# Does anyone put their roof rack through the car wash?



## godsang (May 24, 2010)

Does anybody run their car with a roof rack through the automatic car wash? I have a Thule roof rack on my 06 VW Jetta. I am a little worried about the rack catching those long cloth strands that hang from those large cleaners and brushers. I am very concerned about the ferring (wind guard) on the front of my roof rack. It's pretty light-weight. Every rider I know says not to do it, but I'm tired of having a dirty car. I don't want to stand outside in the NJ winter and wash the car myself. Does anyone put their car through the auto wash with no problems?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

godsang said:


> Does anybody run their car with a roof rack through the automatic car wash? I have a Thule roof rack on my 06 VW Jetta. I am a little worried about the rack catching those long cloth strands that hang from those large cleaners and brushers. I am very concerned about the ferring (wind guard) on the front of my roof rack. It's pretty light-weight. Every rider I know says not to do it, but I'm tired of having a dirty car. I don't want to stand outside in the NJ winter and wash the car myself. Does anyone put their car through the auto wash with no problems?


I once put my car with an old Performance roof rack through one of those washes... the brushes mangled the rack. Don't do it. I had one of those washes crack the windshield on a rental car on my vacation this summer.

I will put my car and rack through a TOUCHLESS car wash. That limits your choices of where to go, but the water is not going to twist metal like those cloth brushes will.


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## Tim-H (Mar 20, 2010)

I hand wash because I don't like swirl marks in my paint. I do take the rack off for that though. Don't want to jam dirt under the pads, will cause bad scratching. It really only takes 5 minutes to get the rack off the car, and maybe 15-20 to get everything back on.


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## Berkley (May 21, 2007)

I've heard stories of the brushes wrapping around racks and pulling them off, even causing damage to the car. I wouldn't try it myself.


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

Hand-washing does a much better job and saves you $$ to boot!


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## moschika (Jan 12, 2004)

I've been running thru all sorts of car-washes with my Yakima rack and fairing, on several different cars, for the last 15 years. never had a problem. Wouldn't think twice about running thru one again either. It even got burned once when someone lit our car on fire! and still works just fine, the rack not the car.


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## Uncle Six Pack (Aug 29, 2004)

godsang said:


> Does anybody run their car with a roof rack through the automatic car wash? I have a Thule roof rack on my 06 VW Jetta. I am a little worried about the rack catching those long cloth strands that hang from those large cleaners and brushers. I am very concerned about the ferring (wind guard) on the front of my roof rack. It's pretty light-weight. Every rider I know says not to do it, but I'm tired of having a dirty car. I don't want to stand outside in the NJ winter and wash the car myself. Does anyone put their car through the auto wash with no problems?


When one of those long cloths wraps around the wrong thing and gets a friction-knot stuck on it, you are gonna lose out...

I worked at a car wash for a while and we always had to warn anyone with ANY aftermarket stuff that we were not responsible for damage.... with that being said, we saw far more damaged mirrors get ripped off of old clunkers than any other form of damage. One contractor always came in with ladder racks on his pickup, he always just told us to run it through and it never gave a problem.... but all it takes is one cloth... and all those things are driven by some pretty strong hydraulic pumps... his ladder racks probably could have taken a fair amount of abuse, but most bike racks.... ehhhh, just hit it with the pressure-washer in the self-serve bay. Winter in NJ is no worse than winter in PA, right?


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## JSumner13 (Apr 26, 2006)

Yes.... Brushless, touchless car washes are fine on roof racks.


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

JSumner13 said:


> Yes.....Brushless, touchless car washes are fine on roof racks.


No kidding?!?


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## JSumner13 (Apr 26, 2006)

highdelll said:


> no kidding?!?


Just answering the OP's question  Brushless car washes have height/width sensors that do not seem to be a problem with roof racks. Some may think that it would.


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## Kneescar (Feb 26, 2009)

I've got a yYkima roof rack and I never take it through for the reasons listed above. I also worry that any high pressure water jets hitting the hardware are probably not good. It's no problem handwashing my car, I don't mind getting cold and wet for a few minutes. The only drawback I can see is that I can't rinse my undercarriage of road salt all that well at home.

I do remember as friend who worked at a car wash telling me about a van getting a dryer cloth wrapped around the mirror and somehow yanking the door off. I'm sure that must have been some POS rustbucket but it would have been funny to see.


