suspension detailing

chevycruze

chevycruze

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Hi everyone. I am wondering if anyone else cleans their suspension parts on their cars to give it a cleaner look underneathe. I clean mine usually when i have the wheels off my car to clean them and wash and dry the fender liners..even attempt to clean my struts and stuff but am in need of an easier way to do this. Any help????
 
What's your current method? When my wheels are off I use OPC and various brushes. After rinsing and drying I use either KAIO or DG501 on all the painted metal parts
 
On your own car thats fine. For customers I really do not like removing wheels. The liability increases exponentially.

I had a friend who won a huge lawsuit against a dealership for not tightening wheel lugs correctly. Her wheel came off the car on the freeway contributing to an auto accident with injuries.

I know it's not rocket science but the risk increases when the wheels come off. Also it would have to be a top dollar detail to take the wheels off anyway.
 
CCruze,
I assume you're referring to your own vehicle, and there's nothing at all wrong doing this periodically.

One can truly never get wheels and tires fully clean and protected while they're on the vehicle.

It's also good that one inspects components this way, insuring bushings, and other things like CV Boots-etc are in good order.

Lately, I have tried a product that I bought here, from Chemical Guys, the Bare Bones Undercarriage Spray.

It works pretty nice on black parts, metal and plastic, and while some have said it leaves an oily finish, I haven't noticed that.

It will drip though, so one may wish to place newspaper, or a small section of canvas dropcloth when applying.

After a 1/2 hour, I have found it is bone dry to the touch. Has a nice "wax factory" sort of grape smell also. Mark
 
I clean shocks and UCA's during wheel well and wheel duty. This is a piece of cake on my truck but more difficult on my wifes sedan. I have 303 on plastic/vinyl parts, seems to be holding up pretty well.
 
rmagnus said:
On your own car thats fine. For customers I really do not like removing wheels. The liability increases exponentially.

I had a friend who won a huge lawsuit against a dealership for not tightening wheel lugs correctly. Her wheel came off the car on the freeway contributing to an auto accident with injuries.

I know it's not rocket science but the risk increases when the wheels come off. Also it would have to be a top dollar detail to take the wheels off anyway.
Click to expand...

Been there, done that!

I had a rollback that was serviced by Ford the day before and on the interstate, while loaded with TWO cars the left rear wheel(s) came off and passed me @ 70 miles an hour. One was an experimental all lead acid powered Dodge Caravan (1 of 5) that weighed in at just under 6000 pounds. The other was a good old fashion brand new Caprice wagon, that weighed about 4300 pounds itself.

I was just strolling along and BAM there goes my wheel. Actually the inner wheel wobbled around on the hub but it trashed it (steel wheel) as well as the Alcoa outer wheel. I spent almost 6 hours only 11" off the side of the road. After I had one of my other trucks bring me all new studs, lug nuts, and two new wheels & tires I had to FIX IT. I was ducking underneath the bed when traffic came by, and working on the truck with my body in the lane of traffic when it was clear. :eek:

In the interim I had a local company come by and grab the electric van from the bed and deliver it to a Georgia Power office out in the sticks (Dublin) for a seriously big regional pow wow. The other one, (Caprice) was going to Savannah to ship to Japan.

Finally got it all together as the sun was setting. Which meant I SHOULD have been already to Savannah, (dropped the Caprice) back to Dublin (grabbed the "top secret" van) and heading back home! :laughing: Ended up pulling into Savannah around 11 that night, and of course the port was closed. :rolleyes: Talk about a scary motel... Yikes! :eek: (Bullet proof glass at the 'slide your money in the slot' office.) Wouldn't call that night 'restful' at all.... good thing I had a big gun and a big knife as well! ;)

Thing is though, ANY TIME AT ALL when you remove a wheel and reinstall, no matter how well the lug nuts are/were torqued you are supposed to RE-torque them after no more than 100 miles. Anyone that doesn't.... and it's their own fault when the wheel(s) fall off. Not saying you can't file in court and win, but sometimes it just depends on what side of the bed you got up on. :dunno:
 
Judge said:
What's your current method? When my wheels are off I use OPC and various brushes. After rinsing and drying I use either KAIO or DG501 on all the painted metal parts
Click to expand...

I usually just spray meguiars UWAWA on my suspension stuff and use an old mf towel to wipe them clean. I know this isn't getting them exactly clean like the paint on the outside of the car but they look better than what a normal part looks like underneath lol. Other than that, I don't clean them any other way. Been thinking of new ways to do it more efficiently and get them cleaner but not any luck so far.
 
