Heading down South soon and anticipating (hoping not) that I might go through some areas of salt/brine on the roads. I know salt doesn't go well with aluminum, what do you all do to wash the underside of your car? Is using a hose with a good strong stream gonna get rid of most of the crud under there or is there another method, maybe a spray wash solution? Thanks!

 

I have a product I bought online called The Underwasher. I use it a few times a year or after they have salted or brined the roads... on my other cars. Easy to use. Can't hurt.

 

For pickling of your aluminum suspension parts, Napa Auto Parts has a product called Aluminum Brightener, which is an acidic solution that you spray or wipe on, and hose off. Just be careful to cover or wrap your springs as this solution can damage them.

 

I've never tried it, but I've heard of people putting a lawn sprinkler under a car and driving slowly back and forth.

 

The best way is to drive through a good rain storm and be sure to hit the puddles. That will guarantee that you're car's underside is rinsed.

 

That is the Best Most FUN Way!!

 

I have a standard policy of not worrying about the underside of the car. Of course, salt isn't an issue here in CA, but once you become concerned about keeping your frame or oil pan bright and shiny, you've compromised your ability to actually use the car. I have a Mustang buddy who has a beautiful '68 fastback that is a dead ringer for the Steve McQueen car in "Bullitt". Highland Green with a black deluxe interior and a 4 speed.
The car has been used in "Bullitt" documentaries on TV. You could eat off of the underside of the car if you could suspend gravity. He will actually stop in the middle of the street and back up if he encounters water from sprinklers that has run out onto the pavement. If you have to maintain the underside of your car like it came out of the show room, I recommend putting it up on four car stands, packing a lunch and spending an afternoon under the car with appropriate cleaning materials and possibly a couple of rattle cans of paint in colors like Chevy Orange. That's what I did with my '69 C3 prior to NCRS inspection. It was actually pretty clean under there for a car that was 43 years old at the time.

 

Maybe I gave the wrong impression, I'm not obsessed with keeping the underside clean, heck the cars been through Hurricane Irene (returning from Carlisle, PA.) and tornado warnings and lightning/rain storms in Bowling Green. I'll be heading South from NY and this time of year there's always some kind if ice or snow storm threatening the East Coast. We're gonna time our depart date to try and avoid anything going down but could have a problem coming back, last time down (in the GMC) we hit ice storms around the Washington/Baltimore area. I'm just thinking about cleaning things up once I get home, mainly the salt/brine that they seem to use so liberally around here.


Re: the puddle suggestion, , I do that with the GMC all the time, thanks. And thanks for the other suggestions, I was hoping that a good strong hose stream might clean all that salt away but maybe some kind of solution would be better. I know some car washes do an undercarriage flush but there's no car wash around here that has clearance for the Vette!

 

The "touch-less" pull through car wash bay in my town has an undercarriage spray that activates as you pull into the bay until you reach the stopping point. That would easily clean off any road salt you might pick up. I figure if my small town has that style they should be just about everywhere. Lol

 

Probably not the cleanest, but its ok. Its a 2006 Z06 with 56,000 miles on it. I do drive it about once or twice a week.

 

I ran through some salt and brine back in November before I put mine away for the winter. I took all 4 wheels off and put in on jack stands and cleaned the wheels, all of the suspension parts, then washed the underside of the car. The bottom of the C6 is basically flat, so it is very easy to clean. It really didn't take all that long. It isn't something that I make a habit out of doing but salt and brine can really eat away at unprotected aluminum. I live in Illinois and have had to deal with this on my Corvettes and motorcycles for many years!

 

I agree use the high speed rainy day underside cleaning method. Works great for me. ⛈

 

+1 on the "Underwasher" or make your own out of plastic pipe.........they do offer it with an inline dispenser where you can add 6 ounces of cleaning solvent, any good All Purpose Cleaner, to clean and rinse............if I recall they are about 40.00 from their site...............

made my own for about 1/2 the costs................keeps the underside of all my vehicles here in snowy, salty MI clean............

 

This is what I do during the winter months. I also drive in the rain.

 

That underside is amazingly clean, especially an 06 with that many miles!! Excellent job maintaining your car

 

There's some dust on the tires ....

 

I see some asymmetric casting marks on the suspension pieces and the labels on the rear shocks aren't lined up either. And whether or not it has previously been mentioned: There is definitely evidence of brake dust hazing.... I can't point it out but it's there, baleemie.

Seriously? That car wasn't that clean when it left the line in Bowling Green. That's rather unbelievable!

 

How do you do it? What is your technique? If you don't mind...

 

Did you paint all of the self tapping screws and nuts under there?

 

This is, of course, once you've solved the paradoxical riddle of how you can drive through the rain without melting your car.

Many have tried, few have succeeded.