Proper Cleaning After Off-Road Trip

[joltman]

I'm curious as to recommendations for a proper cleaning after an off-road trip. Specifically, under body or even in the frame rails. Do you own a power washer or do you take it somewhere? Things to watch out for? Things to remove (stock bash plates)? Thanks!

 

[stonepa]

Describe your offroad trip. Mud? Snow? Gravel? Rock? Unless heavy mud i just wash the car and am done with it.

 

[joltman]

Describe your offroad trip. Mud? Snow? Gravel? Rock? Unless heavy mud i just wash the car and am done with it.

I was thinking just a generalized thread that could cover the main scenarios. For me, it was dirt and a tiny bit of mud.

 

[yonah]

I was thinking just a generalized thread that could cover the main scenarios. For me, it was dirt and a tiny bit of mud.

Best to stay away from mud (no IH8Mud pun intended) unless the situation forces it. Though, I've always had good luck with a pressure washer - some flexibility and patience will remove most of the dirt and mud from the undercarriage. I really don't think there is a need to drop the skid plates unless you get into some serious muck.

For dirt (and mainly dust) under the hood, I use compressed air and one of those needle-style attachments to keep things clean in the engine bay.

A regular coating of quality wax and a glass treatment (like Rainex) will make cleaning the exterior of the vehicle very easy as the grime will have a hard time attaching itself to the surface of the vehicle. Wax is good maintenance in general - it protects the paint from the sun and desert pin-striping.

 

[TeCKis300]

In the desert environment out here in the southwest, I always make it a point to use compressed air to blow out or replace the engine filter. You'd be surprised at the amount of dust and silt that can collect there.

Car wash, not much more than a run through the automated Costco car wash that also does an underbody rinse.

 

[Sandroad]

So, from an upper midwest perspective, getting any sand/mud/gravel/dirt/squished rabbits (it happens) off the undercarriage is crucial because that stuff holds moisture and salt. I have a pressure washer and use it freely. There are lots of places under there that hold sand, a frequent source of added weight to my LC. To me honest, after trips to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, I spend more time washing under the truck than the topside (though I do clean that well too). It takes a while to loosen and remove packed sand/dirt from under there. Get it out and get it clean if you live in salted road areas.

 

[rlynch356]

on amazon you can buy an undercarriage attachment for your pressure washer, it works.

Amazon.com : undercarage wash

 

[afgman786]

- Pressure wash with that undercarriage attachment posted above
- Drive up on ramps and get on the ground and pressure wash with regular attachment from many angles
- Wash top side of rig
- run regular hose thru frame rails to get any last mud out

 

[bloc]

Put your rainbow lawn sprinkler under it for a while, moving around occasionally to get different general areas.
Pretty much everything under the hood has quite effective rubber gaskets protecting anything important. I often remove the engine cover and hose the engine and engine bay off, just trying to not blast water directly into the alternator or upward into the fuse box lid. Otherwise I’m not too picky. These things are designed to be driven in poor conditions and survive a long time.

 

[rlynch356]

I also use one of these Amazon product ASIN B083DCWCXF
Which is great for foam and washing of course but the super short gun handle is really why I bought it. allows you to get in tight spaces in the wheel wells and such to get the mud out- Its messy but you can get it into tight spots. If you have ramps all the better, and I use it for blowing gunk off the motor as well.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Clean out the front bump stop mounts. Four total, two on each side.

It’s a bucket with holes up high that let junk in, but no plan for drainage. Every. Single. 200. That I see come through here has flaking, rusty bump stop brackets on the inside.

On the new 200s that come in, I air blast them out, and enamel coat the inside of them. I did the same thing to my ‘11, but I spent a week with chemicals making sure there was no rust in those buckets prior to enamel.

 

[joltman]

Clean out the front bump stop mounts. Four total, two on each side.

It’s a bucket with holes up high that let junk in, but no plan for drainage. Every. Single. 200. That I see come through here has flaking, rusty bump stop brackets on the inside.

On the new 200s that come in, I air blast them out, and enamel coat the inside of them. I did the same thing to my ‘11, but I spent a week with chemicals making sure there was no rust in those buckets prior to enamel.

