Auto Carwash
 

It was a fairly decent day here in the mid-Atlantic region so I washed my 2009 F250 (4x4 CC w/ 20 inch wheels) today to get the road salt off. It made me think - I used to own a 2004 F150 (4x4 SC) that I could take through an automatic carwash in the winter time instead of hand washing. Will the F250 fit into a standard automatic carwash? I can measure the height to see if it meets the height requirements, but the carwash doesn't specify a width requirement. I was wondering if anyone has taken their superduty through a carwash.

Since I work for a chain of carwashes, I wash mine all the time through both a tunnel or a touchless auto. For either I simply fold the mirrors in. Of course I am not referring to any duallys. The height could be an issue at some , so check first, but the width should be fine.

I am a car wash owner and have several touchless autos and one friction (rotating brushes) type. I have an '08 F-250 with paddle mirrors. A mirror will touch if I don't get centered, but all in all it fits just fine. Height-wise, it clears by about 2". Most washes can handle an F-250. If they couldn't it would be very hard for the CW mfrs. to sell them.

Regarding duallies, some will and some won't. Two of my washes can fit a dually, but wash quality is not up to my liking. The shape of the rear fenders causes my wash to miss an area on the front of the fenders.

Make sure the car wash accepts duallies before you drive it in. It ain't pretty if it don't fit. Keep in mind a car wash machine cost about what two dually trucks cost.

I drive my 2009 F350 thru the Delta sonic by me and i have a back rack that clears the last exit door by about a 1/16 of an inch. Sure is nice to drive thru because it is a pain the the a$$ to try and wash the cab roof etc..

Mine gets frequent trips through the automatic car wash in the winter to get the road salt off. Like was stated, mirrors fold in, she fits fine.

Call me a weenie, I am not going to hand wash the truck when it is 3 degrees outside.

My 01 CC LB does not fit in an automatic car wash length wise. With the mirrors folded in it was still a tight fit. It was an interesting moment when the arms came down on the end of the bed/tailgate and stopped the wash. The owner wasn't too pleased.

I have a hard time taking any of my vehicles through car washes. No offense to the guys on here who own them, I wish I did! However, those things scratch the life out of the paint. Even the nicest car washes I have been to, they all scratch your paint. What I like to do in the winter is go to the self serve car wash. I bring my own brushes, soap and a bucket. I power wash off all the sand and salt and soap up the truck, and fill up my bucket on the first 5 min run. Then I take my time using my soft brushes, clean everything off knowing I am not on the clock. Then I run the second 5 mins on fresh water and it comes out great without a scratch on it. It costs me $6.00 bucks.

If you have a self serve wash by you... try out this technique. Its like washing it at home, except everything is setup for ya!

I use a touchless during the winter. Even with the mirrors out it fits fine. I won't use one that uses brushes or the heavy hanging rags anymore. I lost a hood deflector.

I also won't take my 200lb Neo Mastiff in one anymore. The first and last time he must have thought we were being attacked and flipped out, wanting to bite the brushes. No real damage but the extra quart of druel was a pain to mop up.

I know my '09 will fit... at least when it had stock tires.
Width wise, I have to bring in the mirrors. Heighth wise, it was close stock but it made it. Now that I've gone up a couple of sizes for tires, I'm curious to see if it will fit. An number of "touchless" carwashes have a 7' max heigth. A 4WD Super Duty gets close to that with factory tires.

mine will fit. with the power mirrors I just hit the button and then in I go...get the boys to dry it off when finished.

Thanks for the replies
 

Thanks to everyone for the replies. This forum is a great place for seeking information and advice.

I don't mind washing my F250 myself, but following snow and road salt in the winter time it just makes more sense to take it through a brushless carwash. I just wanted to make sure it would fit. Thanks again.

WEENIE. you asked for it.even my wife breaks out the dish washing gloves and washes her truck. i also have hot and cold water hooked to my hose. me i'm lucky we have a hot powerwash at work. i hate road salt.

Three degrees? What a *****... I washed mine by hand yesterday when it got up to 32.5F LOL

I lost a towing mirrow on my 79 F350 when the rotating brush arm snagged it, a fender flare on my supercrew when the wheel brush sensors were too dirty to work properly, and a touchless raked it's jets across the bedside and tailgate on this truck because i exceeded the length (not displayed). I will now only go thru Mike's Express...they do a fantastic job and i fit with a few inches to spare (that's what she said:-X14).

My '02 CC LWB fits in the two local car washes .... one is brand new, the other is very old.