Cleaning the roof top tent made easier

[Corey]

OK, I know this will not apply to everyone, but those of us with a Maggiolina type roof top tent this will apply.

First off, my tent is high, the rear of it is about 8' or so off the ground.

When I first got my rig I picked up a 4' ladder from Lowes.
That was fine to stand on to reach the roof rack and wash the roof.

Last March a year ago I added the roof top tent, and it was pretty hard to wash it standing on the ladder and using a washmitt.
A few weeks back I bought a 6' ladder which will work out great.

I did the

thing a few weeks back to find a high quality RV flow through wash brush, and found a good one.

It extends up to 72" which will be good when standing on the ladder.
The brush has a cut off valve to turn the water off to the handle, but I doubt I will use that.
I thought to myself it is going to be a royal PITA to have to get down from the rig, go to the water faucet and turn it off, then switch over to a regular spray nozzle to do the rest of the rig.

I did the

thing again and found a female/male water cutoff valve which will go on the end of the hose.
I just flip the valve to off, then I can unscrew the RV brush and then attach my nozzle and get back to washing the rig again.

So much better than having to go to the faucet and turn it off that way.
Here at my apartment the faucet is about 40' away from the rig, so this is a lot easier.

We are starting to get better weather here now, although it is going to rain this weekend, and maybe even snow some more.
My rig is pretty groady, even after taking it to the coin op a few weeks back and spending $10 in quarters to wash it there.
I was not able to get the top of the tents roof though, and it looks like it has a garden growing on it.
This is where the new RV brush will come in handy.

I know a few are as fanatical as I am when it comes to detailing a rig and getting it clean, so I hope some of this info is useful, especially if you have a tall rig or a tent on top like I do.

I hope to be able to wash the rig before long, as it is semi clean now that I knocked the winters dirt off of it a few weeks back, but having an almost black tent top garden looks pretty gross compared to the rest of the rig

I think though that this will work out really good for the fiberglass roof top tents.


The brush
Adjust-A-Brush Flow-thru Wash Brush

The water shut off valve
Gilmour Model No. 05V

 

[Corey]

This kind of goes along with the above post.
I got to use the above brush a few weeks back to wash the AirLand tent, and it did a great job.

It took awhile as there was black spooge all over the tent top and parts of the sides from the tree I park under.

I bought some of that 303 Aerospace Protectant spray to use on the fiberglass to prevent UV damage to it, but I also wanted to wax the tent first.

Did some research and it turns out Meguiars Marine-RV Cleaner Wax does a great job cleaning the fiberglass and applying a protective coat of UV inhibiting wax on it.

The 303 stuff will be used on it between waxing.

(Just got done)
What a chore!
'Tis harder than waxing my whole FJ pretty much.

Had to move the 6' ladder numerous times to do the sides, front. rear, and the whole top.

Then after I was all done wiping off the residue each time I did a section, I took a fresh towel and buffed it all out again.

Having to move the ladder a lot takes up a lot of the time, but the results were worth it.
I used the Portal Cable with a red Griots foam wax pad to apply the Meguiars Marine-RV Cleaner Wax.

I still need to take a tooth brush later when I wash the whole rig and scrub above the stainless steel trim you can see that goes around the whole perimeter of the top half of the shell.
There is still black spooge in there from the tree above.

Every once in awhile I will shoot some of the 303 Protectant on it to keep the UV damage at bay.

It sure is smooth now.

Meguiars #50 Marine-RV Cleaner Wax
303 Aerospace Protectant