Chassis Cleaning

Finemess

Finemess

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Hey y'all, I now clean my chassis with a pressure washer. Is there a better way? The PW gets most of the stuff off, but I wonder about a APC and a brush. TIA
 
Pressure washer is good, but even better if combined with a degreaser. You can get the degreaser to a lot of hard to reach spots with a pressurized sprayer (like a hudson or garden bottle). I've never done much agitating with a brush on the undercarriage.
 
Jimmie, your too old to be crawling under cars.:joking:
 
Answer to your ? is Yes, there is a better way.

But you have to asked yourself what is too much for what you are wanting to achieve.

If its a car and you cant see too much of the chassis i would probably stick with the pressure sprayer, maybe even get a bucket of AP and water and scrub what I could see with a wheel well brush.

On trucks I try to use some stiffer long bristled brushes and AP/water mix and scrub on the more visible pieces. Obviously with the lifted trucks there is more to see/scrub/clean/polish.

For me on my truck, I do sometimes actually get underneath and scrub on the chassis. I think that it looks bad with a beauitfully cleaned and polished black truck to have grey wheel wells and chassis showing underneath.

But just do what you feel would meet your needs for your car.
 
Keeping the underbody clean and dressed also keps it from rusting earlier than it should, just my 2 cents.
 
I use a pressure washer and lay on the ground while doing it to get the best access. Yup, I get a little wet doing it but that won't hurt me.
After it dries. I get under it with some terrycloth rags and some APC mixed and do some wiping. When I get it clean. I get under it with a Bottle of Meguairs All Season Dressing and some WD40 and dress everything. I use a lot of WD40 underneath. I spray the inside of body panels and frame rails and cables and such to resist corrosion.
I took my truck in to get the nerf bars replaced under warranty. The guys that replace them said they had never seen a truck so clean underneath.
 
Every few washes or so, I just attach a sprinkler to the end of my hose and turn it on. I just push and pull the hose around while the sprinkler is spraying underneath....it actually works pretty well, but is no match for an all-purpose cleaner and my pressure washer if I have the time.

All cars come a rust/corrosion-inhibiting coating on the under-carriage of the vehicle anyways, so essentially you don't have to do anything. But then again, salt sprayed down during snow storms will eat its way through anything.
 
I was planning on detailing the under-body of my car.

Prior to that, I will be removing all the wheels one by one and detail them individually + the chassis parts behind the wheel and the wheel wells.

After that I'll get under the car(after pressure washing the underside) and clean with a citrus degreaser.

While doing that, I was thinking of polishing the whole exhaust pipe assembly and other bare metals which are visible there.

Any metal polish recommendations for that?(I also want to polish the exterior of the disc brake caliper with it)

Also, any protectants/sealant to use on the bare metal components + the exhaust assembly?? :confused:
 
sohail99 said:
I was planning on detailing the under-body of my car.

Prior to that, I will be removing all the wheels one by one and detail them individually + the chassis parts behind the wheel and the wheel wells.

After that I'll get under the car(after pressure washing the underside) and clean with a citrus degreaser.

While doing that, I was thinking of polishing the whole exhaust pipe assembly and other bare metals which are visible there.

Any metal polish recommendations for that?(I also want to polish the exterior of the disc brake caliper with it)

Also, any protectants/sealant to use on the bare metal components + the exhaust assembly?? :confused:
Click to expand...

Be careful not to remove the undercarriage coating unless you are going to replace it.
 
Thanks! I'll definitely be extra careful there! :D

I was also thinking of putting a layer of collinite845 on the metal parts there after cleaning! (including the exhausts etc.)

Regarding the exhaust, will it get too hot for the wax to remain there?
 
sohail99 said:
Thanks! I'll definitely be extra careful there! :D

I was also thinking of putting a layer of collinite845 on the metal parts there after cleaning! (including the exhausts etc.)