MarkD51 said:
CCruze,
I assume you're referring to your own vehicle, and there's nothing at all wrong doing this periodically.

One can truly never get wheels and tires fully clean and protected while they're on the vehicle.

It's also good that one inspects components this way, insuring bushings, and other things like CV Boots-etc are in good order.

Lately, I have tried a product that I bought here, from Chemical Guys, the Bare Bones Undercarriage Spray.

It works pretty nice on black parts, metal and plastic, and while some have said it leaves an oily finish, I haven't noticed that.

It will drip though, so one may wish to place newspaper, or a small section of canvas dropcloth when applying.

After a 1/2 hour, I have found it is bone dry to the touch. Has a nice "wax factory" sort of grape smell also. Mark
Click to expand...

Yes I am =]. I have a BRAND NEW 2012 chevy cruze LT and I want to give it that ultimate pampering. I notice from two other people on here, this seems to be a un-necessary task to them...but honestly when your somebody like me that is a perfectionist( which sucks to some level) your gonna want everything to be perfect lol. My outlook on this is If the part isn't clean, it wont function properly..i learned that from a true friend that is a ASE certified mechanic. And its true believe it or not.
And ill have to look into this product. Im always about trying new things. Ive always stuck with meguiars for the past 5 years and just started buying MOTHERS about 6 months ago. I just like to keep up on this type of thing, otherwise if it never gets done, things look nasty and unattracting lol
 
cardaddy said:
Been there, done that!

I had a rollback that was serviced by Ford the day before and on the interstate, while loaded with TWO cars the left rear wheel(s) came off and passed me @ 70 miles an hour.
Click to expand...


I just want to know what you renamed the dealership after it awarded to you in the lawsuit.
 
chevycruze said:
I am wondering if anyone else cleans their suspension parts on their cars to give it a cleaner look underneath.
Click to expand...

I didn't primarily clean the underside for a "cleaner look".

I did it for two reasons:
1) although I did a thorough inspection myself prior to purchase, to confirm the condition of a fourteen year old car that I bought,
2) I am a motorcycle guy and cars are filthy things to work on. Since this is a toy and not a daily driver, I'll be damned if I am going to get dirty working on it.

Take it as far as you are willing to take it and as far as you are willing to be a "slave" to your vehicle.


Some pics of my preliminary cleaning...

Porsche%20993%20Underside%20-%20Engine-XL.jpg




Right%20Rear%20Suspension%201-XL.jpg




Porsche%20993%20Steering%20Rack%20-%20Cover%20Removed-XL.jpg




IMG_1768-XL.jpg
 
Man, that looks beautiful. My CDO applauds your CDO. :)

I rarely go this far. Okay, that's actually an overstatement. I only went this far once. I detailed a truck for a magazine shoot, and some of the pics were taken while the truck was on a lift. Lots of APC, lots of towels, a few stiff brushes, and some scraped knuckles and sore fingers.
 
I probably would not have gone this far but I had a trans leak that necessitated the under carriage to be cleaned. I started with 10:1 APC then moved to full strength ARO on a wet under carriage and finished cleaning with 10:1 grease remover. Finally with everything dry I sprayed the under carriage, shocks etc. with Sonus trim and motor kote. It sure looks perty now.
Before
frame_before.jpg


After
frame_1_after.jpg


After
frame_2_after.jpg
 
CDO is just like OCD, except that it's in the proper alphabetical order. :)

APC = all purpose cleaner.
 
Mirror Finish said:
I didn't primarily clean the underside for a "cleaner look".

I did it for two reasons:
1) although I did a thorough inspection myself prior to purchase, to confirm the condition of a fourteen year old car that I bought,
2) I am a motorcycle guy and cars are filthy things to work on. Since this is a toy and not a daily driver, I'll be damned if I am going to get dirty working on it.

Take it as far as you are willing to take it and as far as you are willing to be a "slave" to your vehicle.


Some pics of my preliminary cleaning...

Porsche%20993%20Underside%20-%20Engine-XL.jpg
Click to expand...
NICE! is that a Porsche?
 
303 Aerospace protectant on a microfiber. Slowly polishing exposed metal. Soon I will be polishing the visible portions of the aluminum power plant frame that connects the transmission to the diff.

IMG_0347.jpg


I love polishing aluminum:

IMG_0943.jpg
 
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