get the 2 bucket hands wash, clay bar quarterly, ceramic coat every 6 months camp, the touchless only because the brushes leave micro scratches camp, the manazanita scratches from wheeling this thing might get smoothed over by the brush micro scratches camp, and the I never wash my Jeep camp. I fall squarely in the 3rd camp. If it's really muddy I'll spray it off at the coin op place before running it through Costco or fast track or the like. The bulk of my time cleaning is spent at the vacuums trying to get all the dog hair out.

 

[Mr Miami]

20 ? 30 ? 40 bucks ? I felt like I was getting screwed at one of the local car wash things next to the gas stations when they jumped the price from 2.99 to 3.99. I really don't like to use them since I just feel the beating of the brushes all over the vehicle but they do OK I think. They don't seem to clean the tailgate well if at all but the rest seems OK.

Otherwise, when I'm not lazy, I just squirt it off in the driveway with a hose. I don't think I have ever run the soft top '16 JKU nor the 99' soft top TJ through a car wash but have just hosed them off if they had too much sand or mud on them. Living here in South Florida, especially during the rainy season, it gets drenched every day or so around 3PM for 10-15 minutes with the thunderstorms so that makes things easier here, at least for me.

 

[ArcticDreadnought]

I have armorlite flooring so I don't care.

I recently got the Armorlite as well. An absolute copperplated cow to install (especially alone) but SO worth it.

 

[ArcticDreadnought]

20 ? 30 ? 40 bucks ?

Thats what we have to pay PER WASH in Alaska at a touchless place. Heck, its normal for me to have to use 30 bucks to go the manual car wash.

And no, buying the stuff for home use isnt cheaper. Plus, in the winter time here, you have to go to a place thats heated first to let the ice chunks melt and plop off. Cant just wash off your car in the driveway, not unless you have a heated tent and a heated pressure washer.

 

[peterpilot379]

I was never much of an automated car wash guy but I have used them with normal vehicles but the thought of running my boxy, stuff poking out everywhere Gladiator through those spinning rollers flapping around makes my skin crawl. Put an oscillating fan sprinkler underneath for 30-40 minutes to loosen up mud and dirt. Hand wash the rest.

 

[hpva]

My 2023 Jeep Overland would leak by the doors. Every time the side sprayers in the carwash would force water in and I could feel it hit my left ankle.I bought the weather strip kit from Jeepleakfix.com and that solved the problem.The kit is a weather seal for the door openings plus he has a great video on how to apply.Well worth doing.

 

[1gunboy]

I haven’t had any leaks with mine, but we ran it through a tidal wave car wash last week and it bent the antenna.

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