booniel Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 So, I've never really had a 4X4 I was proud of until I owned my pathy. Up until now I gave a quick spray and called it good. Now that I have something I wanna show off I can never seem to clean it enough? How far do you go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Ben~ Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Well sometimes I wash it all myself, sometimes I do a car wash and then some... but usually just do it myself. Generally I give the body a wash (duh), and spray all the mud off the tires and the wheels. Just hosin it down first, and then I wash the body with soap and water. Once I've knocked pretty much all the dirt off the outside of the car I make sure and spray out the wheel well, thats where the majority of the mud is. Then I'll get under it with the hose and start sprayin out the undercarriage. I also make sure to clean the spare carrier and underneath the carrier. Once I'm done with all the main cleaning, I apply wheel cleaner to my wheels and wipe them down with a rag til they shine. Then I put on tire shine to get my tires all black and shiny. So yeah basically, I clean pretty much everything I can. I think I actually kinda enjoy cleaning my car; inside and out. Kinda dumb of me to do such a good job on it though really, often times the day after I wash it I find myself drawn towards mud puddles and stuff.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 spray inside the frame rails with a pressure washer. there are holes in the sides of the frame you can stick the end of the nozzle inside. blast it in each hole of the frame until nothing but clear water comes out the weeping holes in the bottom of the frame. if you don't have one, go to the spray down (the one on king and northfield is pretty good) and pay 6 bucks or so do use the pressure washer and soap it up at home. mud likes to sit ontop of the transmission and t-case, gas tank guard, inside the corners of the bumpers, the round tube that connects the frame over the rear axle, the body mounts etc. you could spend a whole afternoon giving it the royal treatment, but it will extend the life of the truck if it already isn't too rusty. So when you go mudding make sure you get your fill because it's a lot of work to properly clean it up. A pressure washer really speeds up the job tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 .... 4X4 .... pathy. ..... quick spray ....wanna show off ....clean .... let's review... dude... that last word does not belong! the best way to show off a 4x4 is to get her as muddy as possible. Then, in no way, can you be confused with a mall-crawler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booniel Posted November 30, 2006 Author Share Posted November 30, 2006 Yeah, themuddier the better, but there is always that ride home from the car wash when it's clean, that's usually about it? I have a Kohler 6hp pressure washer at home, just seems it's worth the initial spraydown at Norhtfeild and king, just cause usually if I wash it at home, I gotta spend the next 2 days clearing mud off my driveway. Allthough, searching for "cleaning" through the forums I read the best method ever. "Park overtop ov a sprinkler and go have a beer" Best idea I heard all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 as much as I like to show off the mud, it is good to get in there and sprat that crap out... rememeber to spray in the wheel wells, up inside the fenders and bumpers, lots of places you never see the mud, but it collects. You want to get that crap out to avoid the cancer (rust) if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 as long as it's dry, I consider it 'undercoating'. a poor man's herculiner and it doesn't harm the hootus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 i'll usually leave mud on fer about 2 days (to show all the jeeps around town i can do it too) and then bust out the uber powerful pressure washer at the house and spray and spray until the only thing i see runnin off the truck is clear water. i get down on the ground and zap all around the bottom of the motor/tranny/t case, drivelines, brakes, and frame. then i zap the outside .. fender wells, rims, frame rails, hitch, etc. when i want to "pimp my ride" i washe her good, clean the inside and pimp shine the interior, then wax the outside n tire shine the tires.... doesn't seem to last long tho i think i'm just a dirty girl.... sssh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navygz19 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Though it doesn't look bad, this was some of the WORST muck I've had to spray off...it took about 65 mins. and $11.00 to get it off. It was mud that seemed to be fairly marshy, there were all sorts of seashells in it which made blasting it off pretty dangerous. At any rate, I'll go so far as to wear an old shirt and pants and climb underneath it to get the spray nozzle on top of the transmission/gas tank/etc. Another trouble spot seems to be on top of my skid, particularly the front. When I dropped it to do an oil change after this outing, there was 3 inches of ROCK HARD sh!t on it that I needed to bang off. Mud like that I try not to take chances with underneath. Everything else? A quick blast off and twice over...I wax the rig about once every 6 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booniel Posted November 30, 2006 Author Share