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How the heck do you wash this thing?

Any ideas on how to wash the engine properly?
Or don’t do it?


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$22 bucks per month for an unlimited wash package at the local touchless place. If it doesn't get it as clean as I like, I just go through a second time
 
After nearly a year of ownership here are my tips on washing these behemoths. For the rear portion of the roof I stand in the bed and I can cover half of the roof, for the front half I open the drivers and passenger doors and stand on the door sill..... this is how I wash the windshield as well. For the hood I find it best to hop on the front tire to reach the small portion I cannot get from the ground. Other than that its very straight forward and easy....... just takes awhile.

As for the engine bay I have had great luck with simple green mixing at a 1:3 ratio. I like to hose off engine with water only first then coat everything in Simple Green. Let it sit for a few minutes and hose off, I do this once a year on all of my vehicles and have never had any issues. I do not cover any electrical components but I do stand back a ways when hosing every thing off. I highly recommend using a hose vs. a pressure washer in the engine bay!! Once hosed off take a towel and dry off all plastics and easily accessible components to minimize water spotting.
 
Riddick said:
After nearly a year of ownership here are my tips on washing these behemoths. For the rear portion of the roof I stand in the bed and I can cover half of the roof, for the front half I open the drivers and passenger doors and stand on the door sill..... this is how I wash the windshield as well. For the hood I find it best to hop on the front tire to reach the small portion I cannot get from the ground. Other than that its very straight forward and easy....... just takes awhile.

As for the engine bay I have had great luck with simple green mixing at a 1:3 ratio. I like to hose off engine with water only first then coat everything in Simple Green. Let it sit for a few minutes and hose off, I do this once a year on all of my vehicles and have never had any issues. I do not cover any electrical components but I do stand back a ways when hosing every thing off. I highly recommend using a hose vs. a pressure washer in the engine bay!! Once hosed off take a towel and dry off all plastics and easily accessible components to minimize water spotting.
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I use a battery powered leaf blower to dry the engine compartments after I wash them. It does a great job to keep water from settling down in places it shouldn't be.
 
rockman88 said:
Funny. Meant the engine bay and engine exterior.


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Click to expand...
I have washed numerous engine bays in my previous life of car shows. Some of them had the levels of plastic the Ram does. Steps taken for a decent result:
  1. On a Cool Dry Engine - Use Windex (no ammonia) and soak everything you can get to. If heavily soiled/greasy/oily spots you can hit those areas with a 50/50 Simple Green mix.
  2. Close hood and Start engine and idle till up to operating temp. 5+min
  3. Turn off engine & Open hood. Mist/spray rinse with house pressure only (not pressure washer) everywhere you had sprayed with the cleaner. Do not focus pressure on ignition/intake/air filter areas.
  4. Close hood and restart engine idling for 3-5min. This helps create a steaming effect using the engine's heat to help break up grease/oily areas better.
  5. Turn off engine & Open hood. Grab an old micro-fiber mitt that aged out of the exterior duties and single-bucket wash all the places you can reach that needs cleaning. Don't forget the underside of the hood. Take care to not "fuzz up" your hood insulation if applicable with too much cleaning vigor.
  6. Mist/spray rinse with house pressure only (not pressure washer) everywhere you had suds up.
  7. Dry using handheld blower / leaf blower or by hand-towel.
  8. Detail with your choice of a spray-on plastic protector. You can essentially cover everything in the engine bay and just wipe off excess and exposed metal inner fenders, aluminum, etc. This step could be replaced with one of the Ceramic spray detailers that will immensely aide in the next time you want to do this task instead of the more greasy Armor-All like sprays.
I know that this is a bunch of steps, but I definitely wouldn't do this every week. Just when you think you want to...I do it prior to a Dealer visit (no that's not weekly...god I hope not).
You can skip 1,2,7,8 and just do 3,4,5,6 + 7 alone if just trying to spruce it up or doing a weekly.
 
techman said:
First, buy a white or silver truck and your in between cleaning times double.

:)
Click to expand...
Sooo you're saying if I had white or silver it would be 3 months between cleanings instead of 6?

