Put away dirty

[et2]

It's making me cringe. I'm a fanatic about keeping the rig clean. We picked it up just over a week ago from Fleetwood for repairs in Indiana and drove home three hours to MI. It's covered with road grime and salt spray. Any truck wash is to far away as it will be just as dirty when returning to the storage yard as the roads are covered in salt dust.

I just keep thinking of the salt eating at the finish and pitting the wheels. Dang winters.

[GlennLever]

I had to add this one more, it is not a trick shot, I am standing in the parking lot and the sign for the Plaza is in back of one of the snow piles for the plaza.

[GlennLever]

RLS7201 wrote:
Would you guys post some pictures of that snow and ice. I'm about to forget what it looks like. We missed the last snow at home (K.C.). Nothing but sunshine in Albuquerque. Probably won't see any snow in Death Valley or Quartzsite either. Why are we called Snow Birds when we never see any snow?

Richard

These shots were taken today at about 2:00, the temperature was 13, and the wind was gusting to 30MPH.

We are finally having a true winter. The winters over the last 10 years have been getting milder and milder. This winter started with a bang, no warning. We have had one thaw. The weather men are promising another day of snow and a short break then two more storms heal to toe.

I like it except I wish I could get outside and work on the Motor Home.

[Jarlaxle]

et2 wrote:
It's in a storage yard with no hose to wash it down. I was thinking of taking it to the dealer 45 minutes away. But it would probably be worse than it is now after returning to the storage yard. There is no way with all the grime and grit on it to use a waterless system. It would just scratch the paint. It needs a rinse before even thinking of washing it with a sponge or brush.

My timing and planning needs to be better from now on. Never again. I only have myself to blame.

If it's THAT bad...what about a mobile-washing service?

Google

[okgc]

When traveling we have used "quarter" car washes before. Of course you will need a handful of quarters and warm dry pants when you are done as you WILL get wet.

Watch your height to the upper hose connection swivel. You may have turn the coach around or back out and drive in again to get the wash hose to the other side. Yeah that is contusing but will make sense when you are there.

We got about a foot of snow here in last 24 hours.

[Mr_Mark1]

BUTCHPHI wrote:
Here is my suggestion. Based on my experience soapy water will neutralize most of the salt - Get yourself a spray tank (like used for spraying insecticide - 4 or 5 gallon one at least, mix up a tank (s) (as many as you need) of soapy water and spray the undercarriage , brakes etc and all exposed metal parts that were subjected to salt spray / water. Soak it good and do not worry about rinsing off. Thsi should stop the corrosive effects of the salt. Good Luck

I like the above answer the best.

Another thought...
I'm assuming that your rig is winterized. You could 'unwinterize' it, get to where you can fill the fresh water tank (Full), turn on the hot water, connect your water hose to the outside wet bay if you have a hose connection there, turn on the water pump and go at it!

I've done that very thing while in Quartzsite to wash the steps as the dust got on the ball bearings and the step wouldn't go all the way in. So, I connected the hose as I explained above and cleaned them and then they worked perfectly (above freezing of course).

MM.

[et2]

RLS7201 wrote:
Would you guys post some pictures of that snow and ice. I'm about to forget what it looks like. We missed the last snow at home (K.C.). Nothing but sunshine in Albuquerque. Probably won't see any snow in Death Valley or Quartzsite either. Why are we called Snow Birds when we never see any snow?

Richard

Too busy shoveling it for the last 2 days. Getting ready to do it again. I bet you can picture if if you try real hard. LOL

[RLS7201]

Would you guys post some pictures of that snow and ice. I'm about to forget what it looks like. We missed the last snow at home (K.C.). Nothing but sunshine in Albuquerque. Probably won't see any snow in Death Valley or Quartzsite either. Why are we called Snow Birds when we never see any snow?

Richard

[gasguzler]

I live in Michigan. We get a lot of snow each year. This past summer I went to the marine Store and asked for the best boat wax they had. I also bought a motorized polisher. I polished the entire RV and them applied 3 coats of marine wax on it. I also spent 80 hours underneath the RV and used a combination of POR15 and a spray rubberized undercoating paint to protect the entire underside of the coach after I did a good cleaning with a power washer.

It's sitting out side with a bunch of snow on it, (I don't have a pole barn for it) but I can tell that the wax protection is helping as it still shines in the sunlight, although you still get the black marks from water draining on the corners.

When I leave for Florida I will take it to a truck wash before I park it for my stay. On the way back I don't think snow will be a problem by that time.

[ferndaleflyer]

Had to hire a Bob Cat to dig us out so we could come South the last year I lived in the North Pole----we keep a picture of that mess on the coffee table to remind us why we are here-----it has snowed here a couple of inches in the 7 years since we got rid of the 4WD drive, goose down coats, snow shovels, and ear muffs....You all have fun shoveling and washing off the salt. Don't even own any long pants any more.

[Snowman9000]

The salt problem seems to be a lot worse when the vehicle just sits after the exposure. I agree with doing whatever you can, especially to locks and towbars and stuff. WD40 is pretty good at fighting salt, btw. There will be a dry day soon, and you can do the truck wash. Sure there will be dry salt on the roads but you'll have to take what you can get.

You have to think a lot of RVs go through this while being delivered. Though, I guess the dealerships would clean them up right away?

[wa8yxm]

I used to drive an American car. in fact it was an American Motors Hornet.

At -40 IN THE DARK it would not start, at -35, Fired right up.

[kjbkjb]

Call me weird but I like snow too. For one thing it is great for our Wisconsin economy which really suffers during winters without much snow. Plus I love strapping on my cross country skis and hitting the trails. We rented a home with a pool in Punta Gorda Isles for the winter a few years ago. It was my wife’s idea but even she agreed that we missed too much by not being home in Wisconsin. Plus FL was way too crowded for our liking.

I too would be concerned about the effects of salt on my RV. My RV, my classic Pontiac and my Harley all stay comfortably stored inside until several good springtime rains wash all the salt residue from the roads.

We are on our way back to Wisconsin right now after spending New Years with our son and his family in St Louis. I have seen several snowbirds heading south and their RVs are not pretty from the road conditions.

[dverstra]

bsinmich wrote:
We like the snow. It has been snowing here for several days. We were over 40" 2 days ago and must be over 4' by now. Here in the condo the plow crew comes through every morning and they do our steps & front porch as well. Condo living beats my own snowblower.

Key words: We like the snow.....Here in the Condo

[dverstra]

et2
We're supposed to have a couple of warm days (36) by the following weekend (8 days from now) if you believe the weatherman:B Maybe the roads will be clean enough to get it washed. I feel your pain.