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Old Apr 18, 2018 | 08:41 AM
  #16  
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Originally Posted by ATC Crazy
I use a brush from Walmart with a 5' handle, a $5 bottle of Meguiars car wash, and a single 5 gallon bucket with the garden hose. Thanks to our well water, there is no need to dry.

So maybe I'm not the one to listen to, but the paint on my Ram still looks new!
You are washing your truck with a brush....drying is the least of your concerns. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but that is so terrible for the finish.
 
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Old Apr 18, 2018 | 10:19 AM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by jrwinger
I bought this chemical Guys Foam Canon off amazon: Foam canon

I have it hooked up to a $69 1500 PSI pressure washer from lowes. It was the cheapest pressure washer at lowes similar to This but a few years older.

It works extremely well combined with the foam canon.

I have a friend that has a industrial deionizer & gave me a 55 gal drum full of deionized water. My next wash I'm going to do the final rinse with the deionized water. These trucks are too big to towel dry!!

how do you plan to pull the water in to the power washer? Direct drive power washers will not pull from a water source, they must have a pressurized water source. I suppose if you got the tank up high enough, gravity would help feed the washer however, I’d be worried about not feeding enough water and burning up the pump.
 
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Old Apr 18, 2018 | 10:23 AM
  #18  
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I use an 8gpm hot power washer with 250 degree water. I don’t use a foamer but do inject cleaner into the hose to soap the truck all down and let it soak. Then I rinse it down really well and hand dry it. Works very well.
 
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Old Apr 18, 2018 | 10:50 AM
  #19  
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You guys and your deionized water are killin' me. I think I just heard my wallet wimper when I googled "deionized water systems".

I haven't washed "Big-Un" yet. However for our other cars, I'm using a ~$20 foam cannon from Amazon with great success. The Chemical Guys products and 2-Bucket system works really well.
 
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Old Apr 18, 2018 | 11:59 AM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by Sunnyside42
You guys and your deionized water are killin' me. I think I just heard my wallet wimper when I googled "deionized water systems".

I haven't washed "Big-Un" yet. However for our other cars, I'm using a ~$20 foam cannon from Amazon with great success. The Chemical Guys products and 2-Bucket system works really well.
Yeah, well, Big Bertha is a big 'ol girl and hand drying takes half a day!
 
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Old Apr 18, 2018 | 12:35 PM
  #21  
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Try a leaf blower. It dries the truck much faster and only needs a few spots double checked with a towel. Cheaper than a deionizing system too!!
 
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Old Apr 18, 2018 | 12:42 PM
  #22  
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Originally Posted by JeepPuller
Try a leaf blower. It dries the truck much faster and only needs a few spots double checked with a towel. Cheaper than a deionizing system too!!

Bingo! I do the same thing.

That said - looking at the components for the DA systems. Seems like a couple big blue 20" cartridge housings ($50 ea - same stuff in my well house) and deionizing media filter. Could probably build the setup for $110 plus cost of media filters. I already own a TDS meter (cheap also on amazon) so I could spot check it for when it time to replace media.
 
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Old Apr 18, 2018 | 12:56 PM
  #23  
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The leaf blower idea is golden. I could use one for getting rid of freshly fallen snow in the wintertime, too!
 
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Old Apr 18, 2018 | 06:46 PM
  #24  
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Leaf blower works OK too, but I still prefer my deionizer. It is pricey but it works darn well!
 
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Old Apr 19, 2018 | 06:14 AM
  #25  
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Living in sunny FL it's so hot here most of the time darn truck has is try before you can even pull blower out and plug it in ( no gas powered you blow carbon from exhaust into paint) so maybe won't be a bad idea to try and build the system myself.
 
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Old Apr 19, 2018 | 07:46 AM
  #26  
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Here is the blower I purchased specifically for the purpose of drying vehicles:

Amazon Blower Amazon Blower

It is inexpensive, light, and works well.
 
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Old Apr 19, 2018 | 08:03 AM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by fleming23


You are washing your truck with a brush....drying is the least of your concerns. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but that is so terrible for the finish.
Probably so, but I don't keep 'em long enough to matter. I do promise to upgrade to a microfiber mitt and 2 buckets when the new truck gets here.

The county is running a water line up our road, and we are hooking up to it...so I fear I may have to start thinking about a drying method in the near future because I'm sure it will be hard water. Although when the inspector leaves, we plan to hook the well back up for outdoor watering needs (we need to disconnect from the well for them to allow us to hook up to the water main)
 
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Old Apr 19, 2018 | 11:43 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by diblasi
no gas powered you blow carbon from exhaust into paint
huh? not sure what kind of leaf blowers you use but my Husqvarna 580 does not "blow" exhaust through the blower tube. It blows exhaust out of the muffler
 
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Old Apr 19, 2018 | 12:09 PM
  #29  
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I'm not aware of any leaf blower that directs the engine exhaust out the blower tube. But it wouldn't take much for the exhaust coming out of the back of the engine to get on the paint. I would be mostly worried about a two cycle engine, less about a four cycle engine and not at all about an electric blower.
 
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Old Apr 19, 2018 | 12:13 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by HRTKD
I'm not aware of any leaf blower that directs the engine exhaust out the blower tube. But it wouldn't take much for the exhaust coming out of the back of the engine to get on the paint. I would be mostly worried about a two cycle engine, less about a four cycle engine and not at all about an electric blower.
Whats getting on the paint from exhaust? What happens when you're at a stop light and a bus is in front of you and covers your "paint" in exhaust when the light turns green?

Not trying to sound like a dick but I never heard concern for exhaust on paint. If that's the case we would never drive our trucks - at least when there were cars on the road
 
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