Gobi Ladder Touch Car Wash?

[bbermann]

If you have a Gobi or similar ladder installed, have you run through automatic touch car washes?

I have had the Gobi rack installed over a year now and run through about 25 automatic touch car washes without issue. Now I am thinking about installing the ladder and need to know your experience.


My hope is that touch washes have not been an issue. I know the Gobi connections in general are rock solid, like OEM parts.

Thanks for your input

 

[Campndad]

I run ours thru weekly with no issues and I have the ladder lights and low profile gmrs antenna. The only issue is cleaning behind the ladder.


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[emupoacher]

I run ours thru weekly with no issues and I have the ladder lights and low profile gmrs antenna. The only issue is cleaning behind the ladder.


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Agree with this ... I have had a BajaRack rack & ladder for 4+ years and ran it through a touch car wash the whole time with no issues. The only struggle was cleaning behind the ladder, the spinning cloth won't get back there so the hatch is usually a little dirty coming out unless you prewash it.

 

[rightyouareken]

Agree with this ... I have had a BajaRack rack & ladder for 4+ years and ran it through a touchless car wash the whole time with no issues. The only struggle was cleaning behind the ladder, the spinning cloth won't get back there so the hatch is usually a little dirty coming out unless you prewash it.

The OP was asking about TOUCH carwashes, not touchless.

FWIW, the documentation that came with my Venture's Yakima roof basket specifically said not to use it through automatic (touch) carwashes. I run mine through a touch carwash a few times a month so I removed it. I have seen/heard too many horror stories of equipment getting ripped off vehicles I didn't want to risk it. I probably wouldn't risk it on a ladder either. It just takes one of the cloth strips to get tangled in the ladder and yank on it to cause some potential damage.

 

[Campndad]

Agree with this ... I have had a BajaRack rack & ladder for 4+ years and ran it through a touchless car wash the whole time with no issues. The only struggle was cleaning behind the ladder, the spinning cloth won't get back there so the hatch is usually a little dirty coming out unless you prewash it.

My bad I meant to say touch car wash where I have a monthly pass. Thanks for pointing that out.


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[emupoacher]

My bad I meant to say touch car wash where I have a monthly pass. Thanks for pointing that out.


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I mistyped on mine hah ... I have been through touch car washes multiple times a year for 4+ years and had no issues.

 

[bbermann]

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.

These Gobi parts get installed so solid, it seems they were tight as OEM parts but the confirmation is good to have. I'll probably install the ladder to go with the rack soon.

 

[JerseyDevil]

I’ve gone through touch washes with a Baja rack. No damage, but the hatch ends up coming out with streaks running down it. Also, the back window looks horrible after a car wash, but I’m thinking that’s because of the roof spoiler?


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[Fermn]

Not related to the original question but... do you guys think the adhesive that comes with the hardware for the ladder will damage the paint of the vehicle overtime ??

 

[IjmRunner]

Touch car washes are a great way to destroy your paint and damage vehicles with roof racks, bike racks, sometimes even grabbing an antenna and destroying the side of a vehicle.

There is also a flip side to this, you are responsible for damage to the business, if those wet rags wrap around the gobi ladder and rip it off and send that thing flying around the car wash it could cause damage to their equipment and yours.

No vehicle I ever own will ever see a touch car wash.

IMO it's not worth the risk, or the time it takes to do paint correction on vehicles that have seen touch car washes.

 

[Engineer]

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/gene...7-$15-carwash-=-$4047-18-damages-repairs.html

Not mine but thats the potential and it was not even the thread I was looking for, so its happened at least a couple times on here. Maybe a small risk but not one I would take

 

[rightyouareken]

Touch car washes are a great way to destroy your paint and damage vehicles with roof racks, bike racks, sometimes even grabbing an antenna and destroying the side of a vehicle.

There is also a flip side to this, you are responsible for damage to the business, if those wet rags wrap around the gobi ladder and rip it off and send that thing flying around the car wash it could cause damage to their equipment and yours.

No vehicle I ever own will ever see a touch car wash.

IMO it's not worth the risk, or the time it takes to do paint correction on vehicles that have seen touch car washes.

To each their own. I've been using my local chain of quality touch car washes (they aren't just some no-name wash slapped behind a Shell station) for years. Do I get swirls from them? Probably. Do they save me at least 4-6 hours of washing my vehicles per month? Yes. Have I ever had anything damaged by them? No. Do I care about swirls on my 4Runner which is gonna get pinstriping anyway? Not at all.

 

[euser]

Touch car washes are a great way to destroy your paint and damage vehicles with roof racks, bike racks, sometimes even grabbing an antenna and destroying the side of a vehicle.

There is also a flip side to this, you are responsible for damage to the business, if those wet rags wrap around the gobi ladder and rip it off and send that thing flying around the car wash it could cause damage to their equipment and yours.

No vehicle I ever own will ever see a touch car wash.

IMO it's not worth the risk, or the time it takes to do paint correction on vehicles that have seen touch car washes.

I’ve been using them as long as I’ve been driving and never had an issue. My 4Runner also has a Gobi rack, ladder, and arb awning full time. It’s a 4runner, not a sports car, I don’t care that there’s swirls if I look at it up close. The people I always see on here talking about them have never even used one, it was apparently their friends, brothers, cousins, wife’s, dads, fiancé that had the alleged issue.

 

[IjmRunner]

Touch car washes are a great way to destroy your paint and damage vehicles with roof racks, bike racks, sometimes even grabbing an antenna and destroying the side of a vehicle.

There is also a flip side to this, you are responsible for damage to the business, if those wet rags wrap around the gobi ladder and rip it off and send that thing flying around the car wash it could cause damage to their equipment and yours.

No vehicle I ever own will ever see a touch car wash.

IMO it's not worth the risk, or the time it takes to do paint correction on vehicles that have seen touch car washes.

This post has nothing to do with paint correction on a 4runner, I could care less about the pinstriping down my door, it was a general post about touch washes and paint, i.e a negative side effect. Also a negative side effect..........

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/gene...7-$15-carwash-=-$4047-18-damages-repairs.html

But you are right, it will always be a brothers sisters cousins friend or found on forum post for me, cause I don't use them.

 

[bbermann]

This post has nothing to do with paint correction on a 4runner, I could care less about the pinstriping down my door, it was a general post about touch washes and paint, i.e a negative side effect. Also a negative side effect..........

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/gene...7-$15-carwash-=-$4047-18-damages-repairs.html

But you are right, it will always be a brothers sisters cousins friend or found on forum post for me, cause I don't use them.

OK, thank you. We understand your position on this and have seen that link twice now.

 

[IjmRunner]

OK, thank you. We understand your position on this and have seen that link twice now.

What is the point of creating a post on a public forum seeking advice on a subject, only to have a particular bias toward said subject, liking only posts towards that bias and then responding with a smart a$$ comment toward anyone who disagrees?

 

[bbermann]

What is the point of creating a post on a public forum seeking advice on a subject, only to have a particular bias toward said subject, liking only posts towards that bias and then responding with a smart a$$ comment toward anyone who disagrees?

My goal was to get input from people with ladders installed and touch wash experience.

Some people have strong feelings about touch vs touchless. This is not a thread about that but sure, any comments are fair game in a public forum.

 

[uh0h50]

Just do it anyways and let us know if the machine rips off your ladder.