First fleet job

[Dan Stapleton]

Been doin this a while but never washed a semi or equipment of any kind. A local concrete plant has many trucks and 15 or so pieces of equipment. No concrete removal, just cleaning.

My first question is, Can you clean semi's brushless without 2-stepping? What soap? If you do 2-step are their acid's other than Hydroflouric that work? On the equipment, what method would be best and least labor intensive. They are covered with concrete dust and sand. One more. Is it common practice to degrease the jackplate area? Any info would be appreciated.

[Dan Stapleton]

Calling Scott Stone and Paul Kassander.

[Paul Kassander]

You can use other acids, but the HF works the best. There are a ton of soaps on the market that will work well but you will want to stay away from the ones that contain sodium hydroxide. Yes they work well and yes they are fast...but they are stripping the paint, thats why they work. Over time you will begin to see the surface dull and become chalky. How do I know? I used to use it.

I am partial to Problend, I like the way it performs on the surface of the vehicle and can be used as a single step brushless wash most of the time as well as in 2 stepping (step2). Bond Breaker is another that works well brushless as does Prodigy.

2 stepping will be your least labor intensive way of washing because it rarely requires additional brushing. As long as you are washing the trucks on a regular basis (2wk schedule is best) you will be able to soap and rinse as a regular maint wash without having to 2 step or brush but every 3-4 months, except in certain situations. Brushing will always give you your best clean but it can be a lot of work and will burn you, and your employees out quick.

[Scott Stone]

I just barely saw this. FOr cement trucks I use a product called liquid sandblaster from ANkem Chemicals. It is not nearly as harsh as Hf, it attacks the portland in the cement, and leaves the metal alone. If there is aluminum, it just makes it shine. The really cool part is that you can spray it on, and just let it set. If it dries it is no big deal, it will rinse right off without damaging aluminum or paint.

It is really cool.
If you want a number I have a local guy that sells it. He was in concrete for 35 years before he started selling chems.

[PRESSURE PACKED]

BTW CEMENT YARDS ARE FILLED WITH CEMENT AS YOU DRIVE IN IT WILL MOST LIKELY GET ON YOUR EQUIPMENT SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO CLEAN YOUR VEHICLE etc. ACCORDINGLY

[COOPER]

Originally Posted by Paul Kassander

You can use other acids, but the HF works the best. There are a ton of soaps on the market that will work well but you will want to stay away from the ones that contain sodium hydroxide. Yes they work well and yes they are fast...but they are stripping the paint, thats why they work. Over time you will begin to see the surface dull and become chalky. How do I know? I used to use it.

I am partial to Problend, I like the way it performs on the surface of the vehicle and can be used as a single step brushless wash most of the time as well as in 2 stepping (step2). Bond Breaker is another that works well brushless as does Prodigy.

2 stepping will be your least labor intensive way of washing because it rarely requires additional brushing. As long as you are washing the trucks on a regular basis (2wk schedule is best) you will be able to soap and rinse as a regular maint wash without having to 2 step or brush but every 3-4 months, except in certain situations. Brushing will always give you your best clean but it can be a lot of work and will burn you, and your employees out quick.

I have never 2-step washed. But have a couple of fleets that I have taken over that were washed that way and paint on the older trucks is very dull. The guy that was doing them may not have been doing it right, but never the less the paint is shot.

I have used products containing sodium hydroxide since I started and I have 3 fleets that I have been cleaning for 7 years and the paint is as shiny now as it was 7 years ago, so I don't believe the stuff about sod. hydroxide dulling the paint. It may if not completely rinsed or used too strong, but if you use it right it will not hurt the paint.

I have used products that claim not to hurt the paint because they do not contain sod. hydroxide. The one i tried (not saying any names) took all the color out of some "ribbon magnets" (the ones that say support our troops) They were yellow with black writing and were white when i finished. I have washed these trucks with the magnets on them for at least a year before and the soap i was using (with sod. hydroxide) never done this.

I believe the 2 step with HF method hurts the paint worse than any. A lot of the truck washes use this method and trucks that get washed a some of these places will be dull within 2 years.

JMO