Pressure washing undercarriage without drying cause rust?

When pressure washing, the danger as mentioned above is digging in and working into areas with the water jet. I make sure the wand is always moving and not concentrated in one spot too long. I do prefer low pressure high volume for a good clean. The pressure washer is for a quick rinse down.

 

One advantage to getting older is that you quit worrying about stuff like this.

OP; don't sweat this for one second brother! You ain't going to rust your truck in half by giving it a belly bath every now and then.

Carry on!

 

Curious.... what else have you personally used?

I appreciate hearing your feedback. I've researched this topic for many hours and the (current) conclusion I reached was that the waxy non-drying non-hard surface products seem to be the right move (ie, staying away from the black rubberized / Ziebart / paint-like products). I just bought a new Taco and since it's winter, last week I had it sprayed w Fluid Film before driving it (my 1st experience w/it). There's also a Woolwax guy close by that I might try when I'm due for another round.

I didn't do Cosmoline as I noticed it is petroleum-based (not lanolin-based like WW and/or FF), and they say it "could" be an issue with rubber seals, etc..... also I couldn't find a guy local that sprays it. (I realize I could do it myself but just didn't have time right now)

 

20b of 853b yearly budget isnt much, yeah it's a big number(hard to describe without typing out all the zeros, 20,000,000,000) but maintaining equipment and facilities really only costs 2% of our defense budget? Yikes

 

Does rp-342 come in a spray-can application type?

 

Outside of hosing the chassis down with fuel oil back in the day that never lasted on the wet roads here, I use to use lanolin based fluid film that also washed off after a few months, and had to be reapplied. I used rp-342 cosmoline after talking with these guys, they told me that's what BMW, and Mercedes uses. Two good coats of that stuff sprayed on a clean new chassis was the ticket. This stuff clings like iron, yet remains a semi hard waxy finish.
You can buy it in black, or amber rattle cans. I used the amber as that's all they made at the time. I would never use a lanolin based rust inhibitor here again unless you like doing the job over every year or sooner. Rp-342 is not suppose to have any affect on rubber seals when I spoke to them about it. At any rate just avoid getting it on them if worried. I had no issues with anything like that with my truck getting some overspray on the plastic, and the seals.

 

Ive been using one of these with my gas pressure washer. as other people said, you need more water then you think to remove the salt. the water mixes with the salt and you need to make sure you wash that mixture out. that undercarriage washer splits the power into 4 so youre not going to damage any coatings. it barely has power beyond a couple of inches of the nozzle, so most of everything moreover gets a mist-like current of water. dont use it with an electric one as most of those arent powerful enough but will still get mud off which is nice.

 

My 2023 appears to have some type of coating or paint on the entire frame. Not sure about other parts underneath. Does anyone know what it may be? Could it be Cosmoline? I would think they would be using something good as they have had all the frame rust issues in the past.

 

That's the problem isn't it. It's a big number, but in the bigger picture it's a drop in the bucket. We need to use better designs and material for the environment it's in and put in place a sustainment plan to hit the sweet spot, but that's not how things work. Fire and forget. I'm so tired of this culture of spend it this year or you won't get it next year.

 

I doubt it's anything except a thick coat of black paint that will eventually flake away. I think they now use something for the insides of the boxed in frame sections, other than than your on your own.

 

Water and metal... it is going to rust. add salt... it is definitely going to rust. you can rinse, and you can protect, just gotta be smart. using a corrosion inhibitor of your choice, is a great starting point. just need to monitor, your high use/wear areas, regularly. Ski

 

I think pressure washing is a much different definition these days with all the little electric ones out there. 1800psi off an electric thing that probably puts out 900psi if its lucky isnt an issue for water ingress into wiring connections and whatnot. 3500psi from some older 5hp gas unit, or higher off a bigger model that can actually dump out its rated pressure is the concern.

I use a little electric dude all the time for cleaning engine bays and stuff, but outside of a 0-degree nozzle on it pointing directly at some wiring harness from 6" away, its not doing anything to damage paint let alone strip off coatings lol.

 

I got a Ryobi version of this and I love it

 

Yep: https://www.cosmolinedirect.com/cosmoline-rp-342-heavy-spray-military-grade-rust-preventive/

This is how I do rustproofing on my truck, crawl under with 6 cans of cosmoline and spray all the frame and suspension. Shield or wipe down exposed shock shafts with a mild degreaser afterwards.

You can also use CRC Marine 06026, available

$36 CRC 06026 Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor, 10 Wt Oz - 4 PACK

on Amazon, Napa, and many boating supply stores. Same stuff as RP-342 but the nozzle doesn't accept a straw. However, the Fluid Film spray nozzle will fit.

 

I don't like pressure washing these trucks as it can blow out any areas that are suppose to be lubricated, plus it puts water where it shouldn't be. When I use to pressure wash my race bikes I saw what it did, but I use to disassemble the entire bike every week for inspection, and replace any sketchy looking parts. If not done, you'd find that water gets blown past the seals into bearings which in not good. I would guess truck chassis's can't be a whole lot better.

 

Thank you! I'll try it out on the interior of my rear bumper and on my trailer hitch. I have remove loose paint and scale and repaint my trailer hitch every year.

 

plastic, might as well throw it in the trash

 

sounds like you have no idea how to use a powerwasher. after the first couple inches of the nozzle the water has no pressure, a garden hose has more pressure distance. going with your logic you wouldnt even want to drive your car in the rain lmao

 

It's the salt that I have to remove to prevent rusting, not water.