Post beach day cleaning / detailing advice?

[Xinia]

Hello everyone! I'm a newer 4Runner owner and never owned a 4x4 like vehicle before so I'm learning and exploring all sorts of new adventures. I recently took my 4Runner to the beach to watch a beautiful sunset and got so many fun pictures! I knew post care for going to the beach at least included a full spray off both on the exterior and under the car. I don't have access to a normal hose, so I usually go to a self-wash that has the high-pressure nozzle only. I spent a bit of time spraying all under the vehicle and all in the wheel wheels to get sand/saltwater off the components. Something I noticed is even after all the spraying I did, I could smell a saltwater or sea smell approaching the car. I was so confident I got the majority of it, so I tried to see if it got crammed into trim pieces near the doors. Well, I ran my finger along the inner piano black fender flares and found a thick row of sand trapped. I tried to put on gloves and use my finger to push what I could out. I spent some time researching and came across neat nozzles and things to flush out places where sand could get trapped, but I don't have access to a garden hose. Something I'm not confident in doing is flushing the frame under the vehicle. I found a ton of info on the 5th gen, but since I didn't own, I'm not sure what applies.

Is this necessary to flush the frame after a beach day or every so often?
Any tips or tricks on the 6th gen on undercarriage cleaning for future beach days?
If I make sure to thoroughly wash the undercarriage after each beach day, will the sand trapped dry and fall out with generic road driving?

Any and all advice would be much appreciated thank you very much!

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[828findadventure]

Don't forget the engine bay... I use a vacuum and compressed air.

 

[RedZone]

Hi Xinia!

I’m new to this forum as well. While I’m still learning some of the idiosyncrasies of the 6th gen 4Runner, I do have a few routine maintenance methods for salt and sand that have served me well up to this point with previous generations of 4Runners and 80/100 series Land Cruiser after living my whole life in the rust-belt.

I use Salt-Away in a garden sprayer to rinse off the salt during the Michigan winters. The sprayer wand reaches in the nooks and crannies of the vehicle. The adjustable nozzle allowed for a spray pattern or stream. More convenient than dealing with the car wash in winter IMHO, and not as rough on the fluid film normally applied before winter. I still use this method with my current 4Runner, but not quite as often after moving to Florida last year.

After driving on the Michigan sand dunes, I would give my vehicles several passes with a cordless leaf blower before rinsing. I would think compressed probably does a better job, but for me the leaf blower is more convenient.

 

[bakutheleo]

For a small blower this @Wolfbox one is really good:

https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/thr...-introducing-wolfbox-air-duster-mf200-🚗.6869/

There is also the older version with the non-removeable battery (which is the one I have) which is slightly cheaper. It is expensive, but works amazingly well. Of course it does not have the volume of a leaf blower or larger blower, but it does move a lot of air at good pressure. It is particularly good for getting into smaller areas. I use it to blow out the interior foot areas periodically as well.

 

[Lamuncha]

From a mariner's perspective, no matter how often or careful you are cleaning after salt water use, Including fresh water engine flush things go to hell.
It just isn't possible to clean the minerals from all the nooks and crannies.
Look at for sale boat advertisements, a big plus is fresh water only history.
And those things are built for salt (or so they will tell you) lots of SS.
When you go to sell it leave the beach pics out.

 

[Gumpus]

Hello everyone! I'm a newer 4Runner owner and never owned a 4x4 like vehicle before so I'm learning and exploring all sorts of new adventures. I recently took my 4Runner to the beach to watch a beautiful sunset and got so many fun pictures! I knew post care for going to the beach at least included a full spray off both on the exterior and under the car. I don't have access to a normal hose, so I usually go to a self-wash that has the high-pressure nozzle only. I spent a bit of time spraying all under the vehicle and all in the wheel wheels to get sand/saltwater off the components. Something I noticed is even after all the spraying I did, I could smell a saltwater or sea smell approaching the car. I was so confident I got the majority of it, so I tried to see if it got crammed into trim pieces near the doors. Well, I ran my finger along the inner piano black fender flares and found a thick row of sand trapped. I tried to put on gloves and use my finger to push what I could out. I spent some time researching and came across neat nozzles and things to flush out places where sand could get trapped, but I don't have access to a garden hose. Something I'm not confident in doing is flushing the frame under the vehicle. I found a ton of info on the 5th gen, but since I didn't own, I'm not sure what applies.

Is this necessary to flush the frame after a beach day or every so often?
Any tips or tricks on the 6th gen on undercarriage cleaning for future beach days?
If I make sure to thoroughly wash the undercarriage after each beach day, will the sand trapped dry and fall out with generic road driving?

Any and all advice would be much appreciated thank you very much!

Most motorcycle owner's manuals recommend never using a high pressure wand because they can cause damage directly through high pressure or longer term by forcing water into places that would normally not have to deal with water like sensors, electrical connections, bearings, ...?

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