Winter prep

[joelfigueira]

Hi all,

now clocks have gone back and the weather is getting grim (up north it is 😂) just wondering how people on here prep for the winter to protect the pain and wheels from the weather and salt? 

[peniole]

Wash, top up the polymer wax protection. But more important than the prep is what you do in winter conditions when there's salt. Spray down (jet wash) with just water, DI if the station has it, paint wheels and undercarriage, once a week. Learnt that in Salt Lake City where for months out of the year the high is below zero, and the flipside is it hits 40C in summer.

[joelfigueira]

31 minutes ago, peniole said:

Wash, top up the polymer wax protection. But more important than the prep is what you do in winter conditions when there's salt. Spray down (jet wash) with just water, DI if the station has it, paint wheels and undercarriage, once a week. Learnt that in Salt Lake City where for months out of the year the high is below zero, and the flipside is it hits 40C in summer.

So what I do is give it a good weekly wash snow foam and two bucket method wash, then apply a spray wax. if I drive daily and there is road salt then I snow foam and jet wash it off every couple of days just to take some of the salt off before the weekend. As my car sits on a street I actually have wheel covers that go over the tyre to stop any spray from other cars and the salt getting into my calliper and ruining my discs and pads! Happened to me with my old is220d 

[Rabbers]

The main thing I do is apply Collinite Insulator Wax #845 to the wheels (double application the first time) and the skirts, bumpers and boot area, repeating every 6-8 weeks depending on severity of weather.  Dirt and (if present) salt then come off easily with a plain-water jetwash.

[Bluemarlin]

In October I washed the car thoroughly and finished off with two coats of 303 Graphene Nano Spray. I also liberally sprayed the underside and wheel arches with ACF-50.  Prior to Christmas I drove to Germany and was in snow for a few days, so when I got back I snow foamed the car, as well as the underbody, and gave it a wash. I then stuck a garden sprinkler underneath to rinse off the foam and wash away any salt. The sprinkler is great, only about £6 off amazon, and a surprsingly powerful blast from just being connected to a hose.

I try to at least spray on snow foam and rinse off every couple of weeks, and so far the 303 seems to be holding up well, with water still beading on the flat surfaces. Will probably apply again when it's a bit warmer as it's a quick wipe on and buff off.

[Las Palmas]

I am not missing winters in Scandinavia. While I was living in Norway, they did not put salt on the roads (long ago) but in Denmark they are top consumers of salt. When temperature just get near 0 C salt is sprayed in abundance.

Here we are having winter with 15 - 20 degrees C. Sun is shining most of the time, every day. Most hotels are fully booked again after a long time with no customers, Cruise ships are coming daily.

Canary Islands are not a bad place to be retired.

[Sled Driver]

I like the idea of the garden sprinkler to hose under the car. I don't have a level driveway unfortunately so difficult to even slightly raise the vehicle. I've also seen on the Forensic detailing Channel on YouTube, John there also recommend if you have a Karcher jet wash K series to use their patio cleaner attachment and flip it upside down under the car! 👍🏽