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wASHING UNDERSIDE OF COACH
My new to me 1998 is covered with yeas of road grime.
I am a clean freak but wonder if anyone has the underside cleaned to remove the road grime.
Is there suggestions for where to get it done.
If i get it cleaned I want it to be clean.
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2 Replies
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I will state a couple of obvious things relative to cleaning the underside.
First, to do that you need to get under the coach. Never ever under any circumstances get beneath a coach unless the chassis is supported under the correct chassis support points, or it is raised on a safe whole bus hoist or unless it is over a pit, in which case the chassis still requires support. Please be aware of the danger associated with getting beneath a coach.
Next, consider cleaning the underside a never ending, no reward task. The underside of our coaches will never remain clean. The first rain after cleaning starts the process of reverting back to dirty and the grit, debris, and crud from the road accumulates again quickly.
But, there is aa lot of merit in getting beneath the coach and doing a detailed inspection and some cleaning. Apart from the typical crud from the road which we cannot prevent there are specific areas where relatively clean conditions are valuable. The accumulated grease and dirt around joints which are grease should be removed and not allowed to come back. The grease fittings themselves need to be clean before lubing a joint so that cleaning, along with cleaning any over greasing from around the joint rubber dust boot or cap enables you to inspect the condition of the dust cap as well as insuring when grease is added you are not pumping in dirt along with the grease.
There are a lot of coaches with torn or missing dust caps or boots because of over greasing and keeping things clean allows the guy doing the greasing to see slight movements of the rubber cap to know grease has gotten in the joint and to stop pumping. Pumping grease until it drips doesn’t do anything except damage the rubber boots.
Under the coach there are numerous places you want clean and dry with no evidence of grease or oil leaks and if there is an accumulation of old grease or oil it makes it difficult to know you have a leak. Clean around the hubsm the seals at the differential, the transmission, oil pan, and anywhere else you see evidence of leaks. Nothing on our coaches should have fluids leaking. There are numerous places we need to be able to see evidence of leaks early and if there is accumulated black oil, built up dirt, etc. early detection is difficult.
Some filth is not preventable. If you lube U joints as required, the grease from them is literally slung in a big circle as the drive shaft spins. Anything within that plane of rotation over time is going to be splattered with bits of grease and that grease is like a magnet attracting and holding dirt, sand, grit, rubber bits and anything else kicked up off the highway. If you really are a clean freak and want the underside of the coach clean, be aware that is likely to be your biggest challenge and frustration.
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I cleaned under neigh with a pressure washer and simple green engine area trans but I stayed away from brakes, I did not want to get grease on shoes and pads. as I work on air valves and different things I clean that area, But like Jon said it’s not the best thing to waste your time on, It will get dirty quick if you drive it. Spend time on engine area it looks good when you do it and it’s easy to maintain after you clean it. I got Detroit series 60 blue paint and some black paint and went to town, some of the guys did great jobs, Craig Wickham did a incredible job on his engine . Prevost must use good paint on engine area cause it cleaned up nice. When I cleaned the coolant expansion tank those small hoses were hard as rocks and as soon as I touched them they broke, Good time to replace the hoses. Alot of the guys up grade the belt tensioner with auto tensioner and some other parts, I will down the road, I got the new oil fill, but I need the kit for it I just didn’t feel like spending $1000 bucks on that now. Use the search button on the forum and you can see the different projects people have done to their buses .
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