This bothers me a lot. I go to a automatic car wash and the brushes are rotating CCW on driver side and CW on passenger side which cause my closed mirror to open and fold forward then when I go forward they will hit the brushes and closed partially. I spoke to the guys at the car wash if they can reverse the rotations so mirrors will stay closed. And I said it will work for all cars not just mine. The manager said he spoke to the manufacturer (installer) and they said for best wash performance they should keep it as it is . So my question is anyone knows how to keep them closed? Maybe some kind of suction cup on the window? I might sound like KAREN but it really frikin bother me.
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Keep manual mirror from opening at car wash
- Thread starter kristof
- Start date
I tried so many high pressure washes and they didn't do as good job as the one with brushes
sstoner911
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Wash the truck yourself. Or buy a dually ...then you CAN'T have that issue
Brewbud
Brewmeister Meisterbrew
Yikes, that would be the last time my truck went through an automatic car wash. My boss just took his through a wash on Sunday. Monday we found a torn off wash strap in the bed of his truck. Those things are stiff.
It's not easy to wash the truck myself when there is 10F outside
jetrinka
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Man I am amazed they have the car wash going in 10F. Other than a bungie cord or something (which will likely get ripped off....) I don't know if anyone has any real suggestions for you. I stay away from the brush car washes because they tend to destroy more things than just mirrors (antennas, paint, trim pieces, etc)
I've been running my Tradesman through these car washes with the big rollers since new (2015), and the passenger side mirror always gets moved around by the rollers.
I use them in the winter when there is frozen crud on the bottom of the truck and it's cold like today (single digits in Fahrenheit). BTW, the rollers might have been rough on paint back in the day, but they are nice and soft now.
I use them in the winter when there is frozen crud on the bottom of the truck and it's cold like today (single digits in Fahrenheit). BTW, the rollers might have been rough on paint back in the day, but they are nice and soft now.
Gorilla tape them to the window.
sstoner911
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LoL
Will keep looking for touchless car wash near me that will be able to fit my truck and do a decent job. I don't worry about scratches from the brushes. Been using same wash for both our cars and never noticed them. I'm scare more of the power of the dryers when my hood and roof are flexing and making popping noise.
Not sure why but like 90% of carwashes in my area are brushes. Hard to find touchless one.
Not sure why but like 90% of carwashes in my area are brushes. Hard to find touchless one.
matemike
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car washes are great for "now" but over time they cause more harm than good. Over the 25 years I've been owning vehicles I've seen my fair share of car wash nicks, scratches and other damage. Some experiences that stick out was a tiny shard of metal stuck in a washing drape make a zig zag scratch right down the middle of a mach 1 mustang I had 15 years ago. Chrome pieces tend to get swirl marks and other increased wear after using car washes exclusively. I've had more soap scum left behind than I care to deal with. Broken antennas, water in headlights etc.
And the last straw for me was last year with my power deployable mirrors. I had them rotated "in" for the wash. Before the truck was through the air dryers; before I deployed them back out, a kid worker with drying towels at the wash came up and manually flipped the driver side out. I was honking and waving at him to stop but he didn't notice. He stripped the mirror gears, boogered up the motor. I don't know. I showed all this to the car wash owner but the mirrors worked for the remainder of that week and he didn't want to take any responsibility obviously. Well now, neither mirror works and I'm done with car washes.
It doesn't get 10*F here, but when it is super cold, I literally put on my duck hunting waders and a slicker jacket and still do my own truck washing in the driveway. I realize in 10* weather the water hose is probably frozen, or if you had a thawed hose the water and soap suds would freeze on your truck before a good washing can take place. I don't know what to tell you there. I'd probably skip washing until it was warm enough again.
But to help you out, if you still insist on going into the car washes. Crack the window a couple inches, throw a thin strap around the mirrors, like a ratchet strap strap and pull it tight around the closed mirror with the ends of the strap going inside the window. Close the window up on the strap ends. You've got to make sure the window closes tight enough so water won't get in at the top. But that could possibly hold the mirrors in the closed position and not let them flip out with the forward rotating carwash brushes.
And the last straw for me was last year with my power deployable mirrors. I had them rotated "in" for the wash. Before the truck was through the air dryers; before I deployed them back out, a kid worker with drying towels at the wash came up and manually flipped the driver side out. I was honking and waving at him to stop but he didn't notice. He stripped the mirror gears, boogered up the motor. I don't know. I showed all this to the car wash owner but the mirrors worked for the remainder of that week and he didn't want to take any responsibility obviously. Well now, neither mirror works and I'm done with car washes.
It doesn't get 10*F here, but when it is super cold, I literally put on my duck hunting waders and a slicker jacket and still do my own truck washing in the driveway. I realize in 10* weather the water hose is probably frozen, or if you had a thawed hose the water and soap suds would freeze on your truck before a good washing can take place. I don't know what to tell you there. I'd probably skip washing until it was warm enough again.
But to help you out, if you still insist on going into the car washes. Crack the window a couple inches, throw a thin strap around the mirrors, like a ratchet strap strap and pull it tight around the closed mirror with the ends of the strap going inside the window. Close the window up on the strap ends. You've got to make sure the window closes tight enough so water won't get in at the top. But that could possibly hold the mirrors in the closed position and not let them flip out with the forward rotating carwash brushes.
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H3LZSN1P3R
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The washes are still busy at -40 here not that i use them i just spray the heavy salt off at work and its covered again by the time i get home anyway
I don't even trust the hand wash. Who knows how much grit they have in their bucket. Touchless carwash, spray wand at carwash, or at home for me only.
immersivenc
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Forget your mirror, you are destroying your paint in those brushed auto washes, I cringe every time I pass one or see somebody at a self serve using that soap brush that’s been sitting all over the ground with dirt and rocks all in it from everybody else’s car.
Thanks for the tip. Just having fun at the expense of others.Phil T - after seeing this and also reading your mother-in-law comment in "Towing" you might want to consider changing your handle to "Funny Phil"
