Opinions on drying with a leaf blower?
- Thread starter zoomzoom3
- Start date
imported_NYV6Coupe
New member
I have a dedicated leaf blower that gets used on the car & nothing else. My other leaf blower/vacuum gets too much stuff in the plastic tubes and I\'d rather not blow debris into the paint at 150+mph.
Saintlysins
New member
Accumulator brings a good point about not touching (wipe-down) the car after a drive and you're correct and I shouldn't do it ... although I still do. If I notice anything significant I will Spotless Water System flush that section of the car again, avoiding the wheels/braking system at all costs. I'm guess I'm just too hung up on clean rims, yet they're only stock. Sumtin' rrong wit mie 4 shure.
If it's not too much trouble, could you share your wheel clean/dry program?
I'd look forward to another proceedure that wouldn't put me in the paint marring risk I am now. Thank you.
If it's not too much trouble, could you share your wheel clean/dry program?
I'd look forward to another proceedure that wouldn't put me in the paint marring risk I am now. Thank you.
Accumulator
Well-known member
cjbigcog & Saintlysins- What I do is this:
(Note that by the time I finish the wash, my rotors are already flash-rusted.)
I wipe the wheels/tires off during the regular drying, to avoid any spotting (which I can still get despite all my water treatement efforts). Then, when I'm blowing water out of the valvestem pocket/lug coves/etc. I also blow water off the caliper, inside of the rim, and the rotors.
That only does so much though, always still water around the pads. And it tends to flash-rust the rotors a little more than they already are
I finish the rest of the drying before I tackle the final work on the wheels, and that often takes quite a while.
After the rest of it is dry, I pull the car forward/back either in the shop (if it's raining outside) or in the driveway (which is a pretty clean environment). I do some of this with an abrupt brake application and some of it while riding the bake pedal. Heh heh, gotta be a little careful as the brakes don't aways work too effectively while wet/rusty :grinno:
Then I pull it back into the wash bay and redo the wheels as needed with either ONR (QD strength) or a good cleaning QD and plush towels (either MF or cotton, note that the towels get pretty trashed so don't use your best ones). Then I give it a final going-over with either a spray sealant or a leaves-stuff-behind QD.
Yeah, that last cleanup has the potential for marring. I do it as gently/carefully as possible and so far so good. Guess I'm trading the risk of marring the paint for the risk of marring the wheels....but I can live with that as the clear on the wheels is generally tougher and they don't show imperfections quite as readily anyhow. Better a scratch on a wheel than a scratch on the hood IMO.
(Note that by the time I finish the wash, my rotors are already flash-rusted.)
I wipe the wheels/tires off during the regular drying, to avoid any spotting (which I can still get despite all my water treatement efforts). Then, when I'm blowing water out of the valvestem pocket/lug coves/etc. I also blow water off the caliper, inside of the rim, and the rotors.
That only does so much though, always still water around the pads. And it tends to flash-rust the rotors a little more than they already are
I finish the rest of the drying before I tackle the final work on the wheels, and that often takes quite a while.After the rest of it is dry, I pull the car forward/back either in the shop (if it's raining outside) or in the driveway (which is a pretty clean environment). I do some of this with an abrupt brake application and some of it while riding the bake pedal. Heh heh, gotta be a little careful as the brakes don't aways work too effectively while wet/rusty :grinno:
Then I pull it back into the wash bay and redo the wheels as needed with either ONR (QD strength) or a good cleaning QD and plush towels (either MF or cotton, note that the towels get pretty trashed so don't use your best ones). Then I give it a final going-over with either a spray sealant or a leaves-stuff-behind QD.
Yeah, that last cleanup has the potential for marring. I do it as gently/carefully as possible and so far so good. Guess I'm trading the risk of marring the paint for the risk of marring the wheels....but I can live with that as the clear on the wheels is generally tougher and they don't show imperfections quite as readily anyhow. Better a scratch on a wheel than a scratch on the hood IMO.
KnuckleBuckett
New member
Bottle o nitrogen. It unlike some compressed air is dry and oil free.
Saintlysins
New member
I can see where Accumulator’s technique is a bit safer than mine for overall paint protections, (thanks for sharing), and I’ll attempt that on the solid rotor vehicles. But some of the higher performance brake rotors are vented between inner and outer pad surfaces and have cross-drilled holes, built this way they’ll hold as much gunky-brake-dust residue as a sponge. These aren’t going to be cleaned out enough *in my anal opinion only* unless I spin them up to ‘sling-speed’ which is also enough to burn off the water deep within the recesses of the rotor vents and holes when braking hard. I am grateful for your sharing your technique, and maybe I’ll start another thread to gather other techniques as I think we/me has gotten off the topic.
Back to the topic: I like the Nitrogen idea KnucleBucket, but don't know enough about it. Guess I'd need a whole separate set of valves, lines and nozzles too ... I saw you mentioned it in another post too. Can you elaborate on it a little bit, I don’t need crazy details (like the ones I write) as I’ve got my compressor lines filtered for 3 contaminants, and to switch probably wouldn’t be prudent? Basics please, like costs, tank delivery/pick-up, etc. Thank you.
Back to the topic: I like the Nitrogen idea KnucleBucket, but don't know enough about it. Guess I'd need a whole separate set of valves, lines and nozzles too ... I saw you mentioned it in another post too. Can you elaborate on it a little bit, I don’t need crazy details (like the ones I write) as I’ve got my compressor lines filtered for 3 contaminants, and to switch probably wouldn’t be prudent? Basics please, like costs, tank delivery/pick-up, etc. Thank you.
Accumulator
Well-known member
Saintlysins- Good point about the different types of brake rotors. I have vented rotors on everything, but none that're slotted or drilled, didn't think about the stuff building up in those.
I go along with nitrogen for inflation, but my double-filtered compressor air is fine for everything else IMO. For that matter, I use it to top off my initially-N-inflated tires too.
I go along with nitrogen for inflation, but my double-filtered compressor air is fine for everything else IMO. For that matter, I use it to top off my initially-N-inflated tires too.
Saintlysins
New member
With my Porsche, (and a few 'friends' exotics), these high performance brake rotors are dastardly after a thorough cleaning.
As you already know, I started a New Thread asking for tips/tricks/info on how others may be doing it successfully. Let’s see what we get.
As you already know, I started a New Thread asking for tips/tricks/info on how others may be doing it successfully. Let’s see what we get.