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## pulser (Dec 6, 2004)

I have a Yakima roof rack on my Forester. I have been in both types of car washes with out any problems. I would rather use the touchless type car wash. But the local wash places here that aren't use some thick rubber brushes that don't seem to have any problems with my rack. I even have wheel fork up there and its not a problem.


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## GR1822 (Jun 23, 2009)

I have a Yakima rack on my suburban with a fairing and two raptor bike racks. 1 sticks out forward of the fairing. I took it to dealership for an oil change and the service advisor offered to wash it. Something got caught and bent the part of the suburbans rack. The Yakima crossbars and raptors held just fine, but the lowrider "grabbers" slid and bent the factory rails. The dealership replaced it at their cost. If I would have thought that it was going to be run through an aoutomatic washer I wold have declined.


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## sgltrak (Feb 19, 2005)

I have had the same rack on 9 cars over the past 23 years and it has been run through numerous car washes without incident, though most of the car washes have been of the touchless variety.

However, I did get some leakage from the touchless wash the other day due to passenger side weather strip caught in my rack clip from the most recent installation.

One note is that you should check your bars regularly for rust, especially if you run through the car wash often, or if you leave the rack on all the time.


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## Evo. (Feb 3, 2009)

moschika said:


> i've been running thru all sorts of car-washes with my yakima rack and fairing, on several different cars, for the last 15 years. never had a problem. wouldn't think twice about running thru one again either. it even got burned once when someone lit our car on fire! and still works just fine, the rack not the car.


+1

Never have any issues...

Send it


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## amishscum (Nov 12, 2006)

^ +2

Been doing it for years with my Yakima and never even thought about it. Never had a problem. One time, I did have a car wash warn me that they wouldn't be responsible for damage to the rack, but it was fine.

I'm not saying it's a good idea, or that all racks/car washes are created equal.


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## godsang (May 24, 2010)

Thank you to everyone for your opinions. I am paranoid because of the damage that some people have had. I will stick to washing the car with the quarter operated hand held sprayers. It just won't get done as often as it used to.


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## Vissile (Jul 15, 2008)

I ended up buying some cut off pieces of clear car bra underneath the pads before putting the rack on. Then I don't have to worry about getting grit underneath the pads when I run it through the auto touch less car washes, or even the coin-op car washes. 
In Canada, you can order scraps online from a company in Kitchener called no chip, if I remember correctly.


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## ArmySlowRdr (Dec 19, 2003)

I generally go through the laser car washes (no brushes/straps--just jets of chemicals and water)


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## pleepleus (Apr 19, 2011)

Never had problems running Yakimas through a car wash. I did find out the hard way not to go off road with the racks attached. I used to have an old Isuzu Trooper with rain gutter mounted Yakimas. Caught a branch with one of the cross bars and ripped the tower off the gutter. Bent the the hell out of the rain gutter but didn't hurt the racks at all.


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## dirt farmer (Mar 28, 2005)

Has anyone ever put Seamus through the car wash?


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## STT GUY (May 19, 2009)

Our local carwash offers "Soft Touch" (brushes) or "Touch Free".

They have a big bucket of soapy water and a brush for pre-washing. I bush the entire car and then go for the Touch Free. It Takes ten to fifteen mins and I can leave the roof and hitch racks on. Cost is $6.


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## Shark (Feb 4, 2006)

I take mine through the touchless only.


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## PrincipalRider (Jun 24, 2005)

I go to a place that does hand washing. I am too scared to send my car through an automatic wash with brushes. I just know something will happen. It might be rare, but I will be the 1 time out of 1,000,000 that it happens.


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## 006_007 (Jan 12, 2004)

I use this carwash weekly and it has never done any damage.


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## rwrusso (Apr 12, 2011)

I know this is a 7 year old thread but I was searching for info on going through a car wash with a ski box. My previous experience: I've had various Yakima towers and bars on a few cars, with bike racks in summer and ski racks in winter. Places will tell you things can get snagged on the racks and damage the vehicle, so I never took those cars through a car wash. Now that we have a ski box, with no external hardware, I'm wondering if that would be safe. I go to a local Royal Wash, that is not touch less. I prefer hand washing at home, but it's hard to find time, and I like getting the road salt rinsed off the undercarriage.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

I don't think the answer is any different. touchless only.


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## mtbman123 (Nov 7, 2020)

I don't ever put my car through a brush-type car wash, as I feel the brushes can degrade the paintwork on the car.

I'd recommend simply using a local carwash where they hand-wash the car.


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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

Most automated car washes with brushes won’t even let you in with a rack on it.


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