Regarding the exhaust, will it get too hot for the wax to remain there?
Click to expand...

I think so. From what I've read I think most waxes melt around 180 degrees and sealants around 300.
I think Ultima Tire and Trim lasts up to 500 degrees but I don't remember for sure. Have to look at my Ultima book.
 
CEE DOG said:
I think so. From what I've read I think most waxes melt around 180 degrees and sealants around 300.
I think Ultima Tire and Trim lasts up to 500 degrees but I don't remember for sure. Have to look at my Ultima book.
Click to expand...

Yes Corey, you are correct. Here is a small excerpt from their website. I sealed my exhaust TIPS with it a few weeks ago :D

Can I really use Ultima Tire & Trim Guard Plus on my engine?
Yes! We have tested Ultima Tire & Trim Guard Plus to temperatures in excess of 500 degrees f. The only surface that gets too hot for Ultima Tire & Trim Guard Plus is the exhaust system (exhaust manifold, turbocharger, exhaust heat shields, etc.). On these surfaces, Ultima Tire & Trim Guard Plus will gracefully evaporate without discoloration.
 
^Nice!! :D

Never seen such a tyre/trim protectant!

Will check it out.

Thanks guys! :D
 
U guys may laugh at this one but after I clean the underbody and it dries, I use mop and glo in a spray bottle! It dries and won't collect dust and dirt like oils or dressings! Looks great too!
 
DARK HORSE said:
Yes Corey, you are correct. Here is a small excerpt from their website. I sealed my exhaust TIPS with it a few weeks ago :D

Can I really use Ultima Tire & Trim Guard Plus on my engine?
Yes! We have tested Ultima Tire & Trim Guard Plus to temperatures in excess of 500 degrees f. The only surface that gets too hot for Ultima Tire & Trim Guard Plus is the exhaust system (exhaust manifold, turbocharger, exhaust heat shields, etc.). On these surfaces, Ultima Tire & Trim Guard Plus will gracefully evaporate without discoloration.
Click to expand...
You guys never cease to amaze me. Tire trim guard? Now I have something for my chrome pipe tips, my engine and can keep my tires shiny too. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

How about the high temp FK wax or wheel sealants? I had heard that the FK wax and wheel sealants could handle the heat well.

Since this is a chassis cleaning thread...

If I'm going to pull the wheels off my car to clean the rims, I might as well clean the wheel wells. If I clean the wells, I might as well treat them. If I treat them, I don't want a greasy mess that collects dust.

So... What's good and relatively cheap?

I was thinking about the Griot and CG undercarriage products, then thought about the Megs Hyper dressing. Then I thought about a spray wax like Aqua Wax or OCW.

How about cleaning and protecting stock calipers?

Thanks!
 
My wheel wells are coated with a rubbery anti rust coating, so sealing/waxing is out for me! :(
I dress them after cleaning, with a tire shine spray.

I'd use a sealant topped with collinite 845 on painted wheel wells!

Regarding the calipers, mine are not painted and I was thinking of somehow polishing the metal caliper with a metal polish and put a sealant coat here.

(Since the caliper can get quite hot, will it affect the caliper in heat dissipation due to the sealant ?)Feed back please
 
I think it all depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

There's quite a difference between what I do to my daily driver and what I do to my Corvette.

My underside of Dodge Dakota gets a coat of a concentrated cleaner or drgreaser via my power washer. Once it sits for a while I use the hifh pressure nozzle and 90% of the grime is history.

My Z06 goes up on the lift and gets cleaned by hand but it doesn't get all that dirty sitting in the garage most of the time anyway! :laughing:
 
I just want to protect its parts and keep it detailed up and clean like a show car.

Underbody cleaning and detailing will help increase the life of bare metal parts there, if any.

I've seen rusting exhaust pipes, suspension parts and underbody panels of cars which are never cared for!(kinda breaks my heart! :()

I just want to prevent all that! :)
 
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