Does anyone routinely do underbody wash/detail?

Eldorado2k

Eldorado2k

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I’m surprised this topic is almost never mentioned on here... I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone post a pic showing how they’ve just finished doing an underbody wash on this forum.

Maybe I’m extreme, but if I had a lift in the garage I’d definitely do it every once in a while. A friend of mine is supposed to install a lift in his 3 car garage soon, so maybe I’ll get a chance to try it.

Have any if you guys ever done it? What’s your opinion of it? Any pics?
 
I’m supposed to put my car on my lift tomorrow to do an oil change. I inspect my undercarriage at least once a year to clean and polish the exhaust system. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow too. It is why I got the lift after all.
 
We have a Karcher chassis washer we use and then apply a sealer. But nothing too crazy. A lift would give you more options. But I’ve found a lot of customers don’t really care about the underbody. As long as the paint is shiny and the interior is clean. We use the chassis washer some during road salt season. But that’s about it.
 
Bill D said:
I’m supposed to put my car on my lift tomorrow to do an oil change. I inspect my undercarriage at least once a year to clean and polish the exhaust system. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow too. It is why I got the lift after all.
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Cool, perfect timing. Don’t forget to take some pics with your phone.

What would you use if you decide to give it a full go at it?
 
I guess if it needed it I would go under there with a pressure washer, a lot of APC, and brushes. I’d probably need to wear rain gear while under there too! LOL
 
Vanquish Auto said:
We have a Karcher chassis washer we use and then apply a sealer. But nothing too crazy. A lift would give you more options. But I’ve found a lot of customers don’t really care about the underbody. As long as the paint is shiny and the interior is clean. We use the chassis washer some during road salt season. But that’s about it.
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I was more thinking about us autogeeks on our own personal rides.. Like you said, I wouldn’t really expect normL customers to really care too much about it, but I never forget back in the days the local Car Wash I would take my car to once every 3 months to get the oil changed would include a free car wash, and part of the package would include underbody wash where the tunnel would foam underneath then rinse. I never got to see the results, but it’s always stuck in my head.
 
Bill D said:
I guess if it needed it I would go under there with a pressure washer, a lot of APC, and brushes. I’d probably need to wear rain gear while under there too! LOL
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Yea, if I did it I’d wear some goggles, foam mask, nitrile gloves, and definitely a Mothers Wheel Well Brush to try to keep my distance from as much of the dripping gunk that would be coming down.
 
Eldorado2k said:
I was more thinking about us autogeeks on our own personal rides.. Like you said, I wouldn’t really expect normL customers to really care too much about it, but I never forget back in the days the local Car Wash I would take my car to once every 3 months to get the oil changed would include a free car wash, and part of the package would include underbody wash where the tunnel would foam underneath then rinse. I never got to see the results, but it’s always stuck in my head.
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I got you. In that case maybe look into the Ryobi chassis washer/water broom. It works pretty well and will save you from having to crawl under there if you ever need to spray your undercarriage down.
 
I do have a mechanic’s jump suit I will be wearing tomorrow to change the oil. It can get messy on this particular car when I pull the oil filter. I put down cardboard and newspaper on the floor too.
 
I do my vehicles twice a year. They all get degreased, sprayed and soaked with Salt Away and then coated with Fluid Film. As I live in the rust belt it’s needed to keep vehicles going without rusting in half. I have customers with nice summer cars that get the underside cleaned with every detail. And a few that get fluid film and salt away twice a year. It’s a pain and a mess but worth it to keep cars rust free.


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I’ve never really done it other than the touch less washes that include it. I’d maybe be inclined to do it 2-3 times a year if I was set up with quick jacks, or something similar that would make it feel more manageable to get up under there.

But on the other hand, I doubt I’ll keep my car for a nice, long life. So by time any rust sets in and starts wreaking havoc it’ll probably be nearing the time that it’ll be sent off to be drained, crushed, and recycled.

If I had a car that was really special to me, I’d probably do my best to keep it clean under there. Or at the very least I just would try to avoid driving it in snow/rain


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I made a post a week or two ago on the sister forum with pictures. I annually do a through by hand undercarriage cleaning. Even on the the convertible that never sees rain or snow.
 
I did not do anything last year to the undercarriage. But comming from tunnel washes for only about 3 years ago. I have not had any setup. Now I have gotten me a PW nozzle tip that has a lower psi. I have a Kärcher K7 PW which is quite powerfull so full strength would not be a good idea LOL. It's Kärcher VP 160 S nozzle tip that I have got a little cart to from a tips from a forum member on Autopia. The cart I have gotten is not a perfect one but only if it survive a couple of washes it would be great. Then I have the look out for a better cart to the nozzle. I also gonna use the extension wand from the patio cleaner.

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I think it was around 35-40 $ and the cart was $5. There is a same nozzle tip but for the smaller specs PW.

