Powerwasher against salt/rust

California until the last 3.5 years so I had no need to worry about frame issues...

Now in Virginia and they use salt and sand on the roads at the slightest possibility of ice/snow or sleet and I have been out in it more than ever this year compared to previous years....

Question, how many of you use a power washer to clean your truck, this includes powerwashing the undercarriage, suspension, back of wheels, etc.....

I do this religiously when the weather permits during the winter, obviously need a day that is not freezing...

And, any input from people that have done this as far as delaying/helping with the general rust issues, help, or not? Or does it screw with your undercoating?

Stuff like that?

 

i do it all the time

 

I am in New York, same scenario. Every day above 32 degrees I grab the house and do a very good flush of the entire underside, wheel wells, engine bay etc.

Sometimes you think you are done, then all of a sudden you find a dirty spot where dirt/salt was sitting the the water fall turns brown again.

Hit the underbody car washes regularly, keep it clean and in spring touch it up!

I fluid filmed my entire truck back in October to prep for winter. The water still beads off almost everywhere and in the spring I plan to get under the truck spray it with degreaser to remove all the fluid film and hose the crap out of it. Grind any surface rust off the truck. Then I will coat the area with VHT epoxy chassis paint and redo the entire fluid film process. If you keep up on this you can keep the underside of your truck looking new.

If you do it 1-2 times a year you should be able to keep up with it. If you wait 5 years and try to start you would have to grind down your entire undercarriage.

Also my truck is not undercoated. Undercoating has to be touched up yearly. If not touched up, it flakes off and the dirt/moisture/salt gets under the undercoating and spreads and rots everything out even quicker.

 

I pressure wash the undercarriage in addition to the body of my vehicles once a week regardless of the season. I find a foam cannon loaded with a quality shampoo does a nice job of breaking up the gunk. It is a challenge this time of year, especially this year!

I see you are in Floyd VA. I was born and raised in Carroll County. I moved to the coast in 1998. I miss the mountains sometimes.

 

"I see you are in Floyd VA. I was born and raised in Carroll County. I moved to the coast in 1998. I miss the mountains sometimes."

The only drawback to the area I live is the dang Lymes disease, already had two bouts with the nasty bug already...otherwise, nice place to live...

 

If I sprayed of underneath my truck when we got a warm day, it would be an exercise in futility. If it's warm, the snow on the side of the road melts and goes in the road, mixing with the sand/salt thats already there. As soon as I would wash off the underneath, the crap gets right back on there.

I Fluid Filmed this November. As long as the stuff is still there, I have protection. I give a thorough wash off in Spring. Maybe I'll hit it again with FF.

You'll have it easier in VA to rinse off your underside, but up north, it is a fool's errand to try to keep up with it.

 

When I lived up in north in PA, I built a PVC ladder frame that slid under my truck and the wife's car, the frame had little holes in it facing up and when I attached a hose it sprayed the under side. Every time the weather warmed up and the snow and slush was mostly gone I would just slide it under and let it go for 10 - 15 minutes. Then in the spring I would do a crawl under inspection to cleanup and treat any rust spots. This seemed to work real well.

 

maju,

Kudos on the PVC ladder frame idea, gonna give that a shot...love to hear new ideas from members...

 

I drive on the beach at least once a week, I try to wash under there with a hose or power washer when I can.

Looked under the truck today and my rear diff has rust, wondering if I should spray rustoleum on it, or sand it down first. How to deal with it?

 

even if the roads are gross I still try to get my truck into the shop for a rinse at the very least - including undercarriage.

All of my clients recently I've been doing my best to get underneath and pressure rinse.

 

Sand as much as you can off and spray away IMO.