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Cleaning guide · truck and fleet workshopsTruck and bus workshops, dealer service centres and in-house logistics fleet workshops strip, clean and rebuild heavy components every day. This guide covers how to clean truck parts efficiently, and how to size an automatic parts washer for a fleet workshop.
Heavy vehicles carry a lot of oil and grease. When a gearbox, differential, hub, brake assembly or engine comes apart, every part has to be cleaned before it can be inspected, measured and rebuilt. In many workshops that still means a technician at a solvent or diesel tub with a brush, sometimes for a large part of the shift.
For a fleet that is a cost in three ways: skilled hours spent scrubbing instead of repairing, vehicles waiting longer in the bay, and inconsistent results that make inspection harder. Solvent and diesel tubs also bring fumes, skin contact and fire risk into the workshop, and the waste still has to be handled.
A manual tub stays useful for a quick rinse of a single part, but it does not scale to a workshop that rebuilds gearboxes and engines every week.
A rotary hot-water parts washer is the core machine for a truck workshop. A technician loads the basket, closes the lid, starts a programme and walks away to the next job. Heated water-based detergent is sprayed from two spray lines while the basket turns, so casings, hubs, diff housings and engine parts are degreased on every side. Because the cycle runs on its own, cleaning no longer ties up a technician.
An ultrasonic cleaner takes the parts a spray cannot reach properly: injectors, valve bodies, small gears and bearings, and parts with blind holes or fine passages. Parts are lowered into a heated bath on a pneumatic platform and cleaned on every wetted surface.
Larger fleet and dealer workshops often run one of each: the Rotor for bulk degreasing, the Sonic for detail work.
Size the machine on your largest regular part and your heaviest batch, not on the average job. Measure the largest gearbox casing, diff housing or head you clean and compare it with the basket diameter and washing height:
All Rotor machines need 400 V three-phase (other voltages on request) and 6–8 bar compressed air, which most truck workshops already have. Leave room for the lid to open: see the open-lid height on the comparison table.
Dealer service centres need predictable turnaround: a washer that is warm at the start of the shift (the Rotor has a weekly heating timer) and a cycle that runs while the technician does something else. In-house fleet workshops at logistics, transport and bus companies usually clean a wide mix of parts, from brake components to engines, so a mid-size Rotor plus an ultrasonic tank covers most of the work. Independent truck workshops often start with one Rotor sized for their largest gearbox or diff housing.
Request a quote, or simply register your interest: it helps us plan the next shipment and costs you nothing.
For heavy, greasy truck components an automatic rotary hot-water parts washer is usually the main machine, sized on your largest gearbox casing, diff housing or head. Add an ultrasonic cleaner for injectors, valve bodies and small parts with passages.
Yes. Casings, shafts, gears, hubs and diff housings are typical loads for a rotary parts washer, as long as they fit the basket diameter, washing height and load rating. Bearings and small gears can also go into an ultrasonic cleaner.
Rotor 800: Ø740 × 450 mm and 150 kg. Rotor 1000: Ø940 × 500 mm and 300 kg. Rotor 1200: Ø1140 × 600 mm and 400 kg. Rotor 1400 specifications are on request.
Metal brake parts such as drums, carriers and calipers can be degreased in a water-based washer once rubber seals and friction material are removed. Always follow the component maker’s cleaning instructions.
Yes. Enquiries from across Africa are welcome. Choose “Outside South Africa” on the form and tell us the destination; delivery is quoted for each site.
Tell us what you clean and where the machine is going, and we will reply with an itemised quote. Not ready to buy? Tick "register interest" and we will keep you updated on availability and shipments. All enquiries are handled by email: you can also write to info@ironwash.africa.
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