Underbody cleaning and protection

Park your vehicle on the grass, to avoid a messy driveway clean up later. Remove your bash plates if so inclined to get a more thorough clean. If you have a lot of heavy chunks of mud, you'll want to blast these off with the pressure washer or hose as best you can first.

One of the most important post trip tasks is cleaning the mud and dust out of the chassis rails, as this gunk can build up inside the rails where you can't see it and create wet spots which will quickly accelerate rust. We've all seen the tricks with parking over a sprinkler or using an underbody pressure sprayer attachment, and frankly these methods are just not that effective at removing mud, salt and sand from inside the nooks and crannies of your chassis components.

We like to flush one chassis rail at a time. Ideally, park your vehicle nose down on a slight hill (make sure the handbrake works and chock the wheels if necessary) and take the connector end off of your hosepipe so you have a steady, even stream of water.

Starting at the back, find the furthest back hole in the chassis rail and poke the hose end through, pushing it in as far as the hose can go. Observe under the vehicle as the sand and mud begins to flow out from drain holes further down the car.

Wait until this flow becomes clear water, and then adjust the hose around, pulling it out and putting it back in until the water runs clear. Pull the hose out completely, find the next hole down the line, and repeat the process.

Once you've made your way down the length of the vehicle, repeat these steps on the opposite side until it's all clean and clear, and then proceed with the rest of the cleaning steps.

Fill up your Snow Blow Cannon bottle with 900mL of water, and add 100mL of Mega Snow Job to it. Give it a good shake to mix it thoroughly, and then begin foaming the underbody, making sure to adjust the fan spread to get good coverage of all underbody components. Pay particular attention around the wheel arches as these tend to be the dirtier areas. You'll want to aim to use about half the cannon bottle here, saving the other half for the regular wash later on.

Allow the Mega Snow Job a few minutes to dwell, and then begin rinsing off, either with the pressure washer or a hose sprayer on the jet setting. Spend a long time doing this, being thorough and rinsing every potential location that mud or sand could be hiding. Places like the top side of chassis rails and exhaust mufflers, inside plastic bumpers and side step railings, around the gearbox and bellhousing, inside bash plates and guards etc.

Down & Dirty can be used for a deeper clean of more muddy or stained areas as well, paired with any of our brushes like our Chubby or Little Stiffy Brush, particularly in and around wheel arch wells and suspension parts.