Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 6
How to clean mud off the underneath of your 4x4 the lazy man's way
Since this topic comes up once in a while, here's a trick I used to use back when I did a lot of mudding in Oregon...
First, all washing should be done as soon as possible. Even if your dog dead tired, muster the strength to wash your truck as soon as you get home or get back into town and can drive or trailer it to your local friendly do-it-yourself car wash.
First, use a pressure washer or your garden hose to blast off as much of the big stuff off the outside as you can. Blasting it off with a strong spray of water will be safer than using any type of tool to physically scrub the paint.
After you blast the big stuff off, then wash the exterior with your normal wash process, brush, mitts, sponges, etc. because by now the exterior will be very wet and the dirt that's left on the exterior will be very saturated and thus softer and more easily removed.
Next, blast off as much under your 4x4 as you can reach, if you're still in your mudding cloths then might as well get down on the ground and blast away, by this I mean "yes", lay on your back on the ground so you can see what you're blasting and you can better direct the blast of water to the places that need lots of blasting. Be sure to wear some safety glasses or goggles as you're going to get get a lot of kickback spray at some point during the process.
After you've blasted and washed as much of the mud off that you can, then park your 4x4 in your lawn and place an oscillating sprinkler under your rig and let her run for a few hours or as your water bill budget will allow. 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 your 4x4 is still somewhat wet or at least fresh. Then after a good soaking do some more blasting with your water hose and get some brushes into the action.
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.
And with a little effort your truck can be back to its prior clean self and ready to pound pavement or ready for the next mudding event.
:xyxthumbs:
Since this topic comes up once in a while, here's a trick I used to use back when I did a lot of mudding in Oregon...
First, all washing should be done as soon as possible. Even if your dog dead tired, muster the strength to wash your truck as soon as you get home or get back into town and can drive or trailer it to your local friendly do-it-yourself car wash.
First, use a pressure washer or your garden hose to blast off as much of the big stuff off the outside as you can. Blasting it off with a strong spray of water will be safer than using any type of tool to physically scrub the paint.
After you blast the big stuff off, then wash the exterior with your normal wash process, brush, mitts, sponges, etc. because by now the exterior will be very wet and the dirt that's left on the exterior will be very saturated and thus softer and more easily removed.
Next, blast off as much under your 4x4 as you can reach, if you're still in your mudding cloths then might as well get down on the ground and blast away, by this I mean "yes", lay on your back on the ground so you can see what you're blasting and you can better direct the blast of water to the places that need lots of blasting. Be sure to wear some safety glasses or goggles as you're going to get get a lot of kickback spray at some point during the process.
After you've blasted and washed as much of the mud off that you can, then park your 4x4 in your lawn and place an oscillating sprinkler under your rig and let her run for a few hours or as your water bill budget will allow. 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 your 4x4 is still somewhat wet or at least fresh. Then after a good soaking do some more blasting with your water hose and get some brushes into the action.
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.
And with a little effort your truck can be back to its prior clean self and ready to pound pavement or ready for the next mudding event.
:xyxthumbs:
