Quality undercarriage washer?

jjohnsonElknewbie

jjohnsonElknewbie

WKR
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
Messages
3,952
Location
Western Iowa
Does anybody have a high pressure undercarriage washer they'd recommend? I've looked at reviews for the Saker, Ridge, Karcher, etc..., on Amazon, and most complain of too little pressure for anything but a car or lowered truck. I live on gravel in the rust belt and am looking for something to keep salt spray and mud rinsed off the bottom of our vehicles. Thank you in advance!

EDIT: I drive a crew cab with a 4" lift and 35s and my wife drives a lifted GX with 33s. So need something with good pressure generation from a 2800+ PSI pressure washer.
 
dr.mooseknuckles said:
I generally use a loofa with the soap at hand in our shower.
Generally works for me.

But for vehicles, I've got no idea. My parents owned car washes, but not in the Rust Belt.
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The confidence of a high power spray shower head power washing the entire undercarriage is totally worth it, and then your loofa can stay cleaner for longer.

Or you can always use somebody else's loofa.
 
dr.mooseknuckles said:
I generally use a loofa with the soap at hand in our shower.
Generally works for me.

But for vehicles, I've got no idea. My parents owned car washes, but not in the Rust Belt.
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Got a link for the loofa? (No action shots or in the field pictures, please spare us all.). ;)
 

I think this is the one I have or very similar. Haven’t used it for mud yet—only road salt, but I’m pretty sure it would work, maybe just have to take it slow. I’ve ran it upside down just for fun, and it took some stain off the driveway.

It has good pressure. It may be a bit light on water volume, but I’m also only running it off an electric power washer which doesn’t move as much volume.
 
I looked at what an undercarriage washer is, ok fascinating. For our mud and clay, I use my pressure washer extension wand. Yes, it is a little heavy, but it will reach all the way under the vehicle and has full pressure washer power. Once I get all the mud and clay out, I can attach the foam cannon and soap it up too.
 
I sent a note to Andy's to see if those little wheels would work on a gravel or short grass parking area. They recommend running theirs on smooth, flat, packed surfaces for best operation. I appreciate their honesty and timely response. I probably won't get their undercarriage cleaner, but may look into some of their myriad other car care products based on good custsomer service.

Based on mediocre reviews (low pressure / low volume) of the undercarriage cleaners and need for redneck engineering some to get them to work well, I'm gonna start somewhat old school and just get a pivot coupler for my current wand. When I'm washing the vehicles I gotta walk around anyways, and it will likely deliver the best pressure on contact anyhow.

I already have undercoat and inner panel coat, and the point of washing the undercarriage is to simply extend the life of my truck. Chevy/GMS from 2000-2017 are known to get fender, rocker, and cab corner rot (my 2000 body and frame both rotted out completely in roughly 20 years) so just doing what I can for prevention.

EDIT: Stihl makes a pivot coupler and they actually have one in my tiny small town Hardware Hank. They got one pulled down for me and I'll let you know if it's any good.
 
jjohnsonElknewbie said:
I sent a note to Andy's to see if those little wheels would work on a gravel or short grass parking area. They recommend running theirs on smooth, flat, packed surfaces for best operation. I appreciate their honesty and timely response. I probably won't get their undercarriage cleaner, but may look into some of their myriad other car care products based on good custsomer service.

Based on mediocre reviews (low pressure / low volume) of the undercarriage cleaners and need for redneck engineering some to get them to work well, I'm gonna start somewhat old school and just get a pivot coupler for my current wand. When I'm washing the vehicles I gotta walk around anyways, and it will likely deliver the best pressure on contact anyhow.

I already have undercoat and inner panel coat, and the point of washing the undercarriage is to simply extend the life of my truck. Chevy/GMS from 2000-2017 are known to get fender, rocker, and cab corner rot (my 2000 body and frame both rotted out completely in roughly 20 years) so just doing what I can for prevention.
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I wonder if you could swap the wheels to something more robust? Either way Adam's is great, their customer service is outstanding and I've been very happy with every car care product I've ever bought from them.

For what it's worth, for this type of application flooding is probably as effective as super high pressure. Low pressure with enough volume will melt the mud/salt off the vehicle and allow it to drop. Super high pressure can blast it upwards into other nooks and crannies making it both harder to reach and allowing it to drip it's way back down after you think you're done cleaning. I've seen people use regular hose-end garden sprinklers, let them run for a few minutes, and move them to hit a different area and say it works great for removing mud and salt. Even the last cheap one I bought from Ace will launch water 30-40 feet away and the next time my truck gets good and muddy/salty I definitely plan to try it out for that application.
 
intunegp said:
I wonder if you could swap the wheels to something more robust? Either way Adam's is great, their customer service is outstanding and I've been very happy with every car care product I've ever bought from them.

For what it's worth, for this type of application flooding is probably as effective as super high pressure. Low pressure with enough volume will melt the mud/salt off the vehicle and allow it to drop. Super high pressure can blast it upwards into other nooks and crannies making it both harder to reach and allowing it to drip it's way back down after you think you're done cleaning. I've seen people use regular hose-end garden sprinklers, let them run for a few minutes, and move them to hit a different area and say it works great for removing mud and salt. Even the last cheap one I bought from Ace will launch water 30-40 feet away and the next time my truck gets good and muddy/salty I definitely plan to try it out for that application.
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That's a good point about the pressure blowing things where you don't want them. I will definitely keep that and the sprinkler in mind. I need a new "rainbow" style sprinkler for the acreage anyhow.

On the wheels, I was thinking the same thing re: swapping out the dinky wheels for some larger generator wheels or something, but at $150 for the unit as-is, I'm gonna investigate some other solutions first.
 
I saw a guy somewhere with an oil spray service for rust belt, might have been Canada, but it is supposed to be a yearly treatment for a couple hundred bucks maybe?

I know not what you’re asking but may keep you rust free!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
There's a bit of info around the 16min mark here about fighting rust with soda.

 
Wrench said:
There's a bit of info around the 16min mark here about fighting rust with soda.

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I will check that out.

For anybody interested, the Stihl pivot coupler is a high quality part that works well. I found one at my dinky town hardware store for $28. I didn't even know Stihl made power washer parts. It has 3 positions, straight, 45 up and 45 down. It worked great with both straight water and with my soap plugged in, and I recommend it.
 
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