Help with suspension cleanup!!

0

04v8s4

New member
Hey guys/gals...



I will be putting my summer wheels/tires on my car in the next week or so. While i have the winters off I would like to go through the suspension to "de-winterize" everything.



I dont care too much about how glossy everything is under there...I just want to thoroughly clean, de-salt, and degrease all the suspension component...etc.



Any suggestions for a good underbody cleaner for this task?



Any experience with tools, brushes, methods that would help me with this task?:2thumbs:
 
I use APCs for most such work, nothing really fancy...although P21s TAW is nice if you need to do a lot of degreasing.



Steamers are nice, but not mandatory.



I use a variety of brushes, from flagged-bristle "bumper and body" brushes (Walmart has some that are OK for this kind of work...look for the ones with blue bristles) to BHBs. Some of the rough-cast aluminum suspension pieces will probably need some pretty aggressive scrubbing with fairly stiff brushes.



I'd consider a paint cleaner/AIO for some surfaces under there, such products can get things a lot cleaner than APC/etc. alone. The cleaner you get things, the less dirt will get retained down there. And I do like to polish/LSP certain surfaces even if nobody else sees them.
 
Accumulator, do you wash it with APC or do you spray it on and then agitate with brushes?



I am planning on using APC+. What dilution ratio would you use?



Accumulator said:
I use APCs for most such work, nothing really fancy...although P21s TAW is nice if you need to do a lot of degreasing.



Steamers are nice, but not mandatory.



I use a variety of brushes, from flagged-bristle "bumper and body" brushes (Walmart has some that are OK for this kind of work...look for the ones with blue bristles) to BHBs. Some of the rough-cast aluminum suspension pieces will probably need some pretty aggressive scrubbing with fairly stiff brushes.



I'd consider a paint cleaner/AIO for some surfaces under there, such products can get things a lot cleaner than APC/etc. alone. The cleaner you get things, the less dirt will get retained down there. And I do like to polish/LSP certain surfaces even if nobody else sees them.
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Acculumator...thanks for all the input, that's a great help.



I was also wondering about the APC dilution ratio.



Any particularly good APC recommendations?



Thanks!
 
With something like Meg's D103, you might want to mix at 4:1 when dealing with suspension components and wheel wells. The exact ratio will depend on the product. D103 can also be mixed at 8:1 or even 10:1 for interior duty.
 
Better let somebody with first-hand experience advise you on the dilution ratios. I use either TAW (straight) or EFHI (straight or diluted by eye depending what I need) or even citrus-based engine degreasers (straight).



The TAW and EFHI are kinda pricey...I bet you could just use most any such product and I wouldn't worry too much about getting the dilution just right- stronger is generally better and I doubt you'll hurt anything down there. More likely you'll be struggling to get sufficient cleaning power ;)



I hose off anything loose (lots of gravel gets caught in nooks and crannies), let some of the water drip away, then spray on the product. I let it dwell, trying to keep it damp (by spraying on more) if it wants to dry. Then I agitate with the brushes and rinse it off...then I see how well that worked and see if I oughta repeat the same process or try something else.



Be a little careful if you want to try the AIO/etc. thing. It can leave residue/staining in pitted surfaces, and a lot of things down there will be in not-swell condition. What I *really* like for such surfaces, esp. the satin black-painted bits, is Blackfire. The Gloss Enhancing Polish works incredibly well, even on lightly surface-rusted pieces, and the oils in the BF seem good for this application. I was simply astounded how well it worked on the MPV's rear brake drums so I started using it on most all the matte/satin black pieces on most of my vehicles.
 
Accumulator, thank you very much!!



I am going to do my Spring cleaning in about a week.



Accumulator said:
Better let somebody with first-hand experience advise you on the dilution ratios. I use either TAW (straight) or EFHI (straight or diluted by eye depending what I need) or even citrus-based engine degreasers (straight).



The TAW and EFHI are kinda pricey...I bet you could just use most any such product and I wouldn't worry too much about getting the dilution just right- stronger is generally better and I doubt you'll hurt anything down there. More likely you'll be struggling to get sufficient cleaning power ;)



I hose off anything loose (lots of gravel gets caught in nooks and crannies), let some of the water drip away, then spray on the product. I let it dwell, trying to keep it damp (by spraying on more) if it wants to dry. Then I agitate with the brushes and rinse it off...then I see how well that worked and see if I oughta repeat the same process or try something else.



Be a little careful if you want to try the AIO/etc. thing. It can leave residue/staining in pitted surfaces, and a lot of things down there will be in not-swell condition. What I *really* like for such surfaces, esp. the satin black-painted bits, is Blackfire. The Gloss Enhancing Polish works incredibly well, even on lightly surface-rusted pieces, and the oils in the BF seem good for this application. I was simply astounded how well it worked on the MPV's rear brake drums so I started using it on most all the matte/satin black pieces on most of my vehicles.
Click to expand...
 
Accumulator said:
Better let somebody with first-hand experience advise you on the dilution ratios. I use either TAW (straight) or EFHI (straight or diluted by eye depending what I need) or even citrus-based engine degreasers (straight).



The TAW and EFHI are kinda pricey...I bet you could just use most any such product and I wouldn't worry too much about getting the dilution just right- stronger is generally better and I doubt you'll hurt anything down there. More likely you'll be struggling to get sufficient cleaning power ;)



I hose off anything loose (lots of gravel gets caught in nooks and crannies), let some of the water drip away, then spray on the product. I let it dwell, trying to keep it damp (by spraying on more) if it wants to dry. Then I agitate with the brushes and rinse it off...then I see how well that worked and see if I oughta repeat the same process or try something else.

.
Click to expand...



Well don-you totally put into words what I was thinking.
 
vberch said:
I am going to do my Spring cleaning in about a week.
Click to expand...



Be careful with the factory-applied, wax-based rustproofing (the stuff people mistakenly call "cosmoline"). If you get degreasers/etc. on it for too long such products will compromise it, turning it a milky white. Sorta the worst of both worlds- not cleaned off the car, but not looking "right" either.



Detailing cars like BMWs that have a good amount of such stuff can be a bit of a challenge.



If such undercoating is really dirty, I'll sometimes wipe it *very* gently with a solvent, being as careful as possible to clean the undercoating as opposed to cleaning the undercoating *off*, if you get the distinction. As I said, this can be a little tricky and you probably won't find out what constitutes "going too far" until you've done it.



Why not just clean it all off? A) it does provide corrosion protection and sound-deadening and B) it oughta be there for concours purposes.
 
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