That's interesting. What did you use for enamel coating? I'll need to get up in there with a light to see exactly where you're talking about. Thank you!

 

[FrazzledHunter]

I haven't been seriously off road in my 200 (yet) but I've been using something like this on all my cars for something like 35 years for dirt & road salt:

1. 10 ft 3/4 in. PVC pipe
2. Garden hose strain reliever
3. Female hose to pvc adapter
4. Male hose to pvc adapter
5. Circular sprinkler

It's not fancy but I made it mostly out of junk I just had laying around the garage.
I just slide it around under the cars; the sprinkler puts out a pretty good spray and gets the underside pretty clean too!

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

That's interesting. What did you use for enamel coating? I'll need to get up in there with a light to see exactly where you're talking about. Thank you!

Rustoleum Professional Enamel Semi-gloss black.

 

[Kurosawa]

When it gets real muddy a handful of quarters at the self serve place is well worth it to leave the mud there rather than on your driveway. I'll blast it off best that I can underneath first then up top and then again below now that it's softened up the big chunks under there a bit. At that point it comes back to the house for a full handwash. This time it will also get a clay bar, a light cut with the rotary and three coats of wax since it's seen a significant amount of duty in the last 6 months.

 

[FrazzledHunter]

Clean out the front bump stop mounts. Four total, two on each side.

It’s a bucket with holes up high that let junk in, but no plan for drainage. Every. Single. 200. That I see come through here has flaking, rusty bump stop brackets on the inside.

On the new 200s that come in, I air blast them out, and enamel coat the inside of them. I did the same thing to my ‘11, but I spent a week with chemicals making sure there was no rust in those buckets prior to enamel.

OK sorry I'm probably being dense...where are these things exactly?

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

OK sorry I'm probably being dense...where are these things exactly?

If you look on top of the front, lower control arm. You will see two rubber bump stops that have a little over and inch of clearance from touching the lower control arm. Those rubber bump stops are bolted to brackets that are welded to the frame rails. There are holes in ht bracket that let water in, but there are no hols on the bottom edge that let water out. Those brackets also sit next to a tire that slings more junk around while driving.

 

[joltman]

If you look on top of the front, lower control arm. You will see two rubber bump stops that have a little over and inch of clearance from touching the lower control arm. Those rubber bump stops are bolted to brackets that are welded to the frame rails. There are holes in ht bracket that let water in, but there are no hols on the bottom edge that let water out. Those brackets also sit next to a tire that slings more junk around while driving.

I wonder if this would be another good spot, that after it's cleaned, to use some of that LPS3 grease people use on the KDSS valves?

 

[FrazzledHunter]

If you look on top of the front, lower control arm. You will see two rubber bump stops that have a little over and inch of clearance from touching the lower control arm. Those rubber bump stops are bolted to brackets that are welded to the frame rails. There are holes in ht bracket that let water in, but there are no hols on the bottom edge that let water out. Those brackets also sit next to a tire that slings more junk around while driving.

Thank you for the reply - I found 'em. Geez this is a stinker!!!
I see what you're saying about the rear bumper - pic1. But what I observed didn't quite match your description shown in pic 2 - unless I'm misunderstanding, plus I'm wondering about another issue with the crossmember.
Pic 1 - rear bumper - camera behind the front right tire facing forward - yep there's an issue:

Pic 2- front bumper - camera in front of the front right tire facing rear - there are weep holes and they should let water out the bottom right? HOWEVER - regarding the crossmember - is it hollow and does it fill up with water/crud with no escape?
Sorry I didn't pull the skid plates to check.

 

[Edifer]

Best to stay away from mud (no IH8Mud pun intended) unless the situation forces it. Though, I've always had good luck with a pressure washer - some flexibility and patience will remove most of the dirt and mud from the undercarriage. I really don't think there is a need to drop the skid plates unless you get into some serious muck.

For dirt (and mainly dust) under the hood, I use compressed air and one of those needle-style attachments to keep things clean in the engine bay.

A regular coating of quality wax and a glass treatment (like Rainex) will make cleaning the exterior of the vehicle very easy as the grime will have a hard time attaching itself to the surface of the vehicle. Wax is good maintenance in general - it protects the paint from the sun and desert pin-striping.