Does anyone routinely do underbody wash/detail?

[Eldorado2k]

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?

[Bill D]

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.

[Vanquish Auto]

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.

[Eldorado2k]

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.

Cool, perfect timing. Don’t forget to take some pics with your phone.[emoji6]

What would you use if you decide to give it a full go at it?

[Bill D]

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

[Eldorado2k]

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.

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.

[Eldorado2k]

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

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.

[Vanquish Auto]

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.

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.

[Bill D]

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.

[MrRoo]

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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[Eldorado2k]

Any pics?

[Finick]

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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[Coleroad]

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.

[SWETM]

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.

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=66009&d=1551187687

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=66010&d=1551187711

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=66011&d=1551187734

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.

[TTQ B4U]

Nope. Just wheel wells. However I do polish my exhaust.

https://pbase.com/timothylauro/image/168029030/original.jpg

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