Hey all! Just bought myself a 2007 Dodge Ram with a sports package and a few other goodies a few days ago. It's replacing my mustang GT which was stolen over a month ago. As much fun as that car was, it wasn't practical. So I began looking at trucks as a replacement and found this one:

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o199/snooj/truck.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o...ooj/truck2.jpg

Not the best pictures in the world, but you get the idea.

I test drove it and fell in love. Brought it home the following day.

Now, I'm originally from Florida. I just moved to New York and brought the truck with me. This is my first real winter. I pretty much plan on just letting the truck sit all winter but I want to clean it and get rid of all the bug splatters first. Note that I don't have a garage and would have to take the truck to a place where I can wash it. Would this be a really bad idea as the temperature already hovering around freezing? I'm one of those people that can't stand to see dirt on her car.

 

If the temps are "around freezing" you will be fine. The paint absorbs heat from the sun a little but. I wash mine in 25 degree temps

 

[sm=welcomesign.gif] to the forum and beautiful truck!!! I hate washing in the cold!! go to a car wash where the people dry it and everything for ya.... a lot easier! lol i hate the cold!

 

Up here we routinely spend winter at -10F and lower. The only thing I'd recommend is spraying a little lock de-icer in your locks before you wash if you don't have keyless entry. Other than that, at those temperatures, you can expect your windows to be frozen shut, as well as your doors. What I do is once I get home from the car wash (about a 10 minute drive) is just open and close them once or twice. By that time, they're already pretty frozen up, but the open and closing keeps them from becoming a real problem. With the windows, you pretty much have to get the inside of the cab nice and hot for a while. I tend to point the vents closest to the windows at the windows to help.

 

Cleaning in the cold isnt that bad..get a california duster and wipe your truck down ever night .. it will help keep the rain spots to a min. lots of heated car washes up north

 

Pick a sunny day to wash your truck, either a self wash place or one of those places that do it all for you. Good advice from Kregier about the windows.
Don't have the bottle in front of me but there is a product thats called Bug & Tar remover. It has green lettering on the label and it comes in a squirt bottle similar to a windex bottle. Works great at harmlessly removing dead sticky bugs and tar chunks.
Put a high quality wax on also. If you plan on not driving it much and parking it outside, a decent, high quality car/truck cover will help protect it against the elements. Off the top of my head, California Car Cover makes 'em, starting at 100.00 then up from there, depending on features. You don't just want a cheap thin cover. You want one that allows it to breathe while not trapping moisture on the surfaces of the paint - not good.
Hope this helps.

Tim

 

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I'm just waiting for my car cover to come in and the storm to pass and then I'll be taking her down to a self car wash place to clean her up. Don't really want someone else to wash it. I did that a few times with my mustang, and even at the high quality places, I was never fully satisfied.

I've never heard of a heated car wash, but thanks dave05ram. I'll have to look that up.

 

I 've always washed my vehicles in the winter. never had a peoblem. even if your window's do kinda freze, you're gonna have that even if it snows real good. like they said, just turn up the heater.. but it shouldn't be a problem at all..