My hood inverted!

[GPSMan]

Car washes remove nature's natural protective coating!

I had an '88 Dodge truck.
Kept it outside. Never washed or waxed it. Paint looked better than decent in 2010. I always said dirt & dust were UV protectorants.

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[Hammer]

The high velocity air blower / dryer at an automated car wash inverted my hood!

Hood went from generally convex to generally concave under the air pressure from the blower.

It did "pop back" but this can't be good for the paint.

Anyone else ever see this?
Man the hood must be thin!

I had the exact same thing happen. About 2 years ago right after I took deliver, went thru car wash and screamed when I saw the hood dent and then pop back into shape. I went to different Car wash shortly after and they had a weaker overhead dryer which did not deform the hood

I’m still hesitant to take it thru car wash and have hand washed since.

 

[Maverickman74]

My kids used to say this when they got older... and then I asked them... do you wipe your butt....

Dont ask questions that you dont want to know the answer to!

 

[Maverickman74]

I had an '88 Dodge truck.
Kept it outside. Never washed or waxed it. Paint looked better than decent in 2010. I always said dirt & dust were UV protectorants.

Do that here and it will literally have algea and moss growing on it. A nice layer of green sludge.

 

[Lightning]

Since I live in an apartment I use the manual car wash near my place. No issues, but I'll never go through an automated car wash.

 

[RichardCranium]

My kids used to say this when they got older... and then I asked them... do you wipe your butt....

@Maverickman74 beat me to it, but be ready for that answer to be, “no.”

I think I average 4 washes a year.

You only wash your butt 4 times a year?

 

[Decayed]

Man I wish our local no-touch car wash had blowers that strong. The ones at ours barely blow the water off and you have to hand dry afterwards to avoid water spots.

You guys find the weirdest things to worry about.

 

[Waterick]

I had a first-gen Honda HR-V. I dented the hood while casually leaning on it, and I'm not a big guy. Even before that, I could see the sheet metal flutter slightly under the car wash blow dryers. There have also been reports of people denting the roof pillars while pressed against them to wax the roof.



Paint is pretty flexible. Unless there's a hard crease in the metal, the paint will likely stay adhered.

Sounds like the metal in cars is getting so thin that maybe it's time to add similar flex additives to the paint on the metal like they've been doing to the plastic parts for years. Although metal that can "pop" back in place probably has not flexed enough to be a problem for factory paint as it's so thin.

 

[Dignam]

I have an wash subscription and take mine through 1-2 times a week at least during the winter. The dryer does make the hood flex a little but meh. No way I'm going without the wash up here in salt country.

 

[710-oil-614]

Yep. I cancelled my wash pass after trying both Moo Moo and Blue Sky here in Ohio. The hood concerned me but the way it rattled and blew air through my sunroof was a non-starter.

Like @fossil - I want the underbody wash more than anything but I guess that is what the pay n' spray is for.

 

[siberdraknon]

Not a fan of the harsh chemicals at a touchless but would probably go into withdrawal if I had to skip the underbody spray in the salt season.
I select the minimal wash, basically a rinse and go, every time and fast walk past the blower.

The underbody spray is critical here too. Someone should sell an at-home underbody spray device.

 

[Maverick Grabber]

I have a monthly unlimited touchless car wash subscription, I go through at least 2-3 times a week...for 2 years now...neither or my 2 mavericks have had an issue...but I DO see the hood flexing a very little at the blower.

Same here

 

[fossil]

The underbody spray is critical here too. Someone should sell an at-home underbody spray device.

take a pressure washer floor sweeping attachment and "invert it" lol.
mount the wheels on the opposite side so it sprays up.

https://www.temu.com/ul/kuiper/un9....Kr2ElGnVQtN1NA8NaLnOVAaAjK2EALw_wcB&is_back=1

 

[RichardCranium]

take a pressure washer floor sweeping attachment and "invert it" lol.
mount the wheels on the opposite side so it sprays up.

https://www.temu.com/ul/kuiper/un9....Kr2ElGnVQtN1NA8NaLnOVAaAjK2EALw_wcB&is_back=1

That is a great idea!
I swear I saw something around my area that when you drove the car over it, it turned on a sprayer, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere.

 

[Aherpa]

The high velocity air blower / dryer at an automated car wash inverted my hood!

Hood went from generally convex to generally concave under the air pressure from the blower.

It did "pop back" but this can't be good for the paint.

Anyone else ever see this?
Man the hood must be thin!

The car wash I use has those blowers but I use the basic wash (no wax or top coat crap) so the blowers do not come on.

Thanks for warning us, I will avoid using the blower in other car washes.

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