........Do you really take everything apart? ..... Any tips you have for getting the mud stains off the soft top/anything plastic and engine compartment are appreciated. :thumb:
I don't have to take everything apart every time because out here in the desert things dont get nearly as dirty as the rest of the world. As for cleaning the soft top; buy a big can of foaming tire cleaner, a large sponge or wash mitten and go to town. It will remove most stains and bring the top back to a like new condition. If the stains are not wanting to go away, use a little more soaking of the foam in those spots. I would not do this every wash, but I do my soft top once or twice a year and after 4 years it still looks great.
That is very cool! How many hours does it take to get the mud ALL the way out? Man I though I was anal :cheesy:
I just found out it takes a fuzzy rag to get all the light colored dirt out of the texture of the dash. Man that stuff was hard to get clean! I used to have a F150 Platinum and I was a super freak about keeping it clean. Since I got the Jeep I'm a lot more laid back.
Thanks for the Pics! :thumb:
Really I just don't let the crud build up. The JKX is a special event that covers more miles than most guys will wheel all year, so doing a quick wash down along the route when possible is a great help. But when I am at home in AZ, I just clean it after I have hit the trails for a weekend. Sometimes the jeep sits all week after a weekend of wheeling because I am traveling for work, I just look forward to cleaning when I get home. Drives my wife nuts!
-The tip of using Foaming tire cleaner I mentioned above, well I also spray my armor, rock sliders, bumper, axles, frame rails (and underbody once or twice a year) with it too after a good wash. Basically any black metal gets sprayed to prevent staining and corrosion. I DON"T SPRAY COILOVERS OR SHOCKS, stains the aluminum body really bad.
-The paint, it gets spray washed and foaming brushed washed at the carwash near my house (yes a foam brush, its a jeep, not a Ferrari, its going to get scratched on the trails anyway). After the wash, I dry with a big micro-fiber absorbent towel, like a new space age spongy chamois material. I use spray on quick detailer wax after every wash, and I use a high quality carnuba hand wax once or twice a year. Here is something many have seen me do, and I do it to all my rides: buy a California Duster (a big rectangular mop for wiping the paint of your car) and wipe the vehicle off a few times a week or as much as you want between washes. It really does keep the paint clean, especially out here in the desert dust.
-The interior, gets vacuumed practically every wash. I run with out a top almost 90% of the year and it collects dust and leaves from being out and open. I also pull the carpets out once or twice a year (or as needed after nasty wheeling trips) and spray wash the entire inside, and also wash the carpets. Some guys hate carpets, I did not have them in my CJ-5, CJ-7, J20 or TJ, but I kept the carpets in my JK and I like it. It keeps the heat out from the underside and most importantly, keeps the noise down big time. Unfortunately, I have a 2009 craptastic plastic interior, not much to look at compared to the new models but I do wipe it down every wash with something like Turtlewax ICE interior/exterior treatment and it works awesome on plastic.
Not much more than that, because I stay on top of all the cleaning regularly it makes it easy. A post-JKX cleanup; 2-3 days of serious cleaning, 5-6 hours a day at a minimum. A usual saturday wash down; 1 1/2 hours to wash, dry, wax, vacuum, armor all tires and black metal parts.
Easy as that brother :rock: