Washing down after a beach drive...

Just wondering what people do when they get home from a beach drive etc with their truck. Do you spray it with a hose or get right under and give it a good scrub with soap and water. I do probably 30% of my off roading in sand by the beach and i don't want to get caught out with rust etc in places i don't want it or cant see it.

I haven't yet looked into electronic rust prevention but have heard of friends spraying all the under body/chassis etc with fish oil or lanolin. How hardy is this method (ie. not getting ground of by sand) and how often would i need to re apply?

So basically just after some tips or tricks etc for post beach drives.

Cheers
Martin

And don't forget to stick the hose inside both chassis rails and all the cross members too.

Yep, i stick the hose in the chassis rails for a few minutes each side till clean water runs out the other holes. Also not sure if the D40 is the same but on D22 there are some gaps inside the rear wheel arches which allow sand in to the side panels of the tub, so i normally flush them out too.

I use a pressure washer to get in underneath to remove any external salt & sand. As suggested already use a hose to wash out any sand from inside chassis rails etc. Topside I find the fine sand sticks to the paint and glass and won't simply rinse off so it has to be hand wash with quality car wash detergent and big sponge. Be carefull you dont rub the sand into the paint. In saying all this I find that if you go softly on the beach then you don't throw as much sand about and far easier to clean afterwards. Go hard then you have a bigger clean up job. Oh and avoid the water and wet sand if you can.
Cheers...Phill

i have to clean the engine bay every time we go on the beach...theres sand every where and its a prick to clean it..have to get the air compressor out each time sighs!!

Thanks for the ideas guys keep em' coming.

yeah, i get under it with a hose and blast out / off as much as i can. Inside the chassis and particular attention to the underside of the body near the side steps. heaps seems to build up there.

and remember the sand is just as salty regardless of if it's wet or dry and hoseing wets it if you've been driving on dry stuff. therefore if you miss any when hoseing it off your just "activating" the salts ability to start rusting. so be thorough.

I usually visit the local sale yards and use there truck wash hoses plenty of water volume to flush the sand away

Has anyone used a lanolin or fish oil spray on their under body?
Would this be worth it? You would still hose down i guess but would not have to be as thorough.

sand under bonnet

mgladwin said:

Just wondering what people do when they get home from a beach drive etc with their truck. Do you spray it with a hose or get right under and give it a good scrub with soap and water. I do probably 30% of my off roading in sand by the beach and i don't want to get caught out with rust etc in places i don't want it or cant see it.

I haven't yet looked into electronic rust prevention but have heard of friends spraying all the under body/chassis etc with fish oil or lanolin. How hardy is this method (ie. not getting ground of by sand) and how often would i need to re apply?

So basically just after some tips or tricks etc for post beach drives.

Cheers
Martin

Click to expand...

mate lve been drive a bit driving to teewah and can tell you , it takes me an 1hour to wash the truck down ,theres so many spots you have too get too,lm a bit shitty that so much sand get around the motor ,but chassis l fill to the brim and then do the car the next day.........water bills are bit over the top but ha l put that on tax...............fish oil and lanoilin take a long time to dry ie 4 months and sand still sticks to the shit...hope that helps

i don't like that fish oil and lanoilin as they are very messy, and interferes with proper cleaning. You can buy that spray can with that brown cavity wax to do behind all your panel skins, and underneath i reckon just go over it with the highpressure hose good and truly afterwards. No matter what you do, if you regularly go on the beach you'll eventually get some rust, its in the air and you cant help it. Good thing my preferred wheeling place is the mountains and bush. never really had a thing for sand and beach camping.

I spend hours cleaning mine after beach driving.

High pressure only pushes the salt & sand up into areas where you don't want it to be, so steer clear of that. The best way, I believe, is just simply to soak and soak it. My old man made up a very useful extension out of a peice of 1/2" copper tube with a 90 degree bend and half a loop on the end, so you can really get in there underneath and spray the salt/sand downwards, rather than blasting it back upwards. Then for the next few days afterwards I just give it a good hose-down, as it takes a few washes to really get rid of the sand, but the salt is the real problem so as long as you give it a good soaking you'll get rid of the salt. I have no scientific backing for this, but my old man has been using this method for 30 years in his previous 4WD's and none of them every got any rust, despite regular trips to teewah and fraser.

Obviously that can be a little difficult depending on where you live in terms of water restrictions, and whether you have a rain water tank or not.