Posted November 30, 2006 Mudding and Cleaning they go hand and hand. Love them both. I heard people say that your supposed to pull your wheel bearing out and clean them everytime you do a water crossing. You guys do that? If not, will it cause any issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Mudding and Cleaning they go hand and hand. Love them both. I heard people say that your supposed to pull your wheel bearing out and clean them everytime you do a water crossing. You guys do that? If not, will it cause any issues? not every time, but if you do quite a bit of water & mud, you will want to do them more often that recommended for road use... I do mine every fall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I wait for rain. Fortunately, I live in a very arid climate with no salt used on roads, so leaving a scab of dirt on the undercarriage is very low risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Solution... You have one Pathy for Pimpin... And one for Playing in the MUD and stuff.... I do not think that I have ever washed my 91... Ive used a Power washer on the under side but have not used the bucket and sponge/rag.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic_mark Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Here in Edmoton we got a war on our hands with the Provincial Government who want to shut all our trails down. Doesn't help when one of the minsters in charge of back country access said that if he sees a muddy 4x4 he knows that they've been somewhere they shouldn't have! To counter this, we gotta wash our rigs as soon as possible after a run, especially if they're daily drivers. Muddy rigs look good, but they don't win the war for hearts and minds. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 I pressure wash every external part I can get to. On top, underneath, and inside the wheelwells, inside the frame, as much as I can reach of the trans/t-case...and I use a lot of degreaser when I do it. That's the key. Keeping your shxt clean is just as important as maintaining the engine, cause what if you break something and can't get any bolts off due to rust or mud? It's never fun to work on a completely grimy dirt-encrusted vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 rain and deep puddles here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie4x4 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 I do a lot of travel out in the West Australian Goldfields and any mud I find is realy salty so I clean it off realy carefuly. I made myself an underbody sprayer out of a length of 3/16th ally tube and a ball valve and snap on hose fitting. The end is flattened into a sharp, flat fan spray and bent up to spray up under. Cheap and effective. Also have a thin hose with multiple spray head to feed down inside the chassis rails. I had the door inside trim pannels off the other day and was amazed to see how much mud I could scoop out of the bottom of each door. Most of this would have been good Ausie outback red dust filling every pannel of my truck and turned to mud when it got wet. No rust in 14 years of beach salt and mud. Geordie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbinger Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 I don't really worry about it unless its that thick heavy mud that sticks everywhere. I'll usually just pull out a hose with a nozzel on it (don't have a pressure washer), and my creeper and go to town. Just enough to get it out of my rims (can't be good for balance!) wheel wells and anywhere else I can see, like the crossmembers and whatnot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 I pressure wash every external part I can get to. On top, underneath, and inside the wheelwells, inside the frame, as much as I can reach of the trans/t-case...and I use a lot of degreaser when I do it. That's the key. Keeping your shxt clean is just as important as maintaining the engine, cause what if you break something and can't get any bolts off due to rust or mud? It's never fun to work on a completely grimy dirt-encrusted vehicle. what 88 said...cept i dont always use a pressure washer unless im at home home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navygz19 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 rain and deep puddles here And lot's of it/them to get all the hard to reach areas that are simply overlooked Luckily after my last excursion I had to drive 500 miles to CT in that nor'easter which provided me with more than enough rain to get the tough stuff off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5523Pathfinder Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 I usually let the mud sit on for a couple of days. I wear it like a badge of honor! But the fun gets old and I pressure wash just about everthing. I use the pressure washer at the dealership and take my time. Even go as far as to clean in the bumpers and on top of the gas tank. I also try to make sure there is no packed mud or whatever in the front suspension. Oh yeah, all the packed mud on the inside of the wheels. I even went so far as to remove the fender flares this summer and clean all the little nooks and crannies out. But I will say it goes quite a while between regular washes. Luckily there is also a lot of rain here and it helps the cleaning process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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