Cleaning road salt after winter storm

[Maku1]

We just had the winter storm in DC, and my 4Runner is covered with winter salt from the highways.

What is the best way to clean the road salt from my 4Runner? Is it safe to leave the salt on the car for a few days? Don't have the PPF/ceramic coating yet.

Thank you!

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[TRD_Alex]

Pressure washer, under body spray attachment, and a foam cannon. Try to get as much as you can off before hand washing to avoid scratches.

It's a new car and has normal new car coatings on the frame, so leaving it on isn't as detrimental as having a 10+ year old car. Obviously removing it sooner than later is the best practice. I wouldn't bother until all of the roads are dry and cleared of slush.

 

[CO/ZA]

Touchless auto wash is also a good option.

Some of them here in Denver have a specific undercarriage cycle.

 

[odins_beer'd]

I'm in the same predicament hear in Baltimore. No sense in cleaning it now just to get hit again this weekend. Not sure about you but I also have a ton of ice on my undercarriage from playing around and a few trails. A week or two really won't hurt.

 

[DannyvanDelft]

Touchless car wash with an underbody sprayer.

 

[Lamuncha]

Unfortunately further north and west driving through it is a daily occurrence for 5 or 6 months.
They seem to throw that stuff down 2 0r 3 times a week.
There are car washes that have undercarriage spray - probably better than nothing.
If I could I would use a garden hose.
As for external paint I don't think the salt and sand do much damage unless it goes through those whirling brush car washes and touchless is useless but might help dissolve the salt
Paint on my cars has withstood up 10 years of winters and looks great. Could be the clear coating plus Twice a year they go through a decent wax application

 

[Archer]

Once the winter is over I'll hook a hose up and throw a pendulum sprinkler under and let it wash everything for an hour or so moving it every so often, I also do it after offroading in mud, works pretty well for getting in hard to reach spots.


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[127.0.0.1]

Once the winter is over I'll hook a hose up and throw a pendulum sprinkler under and let it wash everything for an hour or so moving it every so often, I also do it after offroading in mud, works pretty well for getting in hard to reach spots.


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it would be better climb down low rinse it with a hose and stop

if you soak for an hour with a sprinkler you may not want to be soaking the ujoints
if you have a bearing cup in a joint that need some new grease but you've let it
go, you don't want water to soak in there... jus sayin water can't really get to the ujoints
when in motion*... it gets flung off. but soaking with a sprinkler...may not be ideal

*if you are fording streams and doing hard offroad, you already are doing extra bearing maintenance... right ? if you want to keep it running that is...fun and extreme offload -and- longevity means a lot of added maintenance

 

[TurboGuy2000]

bro get a good active pressure washer, with good gun, get some good soap, degreaser, an outdoor lift, and pressure wash every day or get ready to take the truck to the scrap yard in a few years.

 

[Archer]

it would be better climb down low rinse it with a hose and stop

if you soak for an hour with a sprinkler you may not want to be soaking the ujoints
if you have a bearing cup in a joint that need some new grease but you've let it
go, you don't want water to soak in there... jus sayin water can't really get to the ujoints
when in motion*... it gets flung off. but soaking with a sprinkler...may not be ideal

*if you are fording streams and doing hard offroad, you already are doing extra bearing maintenance... right ? if you want to keep it running that is...fun and extreme offload -and- longevity means a lot of added maintenance

I think I'll keep doing it this way, it's worked for me for the last few decades. I'm from the coal region and I'd much rather exchange clean water for coal dirt mud and snow. If your doing any kind of offroad it always adds additional maintenance.

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[Nodak]

on my 2014 4R, i usually dont wash it during the winters unless its about 20F or warmer. once it gets into january/february our temps are not above 0F for long if at all. really dont want the temp extremes to crack the front windshield when going thru a car wash. going from 0F or -10F or colder thru a warm car wash can stress the glass pretty hard and if you have any micro fractures, it will accentuate them pretty easily and crack your windshield. luckily i havent had this happen but then again i dont drive thru car washes during the winter up here.

so it usually sits months at times in white salt. havent had any issues with my 2014 over the course of 12 yrs.

the biggest issue i have is the transitions between fall/winter and winter/spring where its constantly slush/wet snow melting/freezing in the garage.

my garage floor turns white from the vehicle over the course of a winter.

but outside of that, not a big deal where i go week/months between a good car wash.


and yeah i pay the extra for the undercarriage car wash everytime.

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