When you’ve just come back from a fun trip offroad many people might feel content to unpack the car and relax at home.

To save yourself long term trouble and to make sure your 4WD vehicle and all your Adventure Kings accessories stay operational and looking fresh. We recommend giving everything a thorough clean this will also bring your attention to anything that might need fixing up!

First things first, whether you’ve hit the mud or done a beach run, salt dirt and grit trapped underneath your vehicle will end up corroding and damaging sensors, seals and even steel components!

To soften the grub on the underside of your vehicle, you can setup a sprinkler underneath your vehicle for 15-20 minutes.Tthis old-school trick will loosen any caked-on mud and allow it to soften making it easier to clean later.

WASH

A quick drive to your local self-service car wash and a couple of dollars later you can use their high pressure spray lance to rinse the whole car in soapy water, this will break down any built up grime. Make sure to take off your spotlight dust covers and get into all the nooks and crannies of your Kings steel roof rack and the fins in the back of your LED Lightbar.

We start from the top of the car and work our way down, this means any muddy drips don’t dirty the bit you’ve just cleaned.

A common place people forget to clean is the lens of their reversing camera, if you have one fitted to your vehicle, give it the same attention you would pay to your windscreen, as a dirty reversing camera lens could be dangerous with limited vision down low on your 4WD!

Do not neglect your vehicles wheel arches, under body, the inside of the chassis rails and inside part of your wheel rims. This part of your car cops the most abuse offroad especially if you’ve driven through salt water or corrosive greasy mud.

NB: Dirt in these dark places can rust your chassis from the inside out and ruin the longevity of your car and mud caked to your wheels will make your wheels un-balanced and give a lumpy drive!

RINSE

Next comes the most satisfying thing in the world, the rinse spray!

After you’ve given the suds time to do their work, you can use the spray nozzle to rinse the whole car top to bottom.

Make sure not to damage paint by holding the nozzle a few hand widths off your paint and any rubber seals or boots.

And again starting from the top of the vehicle and working your way down. Your car will look as good as new underneath all those suds, again don’t forget the nooks and crannies of your Kings Steel Roof Racks, or your lightbars glass lens and the cooling fins on your spotties.
NB: be careful with high pressure water it can cut through rubber boots, tear seals and even strip paint!

Once the deep rinse is completed and your car is wet, I usually head home for the last touch ups, this saves a bit of cash and is easy enough to do on the lawn or in your driveway.

DEGREASE

Start your motor up and with a good quality degreaser, spray down your engine bay paying attention to anywhere there is oil and grime. This will mean around oil filler holes, below all your gaskets, and even around the firewall and on top of your gearbox.

Degreaser usually requires a scrub as well so make sure you follow your instructions on the packaging and give everything a good scrub.

As always soap on soap off, it’s time to rinse!

With a low pressure tap water from your hose, rinse the whole engine bay out, paying attention to all the major greasy areas. They may require more attention than you’d think and your engine bay will come up looking new!

PROTECT

Once everything has dried it is time to use your favourite anti-rust spray, some people use fish oil, others use INOX (lanolin spray) and others use high tech PTFE (Teflon) spray. All of these will work by making a thin waterproof film over everything to prevent rust and corrosion, it will also mean that next time you hit the tracks.

The mud, dirt and grease won’t stick as easily. With your spray of choice, don’t forget to coat any electronic connectors wires like the ones in your Adventure Kings Illuminator wiring harness, or your reversing camera wiring and any other exposed metal components (unless otherwise directed).

The body and connections of your Spotties and LED Lightbar can be protected with this too. The more attention to detail you pay now, will prevent unexpected failures later on.

It is also common practice to coat the under body of your car with your spray of choice. This will aid in rust prevention and keep any rubber boots and seals protected until next time you give your pride and joy and all your toys a good scrub!