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Full body wash of vehicle after off-road trips


Atif

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I have read some posts on engine wash and car body wash but wanted to confirm if a complete body wash is required very frequently during the weekly off-road season. I already have regular vehicle top-body cleaning but is it necessary to have the under-body washed too and how frequently? 
Basically, I am trying to reduce costs and water waste but at the same time don’t want to end up with more wear and tear due to delayed cleaning.

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Having sand in moving parts, ie suspension, drive shafts, brakes etc is never a good thing. It’s always better to wash it off when possible. 

There are some cool little 12v pressure washers available in dragon mart that hook up to the car battery. They are never going to put up as much pressure as a 240v machine but it’s better than a hose pipe and good enough to wash sand off things. They use surprisingly little water too. A 20 litre bucket is usually enough to wash a car. 

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If it’s helps your green thoughts; the car wash has a recycling system so it can reuse of a lot of it’s water. 
I don’t get the body wash after every off-road drive. Just once in a while. 

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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I get the car washed once a week, generally the day after the desert drive and for the rest of the week, get a good duster and dust the car everyday. 

More washes means more swirl marks on the car. 

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4 hours ago, Barry said:

Having sand in moving parts, ie suspension, drive shafts, brakes etc is never a good thing. It’s always better to wash it off when possible. 

There are some cool little 12v pressure washers available in dragon mart that hook up to the car battery. They are never going to put up as much pressure as a 240v machine but it’s better than a hose pipe and good enough to wash sand off things. They use surprisingly little water too. A 20 litre bucket is usually enough to wash a car. 

Thanks Barry. I suppose engine wash is not required and just filter cleaning would do apart from the washing of the parts you mentioned?

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Desert sand is fine and it just falls off like water. Unless you have a oil leak somewhere or sprayed something like wd40 on something then you get a nice coating of fine sand.

 

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There is no need for under body cleaning after every week desert drive, unless you step on muddy puddles. Driving in sand actually clean lot of area under your car with regular sand blasting automatically, unless otherwise your car has oil leak as desertdude mentioned.

Secondly even if sand went in small places like suspensions, then when you hit the highway speed at 120 it will fly away. Of course not on leaf spring setup like in Xterra.

I do under body wash once in 6 months just to make sure everything is clean and to spot any oil leak etc.

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Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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11 hours ago, Gaurav said:

There is no need for under body cleaning after every week desert drive, unless you step on muddy puddles. Driving in sand actually clean lot of area under your car with regular sand blasting automatically, unless otherwise your car has oil leak as desertdude mentioned.

Secondly even if sand went in small places like suspensions, then when you hit the highway speed at 120 it will fly away. Of course not on leaf spring setup like in Xterra.

I do under body wash once in 6 months just to make sure everything is clean and to spot any oil leak etc.

Correct. On my Land Cruiser that literally went to the desert everyday. Quite a bit of the black paint on the sub frame, lower arm and chassis had literally been sand blasted away. Not to mention keeping everything else spiffy clean underneath as well.

Easy example is just look how nice, clean and deep black your tyres look when you are in the desert. almost new. Which doesn't last very long the moment you inflate and hit the tarmac

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