Road Tar

When I use to own an RV we used WD-40 to clean off road tar as it does not harm the paint and breaks down the tar very nicely.

 

Exactly. Works great for cleaning tar. Have even used a little gasoline on a rag, and believe it or not, I know some folks that have used peanut butter.

 

WD40 or kerosene. I do not like the bug tar remover products as most seem to contain an abrasive.

 

What's up with tar today?
I was out in the company truck today picking up a load of steel. On the way back, a guy in a pickup is towing one of those "Tar Pots" that roofers use. A big holding tank contraption with a built in burner for heat and a pump to move the liquid tar up to the rooftop. He pull right in front of me on the freeway, so I slowed down a little so I could safely pass. Then I notice a fine spray of black tar starting to coat the windshield.... OK, I say to myself, don't hit the wipers, just don't. The cab on my truck is white. Well it was white. When I got back to the shop, I got out a 5 gal container of kerosine and went over all the glass on the windshield and paint on the cab and bumper. It took about 1-1/2 hours to get it all off. Then followed it all with windex. Didn't think of the WD-40, but I had enough Kerosine.

Strange day for tar apparently.

 

Get some Hyrdo on that paint or at least some good soft wax. You don't have anything on the White! :eek6:

 

on the WD 40
on a good coat of wax, if you don't have it already, to make it easier next time

WD40 I believe takes off everything down to the clear coat except the WD40 residue

 

The bugaboo around here is the crack patching done on the highway surfaces and city streets. The crews inject what appears to be a very liquid form of tar into the cracks, then overlay it with a coating of very fine gravel or what appears to be some sort of thin paper. The gravel probably helps give the repair some strength, but the paper is clearly just a lame attempt to keep the tar off the vehicles.

More often than not, when I'm washing the boot I run across a couple dozen or more tiny pinhead-sized black spots. Evidently the road tar atomizes a bit when the tires pass over it and the micro-drops get caught in the burble of air behind the MINI. The little bastards are an absolute bear to get off (soapy water and a microfiber just transforms a black dot into a brown smear). The good news with PW body color is that the tar spots show up well against the paint -- easy to find when detailing. Of course, the bad news is that the tar spots show up well against the paint -- easy to find when not detailing...

 

I've used WD-40 for several years but recently I found some tar remover while at Advance Auto that works great. "Surf City Garage...Road Tar Grime Destroyer" It's a spray on gel that disolves the tar spots in about 30 seconds and then you just wash it off. Just another option.:idea:

 

Prima CosmoNot works fantastic. Did a lot of this cleanup at MITM 2010.
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