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Would you drive it?

MountainmanID

MountainmanID

1/2 ton status
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Posts
110
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95
Location
North Idaho
I've got both doors, the hood, the top, and the right fender/inner fender off the K5. I don't have a pressure washer at the shop I'm building in but there is a nice Coin-op car wash about 4 blocks away that has the nice pressure hose with selectable soap/rinse water. I'm going to be doing rust bullet on the frame and any part of the body that isn't being replaced, including the interior. Roll on bed liner goes on over the rust bullet.

I realized this morning that more than half the work of getting the Rust Bullet applied lies in removing the decades of dirt and grime that are on pretty much every square inch of the K5. I have an opportunity before I start welding new floor pans/rockers back on to get to a lot of areas that would normally be a PITA to reach on an assembled truck.

Obvious minor legal issues aside, would you throw the drivers seat/belt back in the cab and drive a total of a quarter mile to the coin op to try and blast every bit of dirt that I can get to with half the body removed? The truck is registered/tagged/insured in my name. I do have to dip into WA so I'll be crossing state lines, but law enforcement is fairly scarce.

WOULD YOU DRIVE IT?

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No reason you can't test it out first on your property if you wish. If the core support is bolted down, and you can secure a battery, why not? If the drivetrain/braking system is intact, I don't see a real danger.

Have you checked those coin-ops though? I have one I went to with the truck, and I think I got maybe 8 minutes, like $1/four minutes, which wasn't nearly enough time to even get most of the dirt off the undercarriage. Then I ran out of change lol, I didn't think it would be nearly that quick or expensive for such a short period of time. Can you rent or borrow a pressure washer?
 
I would drive it. No real reason not to if lights and brakes work ok. Please post a video...…...and a burnout!
 
dyeager535 said:
No reason you can't test it out first on your property if you wish. If the core support is bolted down, and you can secure a battery, why not? If the drivetrain/braking system is intact, I don't see a real danger.

Have you checked those coin-ops though? I have one I went to with the truck, and I think I got maybe 8 minutes, like $1/four minutes, which wasn't nearly enough time to even get most of the dirt off the undercarriage. Then I ran out of change lol, I didn't think it would be nearly that quick or expensive for such a short period of time. Can you rent or borrow a pressure washer?
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Oh yeah I forgot I took out the battery trey with the fender. Suppose a small piece of plywood and some ratchet straps to the frame would work. Or just set the battery on what's left of the passenger floor and run jumpers down the side.

I can probably borrow a pressure washer from dad but another reason for washing it off site is to leave all the mud and crunchy chunks of rust and paint at the car wash.

The only place I can really wash it at the shop other than the side of the street is the 35' of concrete driveway directly in front of the shops roll up door where I park my 89 accord that's my daily summer driver....

Should I do the burnout in the car wash? Lol
 
I'd toss two bolts in the Fender, and pull it off when you get to the wash.

-Rob
 
MountainmanID said:
Should I do the burnout in the car wash? Lol
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Oh yeah!

I often go to the car wash to leave the crud there instead of my driveway. I own a pressure washer but it its worth it sometimes to leave grease elsewhere. Spray everything down with degreaser before you leave home and then again when you get there. Wait a few minutes and then pressure wash it off.
 
Wouldnt hesitate.
 
I'd drive it. But I also wouldn't.

Here's why. Some one above touched on it. You'd spend big bucks at the coin op to get that clean. And most coin ops suck. They reduce the output pressure to save their equipment.

My local home depot rents pressure washers. Don't know for how much but the pressure would be better and you'd be able to siphon from a degreaser jug or simple green if you wanted. A couple hours rental is a better deal in my opinion than a boat load of quarters and a sheety car wash
 
Yah not even a question for me. I go later at night so I can scrub stuff too.

But be kind and wash all the crap down the grate.
 
I prefer the truck washes, usually have higher pressure and taller bays(if they even have a roof).

And yes, I know it goes without saying but don't be a jerk and leave mud everywhere and especially not in the brushes
 
If it were me I'd risk driving it 1/4 mile to the car wash near my house,but after dark,when traffic is practically nil--during daylight hours the highway the car wash is on is a friggin raceway & death trap..and cops drive by every 5 minutes,they'ed love to see that and have it towed away and write you a book of citations..

