Underbody Washing

[F-150]

For most pickup trucks you can see the frame and easily in the wheel wells. So to make my truck's appearance a little better..I'm going to wash under the truck....mainly the wheel wells and the frame. I'm going to use tools that I don't use for the paint.
I will be using:
versa andgle body brush
nxt wash
3 1/2 gallon bucket ( not the 5 gallon ones w/ grit guards that I use for the paint)


My plan is to basically spray everything shown and get it all with the wash solution. Rinse it all off. Let dry by itself.

I would like your opinion on whether or not it's a good idea and what I should watch out for.. I have fog lights and the reverse sensing system w/ the pics of the wires. Any help and comments with be appreciated...Oh yeah..you will see the results as well. I plan on doing it today before the sun goes down.

Sorry this was the best I could do I don't know what's going on I set the size with easy thumbnails even and when I opened the pic up it showed up much larger and said the dimensions but once i uploaded them to meguiar's gallery it was small again. And the little box on the bottom right of the pic shows what happened when I used a dirty old mit and swiped the frame a little when I was doing the wheel wells and it turned out a lot cleaner looking.

[gb387]

I think its a good idea to wash the underbody once or twice a year... I am planing on doing something similar this weekend but I am own a power washer so it will make the job a little easier. I was going to attempt to run a gold class soap/water soloution through the power washer and see what happens.

[Pete-FWA]

No worries on doing such a cleaning project

Many professional shops do the same thing with stronger chemicals and a pressure washer. Make sure the vehicle is cool and hasn't been running for several hours so you don't steam or blister paint with your water/soap solution.

The vehicle is sealed, so anything that would be damaged by water splashed from a rain storm will be sealed by the factory. Try to avoid spraying water directly at the back opening of any lenses or connectors on the fog lamps.

[kpagel]

I cleaned the wheel wells of my truck this weekend. I started off by hitting them with the pressure washer. Then I sprayed them with Safe D-Greaser diluted 4:1 and let it set for a while (used a Meg's foaming spray nozzle to allow it to set longer). After that I dressed them using Hyper Dressing and they look perfect! Mine weren't too bad, so a brush wasn't necessary, but I had one ready just in case. Good luck, clean wheel wells make all the difference on a truck!

[Pete-FWA]

gb387,

What type of soap pickup does your unit have? Simplest thing I can say is mix a gallon of wash soap and water in double strength from what you normally hand wash with. What kind of volume does your pressure washer deliver? That's a great way to wash underbody and wells.

[kpagel]

BTW, in a couple weeks I plan on cleaning my undercarriage by again using the pressure washer and Safe D-Greaser. I have a car lift in my garage so I'm just going to lift it up to a good height and then get crazy...

[Pete-FWA]

On the subject of wheel wells....

....if they're rusty, rough, or coated with too much tar and grime to remove by hand, a good coating over them when dry makes them stand out.

Some people use that undercoating in an aerosol can, but I think that's too thick and sloppy (unless your wells are already rough). Spray cans of flat, medium, or gloss black look great. If you have access to a spray gun, you can get chassis black and put it on there and the frame rails. Biggest hazard is overspray: things will have to masked and vented well.

Some people like to coat them with a dressing, but that always seemed to be more of a dirt magnet to me. Another down side is when it splatters on the paint finish and/or wheels while driving.

[F-150]

Thanks eveyrone....It's getting dark but the camera I use has a flash so you can see some of it when I'm done. Good to know you can just go crazy when srpaying away under your car/truck. I will watch out for the wires and all that Pete-FWA. Thanks again.

[Murr1525]

Just to mention, those do0it-yourself pay places can be handy for underbody washing, as they usualy have a strong soap, and a pretty powerfull spray. Might be a place to start.

[gb387]

Originally posted by Pete-FWA
gb387,

What type of soap pickup does your unit have? Simplest thing I can say is mix a gallon of wash soap and water in double strength from what you normally hand wash with. What kind of volume does your pressure washer deliver? That's a great way to wash underbody and wells.

Its nothing special but it works very well wouldn't be with out it.... Its and Excell from Home Depot. Does 2.2 or 2.5 gpm @2600 psi sound right? can't remember for sure.... There is just a simple clear plastic hose/filter attached to the exit flow of the pump. I am not to sure I want to use the power washer soaps, so I am going to try a mixture, what you suggested sounds good.

[kpagel]

Originally posted by gb387
Its nothing special but it works very well wouldn't be with out it.... Its and Excell from Home Depot. Does 2.2 or 2.5 gpm @2600 psi sound right? can't remember for sure.... There is just a simple clear plastic hose/filter attached to the exit flow of the pump. I am not to sure I want to use the power washer soaps, so I am going to try a mixture, what you suggested sounds good.

Thats the pressure washer I have. Its 2.5 GPM @2600 PSI. If you have any luck with any mixtures, please be sure to post up your results!

[F-150]

Here are my results...not bad bad considering I started too late and had to do it in the dark. It's really dark under your car ya know? Especially I only had over head lights on the side of the house so you still can't see the wheel wells or under the truck very well.
I missed the other half of the rear differential, spare tire itself looks dirty and you can see where I missed those hard to reach places.
This part looks okay but I missed the leaf spring on the other side I had a problem uploading the other pics I took so only 3 went through to the gallery.
There's rust! Where'd that come from? Maybe I ran something over a while back...like a spare tire on the freeway comming off someone's car.


At least my wheel wells look almost spotless.

[gb387]

Looks good... the underbody is a pain. You need a little Endurance on the spare tire.

[Accumulator]

Now that you have it clean, just a quick wash will keep it that way. I do the undercarriages at almost every wash, that way they never turn into a big job.

Not surprised by the rust. Besides the wear/tear/exposure the underside gets, the factories don't really paint those areas all that well.

[F-150]

I think Im going to use nxt tire cleaner w/ a tire brush and then endurance for the spare when I get the time. Any Ideas on how I could do this better? The easy to reach places look good but it just looks bad at certain hard to reach spots. I was in a hurry, It was cold, and pitch black almost. The truck isn't lifted..it's 2wd...so I'd need a jack and jack stands which I don't have to be more comfortable under there.
I managed to upload the other pics today:

The missed leaf spring.
Other side of the frame


Conclusion: It was poory done and I need to redo do it...during the day....and detail it.