I did a big misstake when I first tried the soap dispenser on the PW. So a to shorten it it was pressed on to hard and fell inside of the PW LOL. Have been trying to solve this this weekend. But it's a PIA to get inside of the PW. Need a special length of a torx bit that a buddy of mine luckly have so are going to be loaning that and hope I sort it out LOL. It's a soap dispenser that is a Kärcher thing and you can get ready to use chemicals in bottles you attach directly on it. I'm gonna re-use this bottles and use the Bilt Hamber Surfex HD as a prewash and rinse it off very thoroughly with the new nozzle tip. Then I'm going to use Bilt Hamber Auto-wash car soap cause of the corrosion inhibitors in it. Then I have a product that is able to dilute myself and spray on rinse off for the protection it gets me. It's the Krystal Kleen Detail Purity X which is a siloxane concentrate that is very versitale in how you can apply it. Now when I get this setup ready it wont take so much time to get the undercarriage better than doing nothing. So looking forward to it rather than I have done before. When hired a DIY garage with a lift and PW at the gas station. Before when I worked on a saw mill. I used the fork lift there to lift up the car and used the PW and degreaser and car soap to get it ready before the winter and spring cleaning. When the other co-workers saw this you can bet that I did almost everyones cars this way LOL.
 
Nope. Just wheel wells. However I do polish my exhaust.

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SWETM said:
I did not do anything last year to the undercarriage. But comming from tunnel washes for only about 3 years ago. I have not had any setup. Now I have gotten me a PW nozzle tip that has a lower psi. I have a Kärcher K7 PW which is quite powerfull so full strength would not be a good idea LOL. It's Kärcher VP 160 S nozzle tip that I have got a little cart to from a tips from a forum member on Autopia. The cart I have gotten is not a perfect one but only if it survive a couple of washes it would be great. Then I have the look out for a better cart to the nozzle. I also gonna use the extension wand from the patio cleaner.

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I think it was around 35-40 $ and the cart was $5. There is a same nozzle tip but for the smaller specs PW.

I did a big misstake when I first tried the soap dispenser on the PW. So a to shorten it it was pressed on to hard and fell inside of the PW LOL. Have been trying to solve this this weekend. But it's a PIA to get inside of the PW. Need a special length of a torx bit that a buddy of mine luckly have so are going to be loaning that and hope I sort it out LOL. It's a soap dispenser that is a Kärcher thing and you can get ready to use chemicals in bottles you attach directly on it. I'm gonna re-use this bottles and use the Bilt Hamber Surfex HD as a prewash and rinse it off very thoroughly with the new nozzle tip. Then I'm going to use Bilt Hamber Auto-wash car soap cause of the corrosion inhibitors in it. Then I have a product that is able to dilute myself and spray on rinse off for the protection it gets me. It's the Krystal Kleen Detail Purity X which is a siloxane concentrate that is very versitale in how you can apply it. Now when I get this setup ready it wont take so much time to get the undercarriage better than doing nothing. So looking forward to it rather than I have done before. When hired a DIY garage with a lift and PW at the gas station. Before when I worked on a saw mill. I used the fork lift there to lift up the car and used the PW and degreaser and car soap to get it ready before the winter and spring cleaning. When the other co-workers saw this you can bet that I did almost everyones cars this way LOL.
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I know how to drive a forklift and I would never attempt to lift up my car with 1. No way!lol.

There’s a guy on youtube who put the forks right through the floor of his Cadillac Deville when he used a forklift to unload it off a semi trucks flatbed. Now he’s got 2 holes underneath his carpet. Lol. Even if you used extensions on the forks you’d still mess up a Deville trying to lift it with a forklift. Guaranteed. Lol.
 
Gotta be oh so careful even when using a lift designed to lift cars. I have a slight pitch to my garage floor so it takes me longer than if I had a lift in a regular commercial garage setting.
 
Great question. I have never detailed underneath a car. The best I've done was to reach down and hand spray under the rockers. I wouldn't be opposed to it, but I don't have the equipment or a lift.
 
I spray down the undercarriage once a month or so. (Actually states to do this in the owners manual).

Before the first snow/freeze here in NY, I get under the truck and let loose with about 3 cans of Fluid Film.

I don't have any pics, Ric. Just imagine the bottom of a truck with everything but the exhaust all oily and dripping. Lol
 
Spent hours last week cleaning the undercarriage of the 16 Buick Encore. I used purple power, hot water, various brushes, a old mf mitt, four jackstands, a full face shield, a creeper, and about four hours.

Long winter with not enough maintenance washing. Spring undercarriage wash was a bit longer this year. Thank goodness it doesn`t look bad after cleaning. The odd thing I did was put cmx on the muffler. You can see the muffler when walking up behind the car or following it. It`s a black muffler that quickly looks horrible. I guess I`ll see if it can take the heat and if it helps keep it clean.

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