I'd put a brace from the radiator support to the firewall before driving it,otherwise you risk flexing the radiator core ..

Renting a pressure washer sounds like a better idea to me,as the car wash near me has mediocre pressure and no real hot water...a steam cleaner would be even better if you can rent one..

I washed the dried caked on clay mud on my '77 GMC the previous owner plastered onto it during mud bogging ,about 50 times during the time I had it registered,and most of it never came off at all--our landfill was a mountain of dirt and the mixture of clay,trash,and whatever else was mixed in with it clung like glue to your truck,and would burn a hole in sheet metal if it was not washed off immediately,it was like acid..once it dried it was like concrete,nothing would take it off..
 
MountainmanID said:
Obvious minor legal issues aside, would you throw the drivers seat/belt back in the cab and drive a total of a quarter mile to the coin op to try and blast every bit of dirt that I can get to with half the body removed? The truck is registered/tagged/insured in my name. I do have to dip into WA so I'll be crossing state lines, but law enforcement is fairly scarce.
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I wouldn't have a problem driving that to a shop, if it's otherwise road worthy. If you have plates and insurance you're not illegally operating it. Not sure what your area's requirements are for fenders. You do have both sides of the tire covered, so I wouldn't expect any legal issues here. I daily drove my pickup for a summer with the bed removed. I used hand signals since the taillights were gone, but otherwise it was just like driving any other vehicle.
 
MountainmanID said:
Oh yeah I forgot I took out the battery trey with the fender. Suppose a small piece of plywood and some ratchet straps to the frame would work. Or just set the battery on what's left of the passenger floor and run jumpers down the side.
Click to expand...

I'd put the battery on the floor, wherever it is safest.

And yes, we want pictures of wet burnouts. :burnout: :burnout:
 
I drove this '74 C10 with a 454/TH400 for awhile with no bed,but I did wire up a pair of lollipop tail lights to the bumper,so it would still be "legal",here you must have tail,stop,and brake lights and directional signals all operational..

The one thing that got me in trouble driving it that way,was trying to take off from a dead stop fast--it would incinerate the tires so easy,it was near impossible to get out of a side street onto a main road quickly without squealing the tires--and on a rainy day,you'd best wait until no cars were approaching for a LONG ways off,because it liked to spin the tires in all three gears before it would even move on wet tar!..it did awesome donuts too...got yelled at by a cop for doing a few in a deserted parking lot one night with it..:blush:..

I did almost get ticketed for having no fenders a few times too..:doah:1974 GMC C1500 High Sierra 002.jpg
 
The only thing they occasionally get stupid about around here is rear mud flaps if your being a nuisance and the cop just wants to ruin the look of your truck with a single fix it ticket. State law is that no more than 12" vertically of the rear face of a tire should be exposed. So pretty much every truck on the road is non-compliant, except for the straight pipe-hittin, stackin block lifting, teenagers with giant tires because a cop caught them blasting pedestrians with their exhaust and wrote them a ticket for everything wrong with the truck.

I've never had an issue, my 4runner has about 27" of tire visible from the rear. Running it with nothing but frame would probably eventually get me pulled over and at least checked though....
 
I got pulled over at least twice for no rear fenders--after a few warnings on my way to work one week,I decided to put my Fisher plow on the frame rails with the blade over the tires ,with a 2x12 under the plow to raise it up enough so the tires wouldn't rub,and used some flat stock & bolts to bolt it down..

That backfired though,one cop saw it when I drove by,he spun around,pulled me over, and thought the plow was just plopped on the frame with no bolts or clamps,:eek: ,and then complained the lack of mud flaps still allowed stones to be chucked at vehicles behind me when he saw it was bolted down.
I told him I didn't want my back window getting smashed by stones either,so I put the plow on,figured it was better than nothing,but he considered it a bigger hazard than no fenders!..and it caught his attention instantly..:doah:

I was going to put a pair of casement window wells I had on it to act as fenders and put a long piece of conveyor belt I had hanging around under the bumper for fenders and mud flap,but I found a good used be a few days later for $200 for it..I wasted no time buying it and putting it on!..
 
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