Preventing Water and Mud Buildup On a Vehicle

[Nitromethane43]

Just wondering if any one has some experience or ideas on how to alleviate the build up of water, sand, mud, and rocks in recessed areas of a vehicle. Prior to starting the rework of my truck I spent many hours washing off buckets of mud with a pressure washer. Then upon disassembly there were still tons of mud in areas that were covered up or did not have a direct line with a pressure washer. So before covering things up again i was wondering if there is anything that can be done to prevent the build up of debris and water in the recesses, voids, and other hidden areas allowing corrosion to form easier.

Below is an example, it rained and the water pooled in the dish and a week later there was still water in there, that's plastic, but there are still many areas on the factory frame that also collect water, sand and rocks.



I was throwing around the idea of maybe filling the recessed areas with some kind of paraffin or machine tooling wax to level out areas so at least nothing will collect, or maybe filling some areas on the frame with epoxy and making a nice fillet or transition so things will run off?

 

[javajoe79]

It's a losing battle trying to deal with all the potential resting places. Drain holes work to some extent but if a place holds mud/dirt and doesn't drain, it will eventually rust pretty badly. I think avoiding mud whenever possible is best plus some added shielding to prevent the tires from throwing stuff up on to the chassis.

 

[axlesandantennas]

It's a never ending battle, but I try to find the silver lining. Since I will be under the Jeep with the pressure washer, this gives me opportunity to look for damage, leaks, and general wear. I have indeed found a few minor issues while cleaning that I may have missed until it was bad had I not been scrubbing mud.

 

[broncobowsher]

You will never seal it out. But it is easy to make traps to hold it in.

For the most part the OEMs have done a pretty good job in the past couple of decades in getting designs and coatings correct so things just work. Trying to seal up a frame rail, you will miss something and that will let stuff in, but being sealed it will never leave and cause undue rot from the inside.

If you really want it clean, a periodic rebuild is the best you can do.

The amount of mud that can be packed into an aftermarket skidplate is amazing.

 

[billiebob]

if any one has some experience or ideas on how to alleviate the build up of water, sand, mud, and rocks in recessed areas of a vehicle

only one solution..... do not drive it

or buy/build it to shed water like a boat
generally speaking if it sheds water/mud it will not be aerodynamic
it will be tall, you need space between components, you need access to wash it, it will likely be noisy

eliminate recesses, or wash them out often