Remove salt from underbody?

[Anonymous]

My car was encrusted with salt. I took it to a car wash, and it now looks great. But they don't wash the underbody of the car, do they? The January snows led to enormous salting of the roads--and the salt it still there, weeks later.

[Anonymous]

Midwest resident here - salt also corrodes wheels and erodes the seal leading to leaky tires. Ugh. i recommend you power wash the wheels.

[Anonymous]

Why wouldn't the spray get the underbody clean?

[Anonymous]

The basic/cheapest option doesn’t but the others do include underbody cleaning in general

[Anonymous]

Can you just grab a hose and hose it down?

[Anonymous]

There’s a water crossing on a back road in the DC area that I visit after salt season to drive through the water repeatedly and wash the undercarriage of our vehicles. Its location is public, but somewhat secret. You can find if you look hard enough. I won’t reveal it though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't the spray get the underbody clean?

How does spraying water on the top and sides of a car remove salt underneath it?

Can you explain that to me like I’m 5 years old?

[Anonymous]

There's still salt in the roads. Won't washing the underbody just add water to the salty mix? Rust forms faster with water present, I thought. Better to keep it dry until the salt is washed away by rain.

[Anonymous]

From wiki:
When iron is in contact with water and oxygen, it rusts.[5] If salt is present, for example in seawater or salt spray, the iron tends to rust more quickly, as a result of chemical reactions.

[Anonymous]

You need to go to one of those drive thru car washes where the car pauses over a section of hoses that spray the underside of the car before it gets to the point where the rest of the car is washed — the ones where your car goes on a track that moves it along and you’re not actually driving it.

[Anonymous]

If you have access to a garden hose, this is your best bet. I use a cheap "donut" sprinkler to get all underneath the cars, and don't forget to get all up inside the wheel wells. Also, I recommend a gentle spray down of the engine bay each spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s a water crossing on a back road in the DC area that I visit after salt season to drive through the water repeatedly and wash the undercarriage of our vehicles. Its location is public, but somewhat secret. You can find if you look hard enough. I won’t reveal it though.

Milkhouse Ford? I thought NPS put up a gate there a few years back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't the spray get the underbody clean?

How does spraying water on the top and sides of a car remove salt underneath it?

Can you explain that to me like I’m 5 years old?

1. Turn on spigot
2. Grab hose
3. Get on ground
4. Spray underside and wheels of car
5. Turn off spigot
6. Gather hose.