What's your after beach run cleaning routine

[mjr350]

I've been on a few beach fishing trips over the last few weeks and spending an hour or so under the patrol with the hose flushing what I can.
Just wondering what everyone else does.

[Avo]

I'm lucky enough to have a wash bay where I live(at work)so our cars get a good wash with a bit of pressure as we use pressure pumps..i make sure I wash in all the gaps of the doors and windows,fenders...everywhere where there is a gap...open the bonnet wash all inside engine bay..stick the hose in the chassis rails and just let the water run for a while till you can see it's running clean..most important is don't think it doesn't matter or you'll do it next time....as soon as we get back from the coast we unpack the car and I take it straight down and wash it..don't like using garden hose as I don't think it has enough pressure.

[Stropp]

yes i have a pressure washer and do mine every time as mine does a have a small amount of surface cancer as it was a department of fisheries vehicle which has been wire brushed back and treated and goes back every year for a checkup.

[megatexture]

Imo its more volume of water than presure needed. it will all wash off easily but sand salt and sand just jumps around with presure. I never use any under wash body booths near a beach as they recycle water they will get the sand off but if its not new water your washing with salt/brackish water

[threedogs]

I think there is a mob called Masso-Jet that have different angled wands for your pressure cleaner to get into all the nooks and crannys.
They also have a product called masso- assalt or similar. to seal from corrosion once cleaned
Big Fella sells a product called sharkskin which may be of use
I would Lanotech all areas this is a great product IMO use it all the time

[the evil twin]

I would Lanotech all areas this is a great product IMO use it all the time

I had to stop using Lanotech over here in Perth.
The side effects were too detrimental.

Everytime I came back to the Car it would take me 15 minutes to shoulder my way thru all the Kiwi's hugging my Car with woodies and glazed looks in their eyes.
That was bad enough but when they started following me home...

[megatexture]

I think there is a mob called Masso-Jet that have different angled wands for your pressure cleaner to get into all the nooks and crannys.
They also have a product called masso- assalt or similar. to seal from corrosion once cleaned
Big Fella sells a product called sharkskin which may be of use
I would Lanotech all areas this is a great product IMO use it all the time

Had one (maso jet)and it lasted less than a year and the on off valve broke and one of the brass fittings. Crap IMO

[threedogs]

[QUOTE=the evil twin;570580]I had to stop using Lanotech over here in Perth.
The side effects were too detrimental.

Everytime I came back to the Car it would take me 15 minutes to shoulder my way thru all the Kiwi's hugging my Car with woodies and glazed looks in their eyes.
That was bad enough but when they started following me home...[/QUOte


I have a Maori mate who's uses it behind the ears lol
Its now locked in one of my cupboards

I've seen first hand what salt can do to a wiring loom and it aint pretty

[gaddy]

Water , water and more water , I'm doing mine at the moment , been on the beach at Ballina , Iluka and Repton for the last couple of weeks , A couple hours on and under the car with the hose a vacume and a sudsy wash , with the rack removed , I do a lot of beach and thats my routine :)

[threedogs]

is there a spot near Fraser that sprays oil under your 4x4 before you venture on the beach.
Cant think of anything worse than salt ,sand and a 4x4,, just wreaks $$$$$$ in repairs

[the evil twin]

I have a Maori mate who's uses it behind the ears lol


His or yours...

[BigRAWesty]

So all you poor bastards that crawl under the car have I got the sale of a century!!!
Do yourself a favour and get one of these

53707

$10 bucks anywhere.
Attach it to the hose and lay it under your car. Start at the rear and drag it to the front in 10min increments.
Hell even do the wheel arches to..
Hour so far washing and have got a drip on me yet..

Tomorrow I'll wash the outside with the pressure cleaner and broom. And flush out the chassis

[mudnut]

I used the car wash at Robe. I spent an hour washing and rinsing the Old Trol with rainwater at home. As I had to repair the mud flap I lost in the dunes, I have taken all of the plastic and rubber off the vehicle and am in the process of fish oiling the inside of the guards and painting any chips or cracks in the duco. I will spray fish oil inside the chassis after the heat has evaporated any moisture.

[gaddy]

Cant think of anything worse than salt ,sand and a 4x4,, just wreaks $$$$$$ in repairs[/QUOTE]

As long as you prep and maintain and do a proper wash after , all is good , my last 4by did nothing but beach once or twice a month for 10 years and not a speck of rust , but unlike the tv adds I don't drive in salt water , I get a good laugh at Eli creek when people cross it at high tide as the waves wash a good 50 m up the beach part of the creek , people think it's fresh !

