Hosing down undercarriage

Hi all -

Going to use the car wash to rinse down the undercarriage tomorrow. Lot of road salts on it. I dont have access to a garden hose, so I will be using the water spray at the car wash. It uses fresh water.

I am worried that using a high-pressure spray on the undercarriage might do some kind of damage. Temps tomorrow will be in mid 40s tomorrow, then dipping to 20s overnight.

Can I just get down there, glove up, and spray all over, or do I have to worry about that breaking something?

 

You’ll be okay just down hold nozzle closer than a few inches.

 

I’ve taken ramps into the car wash before, worked pretty nice I thought.

 

you won't break anything with the high pressure wash. The risk is pushing salty water somewhere that it'll stay and cause rust

If i were you, I'd keep washing it clean this winter (as gently as you can), then in the spring apply Krown or Fluid Film after a good thorough wash with a garden hose

 

I spray mine every couple of weeks. No problems.

 

Its already been sprayed with a rust check product. They recommend spraying fresh water on it periodically to get off salts. I don't have a garden hose, so I figure high-pressure is better than nothing. Am I ok to get down there and spray all over, or anything I must avoid/use caution for?

 

With a high-pressure spray all over the undercarriage, in every little nook and cranny?

 

They should have a setting such as "Spot Free Rinse", "Final Rinse", etc...it's usually a reduced pressure.

 

Third break light issues?

 

I don't crawl under it. I just bend down and spray what I can reach with the nozzle. I have done that with every truck I have owned and not once had a problem.

 

Third brake only an issue if you stick the nozzle directly over the light and spray down.

 

I take mine to a spray wash once a weeek in the winter and just spray the undercarriage and rinse the truck. No issues. FF in the fall so I know most of it is protected anyways. Just mainly hitting the salt. Spray more often if you’re concerned.

 

yeah the whole underside of the truck can get wet. There's no danger there.

I've got Krown on my truck. High pressure every once and a while won't hurt, just don't want to be doing it every week. Garden hose is better in the long run.

I don't even wash the undercarriage of my truck in the winter. Just garden hose it down once in the spring and then the Krown guys salt-wash it with a special foamy soap before they apply the next coating

 

Try not to spray too much around rear brake drums. Also make sure to drive it a bit so anything in the drums dries out. Many people, including me, have had the rear drums freeze up after washing and not driving afterwards.

 

Thats my plan tomorrow, all 3 cars, was -26 F just a few days ago and will hit upper 40's and then freeze again, so will wash it the best i can with the power washer

 

WOW can’t believe that was a thing

 

Pretty amazing for sure, kinda looks like several wash bays that lead into the pooled section.

 

Need one of these.

 

This guy proves it.

Tacoma owners sure aint all on the same page. Watched multitudes of YT videos of Tacoma's driving thru swamps, creeks, rivers, and floods. Then you got the crowd that is worried to death about the AC drain dripping water on their frames.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WitaTHJl4cI