Help Detailing Jeep for Offroading

[explorerlyon]

No show car finish needed here. I need suggestions on improving how I care for my Jeep Wrangler. This vehcile is wheeled offroad. Mud, dirt, water, etc are common. I am not looking for a show car finish. I am looking for easy clean-up tips and products that will make it easier to remove dirt after offroading. Below are some recent pictures before and after my cleaning. Here is what I did. Suggestions welcomed.

1. Sprayed mud off at car wash. Tried to clean the under carriage as best I could, but some brushing is really needed.

2. Washed the car in my driveway. Single bucket method is just fine for an offroaded vehcicle.

3. Clayed

4. Collinite 845 (1 coat) on paint, rock rails and wheels.

5. Wolfgang Exterior Trim Sealant on plastic fender flares and hard top.

Tips and suggestions please. Who can I clean the suspension and under carriage without a lot of scrubbing.

Thanks

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[tommythecat]

I have not used my opti-coat yet, but based on what I have read here that (or one of the other coatings) might ease getting all the mud and dirt off. I am not sure how resilient it would be to off road conditions so it might not be cost effective. But if it lasts for a season or two and makes it drastically easier to clean it might be worth it.

 

[Robert8194]

The undercarriage is going to need pressure washing if you can't brush it. I would wet with pressure washer, spray best you can with a strong cleaner (like CG grime reaper), let dwell and pressure wash again. My pressure washer has an angled nozzle to get up under the fenders and behind things. So far a great job on the Jeep. Good luck with that undercarriage.

 

[jgibson2980]

Its going to take some undercarriage cleaner ans pressure washing like stated above. If you off road alit I would suggest you use sone kind of dressing on the under carriage after cleaning it . It will help in the clean up process in the future .

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[MPBGT]

When I had a cj3a and wrangler I used to coat the undercarriage with wd40 before I went wheeling. I never worried about the paint..... Arizona pin striping adds to the jeep look

 

[Boudin]

CG Barebones will definitely help make cleaning the undercarriage easier. It will stay somewhat clean looking after hosing off mud and dirt. UTTG on the trim will also have same effect.

I would also run it through a touchless wash with an undercarriage sprayer shortly after offroading

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[cardaddy]

Find a local cleaning supply house and get a 5 gallon tub of "aluminum brightener", basically hydrofluoric acid. For the undercarriage you can go as strong as 1:1 but BE AWARE it's dangerous to paint and LUNGS. I'd start with 4:1 water and go from there.

It's the same stuff in any wheel cleaner, just that it's uncut. I used for 18 years cleaning rollbacks, beds, frames, etc. It'll clean a frame like you spent days with rags and brushes on it.

Get a stainless bug sprayer and use it. Put your water in first, then top it off with acid then shake it up. You don't want to get down wind from it as it'll reach inside your lungs and literally feels like it's turning them inside out. It'll also etch glass! As long as you don't have any wind blowing it around it'll do just fine. Do NOT put it on your wheels either, at least not at anything more than 10:1. Once you get used to it you'll be able to play around with the dilution. I ran Alcoa wheels on my trucks with sealer on them, although they were NOT coated, painted etc. After years of using it I was able to clean the wheels with it @ 4:1 by wetting them first, hitting them with acid and INSTANTLY hosing them off. (If they are at the least bit warm you'll ruin aluminum wheels to the point where you have to polish them completely.)

Being as you go 4-wheeling you can also repaint the frame often. I used to buy really good black Sherwin Williams paint by the case at the local auto body paint warehouse. The cost per can I found it to be quite a bit less than OTC stuff but the quality is better, and you have an adjustable nozzle. They can also mix it (in the can) to match any OEM paint color. :xyxthumbs:

 

[gjantzer]

I understand that pressure washing will strip the wax off of the paint. The next time you pressure wash the dirt should fall off much easier because of the Collinite, but then is your wax gone too? Seems like a tough situation. I am wondering if more time spent with a garden hose instead of the pressure washer on the paint might be better in the long run. I would definitely lean towards harder finishes or waxes (something with better longevity than shine per se).

 

[TubeTJ]

Having spent years cleaning up after wheeling, a couple of things come to mind. What environment did you just wheel in ? Sand, mud, rocks, saltwater, snow, DEEP snow, clay based mud, brush, stumps.............they all create a different scenario on the clean up. You can find thread after thread of very good comments on pitch removal, but when you have ground your skid plates into and over very green logs or fresh stumps, pitch removal becomes epic.

Mud is terrible, not the average mud, but clay based mud. Trust me, you'll know when your in it. It will actually discolor your paint even after you power wash it off.

If your are wheeling in a saltwater environment, washing is critical. The sand/mud/whatever will get everywhere. This is where a pre-coat would really help.