[04OFF]

I'm lucky enough to have a wash bay where I live(at work)so our cars get a good wash with a bit of pressure as we use pressure pumps..i make sure I wash in all the gaps of the doors and windows,fenders...everywhere where there is a gap...open the bonnet wash all inside engine bay..stick the hose in the chassis rails and just let the water run for a while till you can see it's running clean..most important is don't think it doesn't matter or you'll do it next time....as soon as we get back from the coast we unpack the car and I take it straight down and wash it..don't like using garden hose as I don't think it has enough pressure.


I agree you need pressure, my car is all painted black underneath so sand is easy to see, garden hose simply does not remove all traces of sand, high pressure water does, but I use a water blaster with much more power than the local car wash places have.

Pressure washing the body paintwork is also much better IMO, as you can easy remove heaps more of the dried on abrasive salt/sand spray before you even go near it with a sponge and soap, hose pressure does not remove much of anything, the less you rub contaminates over paint the better.



Imo its more volume of water than presure needed. it will all wash off easily but sand salt and sand just jumps around with presure. I never use any under wash body booths near a beach as they recycle water they will get the sand off but if its not new water your washing with salt/brackish water


This came up a while back about the car wash at Rainbow Beach, with some guy saying they use recycled water on the cars, as this is a wash I use/have used, I was interested to find out if that was the case, so i did some research and actually ended up speaking to the owner, while they do recycle some water for back flushing/driveway cleaning etc, the water going on your car is fresh water NOT recycled, and he pays a hefty bill for the water consumption.

[mjr350]

I agree you need pressure

I was under the understanding that high pressure pushes sand and salt further into cracks and crevices where as low pressure high volume washes the salt away. Non salty sand is ok after the salt is diluted and washed out.

[megatexture]

I might just test it then lol .

Steve if your using a better pressure cleaner than a car wash bay or a kartcher or a gerni that uses a petty 1000psi@8 ltr per min it may be like the one I use for work that uses 3000psi@25 ltrs per min.
If using a 8 ltr job its best to put a sprinkler under the car for 30 mins to remove all the loose sand before washing.

[04OFF]

I was under the understanding that high pressure pushes sand and salt further into cracks and crevices where as low pressure high volume washes the salt away. Non salty sand is ok after the salt is diluted and washed out.


While i understand the benefit and the reasoning behind simply diluting the salt (and that's good) I want to remove "everything" that was not there before the trip, I can see how high pressure into seals etc could push water/contaminates , but you don't hold the blaster point blank pumping water into any one spot near a opening, I doubt it would be much worse on seals than hitting a puddle at speed.

As a experiment, when you car is really dirty, hose your paintwork with a low pressure garden hose for a hour and see what residual contaminates are still left, in comparison, hose your paintwork with a decent pressure washer and most of the time, it will be almost clean in 5 min, when you think about it, the same contaminates are all under your car (if not more) so unless you also get under the car and wash your underbody/chassis/diffs with a sponge then rinse, I cant really see how you are removing much of anything, low pressure hosing may eventually dilute the salt ,but does not really "clean" the underside of your car good enough IMO.



I might just test it then lol .

Steve if your using a better pressure cleaner than a car wash bay or a kartcher or a gerni that uses a petty 1000psi@8 ltr per min it may be like the one I use for work that uses 3000psi@25 ltrs per min.
If using a 8 ltr job its best to put a sprinkler under the car for 30 mins to remove all the loose sand before washing.


Yeh, ive also got a little domestic Gerni, its way better than a hose, but does not get all the crap off either, it will draw blood if you hit your arm at point blank range as I found out the other day (almost healed now, haha)

I think the one I use is about the 2000psi@14 (but don't quote me), never used a 3000 Troy, but you want to be careful when testing as im sure you could also have too much pressure and start wrecking stuff at close range (lol)



What do you guys do after a "muddy" 4wdriving trip if you don't use pressure ?

[megatexture]

I wouldn't go near the gu with 3000psi unless I wanted a respray

Off the beach I use a gerni for the body but just a hose and sprinkler for underbody.
Glasshouse is sprinkler and a lot of gerni and with ct18
But There's also a road around the corner from my place the frequently gets hit at 80kph when it's flooded ;)

[megatexture]

So all you poor bastards that crawl under the car have I got the sale of a century!!!
Do yourself a favour and get one of these

53707

$10 bucks anywhere.
Attach it to the hose and lay it under your car. Start at the rear and drag it to the front in 10min increments.
Hell even do the wheel arches to..
Hour so far washing and have got a drip on me yet..