I'm a weirdo though. I typically don't mind a dirty exterior on my truck but a dirty or cluttered interior makes me insane. I've been known to go out, look at a filthy truck, clean the inside out and then happily go back in the house
 
jetrinka said:
Sooo you're saying if I had white or silver it would be 3 months between cleanings instead of 6?

I'm a weirdo though. I typically don't mind a dirty exterior on my truck but a dirty or cluttered interior makes me insane. I've been known to go out, look at a filthy truck, clean the inside out and then happily go back in the house
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Semantics? I'm not sure now. I meant the time between needing to clean you truck is twice as long. Wait...I was right, no?
 
ClawSS said:
I have washed numerous engine bays in my previous life of car shows. Some of them had the levels of plastic the Ram does. Steps taken for a decent result:
  1. On a Cool Dry Engine - Use Windex (no ammonia) and soak everything you can get to. If heavily soiled/greasy/oily spots you can hit those areas with a 50/50 Simple Green mix.
  2. Close hood and Start engine and idle till up to operating temp. 5+min
  3. Turn off engine & Open hood. Mist/spray rinse with house pressure only (not pressure washer) everywhere you had sprayed with the cleaner. Do not focus pressure on ignition/intake/air filter areas.
  4. Close hood and restart engine idling for 3-5min. This helps create a steaming effect using the engine's heat to help break up grease/oily areas better.
  5. Turn off engine & Open hood. Grab an old micro-fiber mitt that aged out of the exterior duties and single-bucket wash all the places you can reach that needs cleaning. Don't forget the underside of the hood. Take care to not "fuzz up" your hood insulation if applicable with too much cleaning vigor.
  6. Mist/spray rinse with house pressure only (not pressure washer) everywhere you had suds up.
  7. Dry using handheld blower / leaf blower or by hand-towel.
  8. Detail with your choice of a spray-on plastic protector. You can essentially cover everything in the engine bay and just wipe off excess and exposed metal inner fenders, aluminum, etc. This step could be replaced with one of the Ceramic spray detailers that will immensely aide in the next time you want to do this task instead of the more greasy Armor-All like sprays.
I know that this is a bunch of steps, but I definitely wouldn't do this every week. Just when you think you want to...I do it prior to a Dealer visit (no that's not weekly...god I hope not).
You can skip 1,2,7,8 and just do 3,4,5,6 + 7 alone if just trying to spruce it up or doing a weekly.
Click to expand...

I like Sprayway glass cleaner and 303 for plastics. Also Turtle Wax hybrid is good for plastic as well as it doesn't haze like traditional wax.
 
jadmt said:
I am 5'9" and wash a Power wagon on 35's about once a week. I stand in the bed to get the top and use a Gorilla step platform to do the hood and windshield. Wheel wells are simple a brush and soapy water and just spray them out.
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This one gives you another 10" in height. I can easily wash the roof with it extended.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gorilla...rm-375-lbs-Load-Capacity-GLWP-55A-2/310836452
 
techman said:
First, buy a white or silver truck and your in between cleaning times double.

:)
Click to expand...
True! I love granite crystal but it never looks clean. A bit of dust in the air? Truck looks like crap. Wash it without drying? Water spots all over. I'm not real fussy but I had a white truck previously and got spoiled because it always looked clean unless it was extremely dirty. In 8 years of ownership I never once hand dried it. I really wish I'd have gone with billet silver now.
 
Silver is the best color. With crome bumpers. With a good wax. Dirt washes right off. I never use a brush on my mega cab. Milwaukee leaf blower helps.
 

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123zk said:
Silver is the best color. With crome bumpers. With a good wax. Dirt washes right off. I never use a brush on my mega cab. Milwaukee leaf blower helps.
Click to expand...
Silver MCs rule! Both of mine have been silver.

I use a soft AutoSpaRV brush from Walmart. Has a 67” adjustable length pole. The water control is cheap and broke the first couple uses so that got tossed out. Also use a 4ft ladder. Try to wash it at least once a month depending on the weather. Hasn’t been washed in about 2 months since we’ve seen little rain until Monday and then the rain cleaned it nicely.
 
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