Your jeep is nice, I'm guessing your just trying to keep up your personal rig and no sponsors to keep happy ? If your needing to display sponsorship logo's that is an entirely different thing altogether.

If I were to lend any advice would be to pre-coat, PAM, WD-40, even diesel have been used. Check with your sanctioning body to see what they approve before you do any of it though. Also, if water is involved, use a food grade product, no petroleum based products should be used. You can get food grade spray lubricants in a can just like anything else.

Fact is, if you don't just have a mall-crawler your going to damage the paint. Brush, rubs, even dirt can and will diminish your overall appearance over time. Get a good power washer, use a foam gun, even a sprinkler to remove as much as you can before you start to hand wash. Get inside your frame, all the holes, power wash ALL your running gear. Depending on the run, you will most likely be doing a hub and wheel bearing pack after a run anyway, use that time to really clean and around the engine/trans/t-case. If your not doing so already, run sealed LED rock lights. They will get just as scratched as the cheap sealed beams, but they will stay bright longer. I have found, for me, use twice as much water as you think you need when you hand wash. I know you said a single bucket wash, but a rinse/wash bucket plus multiple cleaning mitts will help you in the long run. Your trying to keep as much paint on the vehicle as you can for as long as you can.

Put up with the small imperfections as long as you can before buffing/correcting. You can have flash paint, or you can wheel hard, but rarely can you manage to have both.

I have a street TJ, pretty much like your rig but black, I do my best with it. It still sees some fairly harsh conditions. The TubeTJ (also black)...........I just do my best, but rock-rash happens. Is what it is.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Some really good advise in this thread so far...


Here's a trick I used to use to get the undercarriage clean after a mudding weekend and that's to take your truck to the local do-it-yourself car wash and blast off all the big stuff using their pressure washer, both on the outside and under as best as you can reach.

Be sure to hose all the mud you knock off down the drain as a courtesy to other patrons and the owner of the car wash, don't leave a big muddy mess in the stall or the owner will stop you and others from using their facilities in the future.


Next, park your Jeep on the lawn and place an oscillating sprinkler under it and let it run for a few hours or as your water bill budget allows. The continual spray of water will act to dissolve a lot of the mud splattered into places you can't directly blast and then gravity will do her work.

Do this as soon as you get home while any mud under the Jeep is still somewhat wet or at least fresh. Then after a good soaking do some more blasting with your water hose.

Little by little you can get your underneath back to clean enough to eat off of or at least get your wrenches onto nuts and bolts without having to first chip away mud that's hardened and dried like concrete.

 

[TubeTJ]

Some really good advise in this thread so far...


Here's a trick I used to use to get the undercarriage clean after a mudding weekend and that's to take your truck to the local do-it-yourself car wash and blast off all the big stuff using their pressure washer, both on the outside and under as best as you can reach.

Be sure to hose all the mud you knock off down the drain as a courtesy to other patrons and the owner of the car wash, don't leave a big muddy mess in the stall or the owner will stop you and others from using their facilities in the future.


Next, park your Jeep on the lawn and place an oscillating sprinkler under it and let it run for a few hours or as your water bill budget allows. The continual spray of water will act to dissolve a lot of the mud splattered into places you can't directly blast and then gravity will do her work.

Do this as soon as you get home while any mud under the Jeep is still somewhat wet or at least fresh. Then after a good soaking do some more blasting with your water hose.

Little by little you can get your underneath back to clean enough to eat off of or at least get your wrenches onto nuts and bolts without having to first chip away mud that's hardened and dried like concrete.

Sage advice indeed........been there, hammered on that for not tending to the chore till well after everything HAD turned to concrete. No joke, you'll be chipping mud a year later. The sprinkler method flat works, but park someplace you don't care care if it get covered in nasty mud.......the inlaws might work...................

One other thing, and this seems really obvious, but the cleaner it is to start with, the better the after clean up is. It really is a pain, but at some point, you just have to bite the bullet and get under there and really power-wash everything, even all the spots that shoot you in the face when you do it. I have a set of rain gear and old set of Scott goggles that got trashed in the sand that I wear. Yes, they get covered with mud/grease/crud but better that then your eyes.

It is sort of like a helicopter, for every hour in the air, three hours of maintenance. Depending on what you wheel, it makes a difference on how much you have to work when you get home.

The bottom line is, cleaning will tell you allot before your next trip. What needs fixed, what leaks, what is getting scraped, what is hitting at full flex. You idea for a thorough cleaning is solid one, that way you know your rig and keep it fixed.

Nobody likes to wheel with "that guy" you know, the one who comes home on the hook every run because he did not fix what he broke last time.