Tomorrow I'll wash the outside with the pressure cleaner and broom. And flush out the chassis
I've gone one step further and attached mine to a stick for ease of placement lol

[macca]

Made a blue spraying Lanotec all under the car and engine bay before my first ever beach run. It was recommended by Roothy from that magazine. I knew no better. Bloody sand stuck to everything, I was so p!seed off. Stopped buying that mag after that as I realised it wasn't advise he gave it was selling an advertisers product. I have used a masojet on the garden hose for years to clean inside the chassis rails, very effective. Use masojet and gerni to clean sand or mud. Works for me.

[92GQ]

After the beach I use the garden hose all over/under the Patrol then go to the car wash; hand wash followed by pressure under/over the 4wd.
I also wash the car every two weeks.
I use the Lanotec before each beach trip, I usually put it on two/three days before the trip and a little sand sticks to it, I figure if the sand is sticking it must be working, as least there is a layer of oil between the car and the salt.

Seems to work as I go to Fraser/Cooloola/Bribie at least 8 times a year for the last 10 years and no rust.

[mjr350]

While i understand the benefit and the reasoning behind simply diluting the salt (and that's good) I want to remove "everything" that was not there before the trip, I can see how high pressure into seals etc could push water/contaminates , but you don't hold the blaster point blank pumping water into any one spot near a opening, I doubt it would be much worse on seals than hitting a puddle at speed.

As a experiment, when you car is really dirty, hose your paintwork with a low pressure garden hose for a hour and see what residual contaminates are still left, in comparison, hose your paintwork with a decent pressure washer and most of the time, it will be almost clean in 5 min, when you think about it, the same contaminates are all under your car (if not more) so unless you also get under the car and wash your underbody/chassis/diffs with a sponge then rinse, I cant really see how you are removing much of anything, low pressure hosing may eventually dilute the salt ,but does not really "clean" the underside of your car good enough IMO.

The salt is easily removed because salt is soluble with water. Without going into the details of neg and pos ions, its more like a chemical reaction rather than just washing embedded dust of duco.

[threedogs]

Been following this thread and good to see the pride ppl have in their ride.
Not one cowboy comment, like spray underneath with sump oil and all will be good ,
well done guys lol

[threedogs]

I used the car wash at Robe. I spent an hour washing and rinsing the Old Trol with rainwater at home. As I had to repair the mud flap I lost in the dunes, I have taken all of the plastic and rubber off the vehicle and am in the process of fish oiling the inside of the guards and painting any chips or cracks in the duco. I will spray fish oil inside the chassis after the heat has evaporated any moisture.

MN try stuffing some pink batts inside the rear 1/4 panels makes for a much quieter ride

[mjr350]

Mum used to tell me that dad would put the sprinkler under his old SWB patrol when i was a wee kid. Good to see he's not the only one. Water restrictions put a damper on that these days.

[threedogs]

What do you guys do after a "muddy" 4wdriving trip if you don't use pressure ?[/QUOTE]

Usually wait for it to dry,its easier to fall off, I have a high pressure nozzle for the garden hose.
I squirt most off on the grass at home then go to the Car wash armed with a pocket full of $2 coins
Not a big fan of high pressure hoses in certain parts of the Patrol

[Avo]

seems like the word pressure has got some conversation going,while I did say pressure in my post,it's only from a pressure pump not a pressure washer..i use the water very liberally and lots of it...have had my GQ for 7 years and it's used down the coast regulary and has no rust yet..

[04OFF]

I think people are still scared of pressure because they don't seem to understand you can regulate the pressure easy by not holding the tip close, in fact you can stand back and "mist" everything much finer than you ever could with a hose, you don't have to wash everything at point blank, just the opposite, only get as close as you need to do the job, but many places do love a good blast to get the crap off.

I pressure wash my engine every time after a beach trip too, some people say to never do this as mine its a Petrol engine, but again I don't blast things point blank, ive never had miss or a problem and I must have done this a hundred plus times over the years.

Some people refuse to use pressure on paintwork, i have a mate who twice now, has scratched the bonnet on 2 different Porsche's removing (rubbing) 1 day old bird/bat poo, if he just used pressure ,it would have removed the crap without leaving a single mark.



Its always going to be each to there own methods on this one, the main thing is you are getting out and using your troll for what is was meant for in the first place, I bought my troll with the main purpose of going to the beach as much as possible, knowing the beach can cause many problems (including rust), but that's what I like to do, in the last 4 weeks alone I have been to Rainbow Beach, Double Island Point, Fraser Island, Teewah Beach, Bribie Island and will hit Moreton Island at the end of the month, and that's exactly why I bought a 15yr old car and not a new one :smiley_thumbs_up:

[mudnut]

I hate fibre glass insulation with a passion, TD. I used to work with the stuff which was installed under-floor in some interstate locomotives. The crap used to get in my skin and cause itchy rashes.