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.

[BUTCHPHI]

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

[McObra]

Love it! Having grown up about 70 miles east of Rochester, in Oswego, It brings back way to many memories. Now I live in Phoenix, AZ and don't worry about winter.

[tahiti16]

Ok along this same line, how cold is it?

+65 - Hawaiians declare a two-blanket night.
+60 - Californians put on sweaters (if they can find one).
+50 - Miami residents turn on the heat.
+45 - Vermont residents go to outdoor concerts.
+40 - You can see your breath. Californians shiver uncontrollably. Minnesotans go swimming
+35 - Italian cars don't start.
+32 - Water freezes.
+30 - You plan your vacation to Australia.
+25 - Ohio water freezes. Californians weep. Minnesotans eat ice cream. Canadians go swimming
+20 - Politicians begin to talk about the homeless. New York City water freezes. Miami residents plan vacation farther South.
+15 - French cars don't start. Cat insists on sleeping in your bed with you.
+10 - You need jumper cables to get the car going.
+5 - American cars don't start.
0 - Alaskans put on T-shirts.
-10 - German cars don't start. Eyes freeze shut when you blink.
-15 - You can cut your breath and use it to build an igloo. Arkansans stick tongue on metal objects. Miami residents cease to exist
-20 - Cat insists on sleeping in pajamas with you. Politicians actually do something about the homeless. Minnesotans shovel snow off roof. Japanese cars don't start.
-25 - Too cold to think. You need jumper cables to get the driver going.
-30 - You plan a two week hot bath. Swedish cars don't start.
-40 - Californians disappear. Minnesotans button top button. Canadians put on sweaters. Your car helps you plan your trip South.
-50 - Congressional hot air freezes. Alaskans close the bathroom window.
-80 - Hell freezes over. Polar bears move South. Green Bay Packer fans order hot cocoa at the game.
-90 - Lawyers put their hands in their own pockets.
:B :B

[midnightsadie]

I,m think of buying a big boat in your state and towing it to ohio the weather is part of the problem. I,m like you I like clean. just gotta wait for a break.

[et2]

I have zero access to a hose or water. I can't bring it home, too big, and can't park on the street. Any mobile rv wash people aren't available this time of year. My only choice is get to a truck wash or dealer which are both a 45 minute drive through worse roads then when I brought it back home. It's like 11 degrees right now.

Until the rains wash the roads off in the spring I'm probably better off leaving it as is. It's just eating away that I did such a stupid thing. I didn't expect it would sit at the Fleetwood service facility in Decatur IN. For 6 weeks. :M

And I just shoveled 4 inches of snow. :B

[bsinmich]

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.

[old_guy]

don't know about you other guys but around here you are required to shovel all you walks and side walks of snow and ice or get fined.

[RCWannabe]

What about mobile truck washing company's? They might be a bit pricey and you would have to check with the storage facility first, but they can wash they unit as long as they can get within reach of it with their hoses. I would expect it to be rather expensive, but better than excessive deteriation of your rig or maybe simply worth the piece of mind.

[doxiemom11]

Thanks for the laugh, reminded us of Michigan and our life before fulltiming.

[wa8yxm]

You need a truck wash? Get ye to a Meijer's store and pick up a decent pressure washer .. Now here you have two choices.

First, You can tap off hot water either off the water heater drain in your house or the laundry faucet if you wish hot water.. Or just use cold.

Wash it where it's parked.

Then drain the hose, Drain the pressure washer, and bring 'em into heated storage for the rest of the winter (Basement of house or "Junk room").

It is what I would do/did. You should see at least one more warm day before the end of Jan. (normally do) but do not count on it.

[Mike_and_Trish]

Had the exact same situation, only a little worse, a few years back -- returned from Thor factory service in Elkhart to our then-home in Maryland, through a snowstorm that shut down the Pennsylvania Turnpike for awhile. Needless to say, the coach was coated with road salt etc., and I made a token attempt at rinsing it off before getting back to it in the spring.

What I found a couple of months later was that salt had gotten into every exterior nook and cranny, particularly underneath. The pin locks for the Blue Ox (which I normally leave attached) had completely frozen with salt, and took a lot of soaking to free up. The towbar itself had frozen into the receiver, and took hours of hammering to remove. The latch to the propane compartment (open below) had frozen up, and required a lot of work to get to from underneath and fix. The entire undercarriage had way more rust than I recalled.

Bottom line -- I'd be less worried about your finish and wheels, and way more about all the areas above. Even if you can't get to a truck wash, you can remove, clean and/or lubricate lots of things that might suffer badly from salt incursion.

[et2]

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.

[Don_Shar]

That was funny, I laughed and laughed. This is why I left Indiana ...I tied my snow blower on the back of the Motorhome and when I got to Yuma, Az and someone asked what that was I knew I was home. No shoveling and no mowing.

[J-Rooster]

I don't know if it's still out on the market or not? But a outfit was selling Dry Wash several years ago!

[GlennLever]

Were supposed to get 24 inches over the next three days. May trips to keep the driveway clean, oh yes and on Thursday the high is supposed to be -6