Exterior Cleaning Products

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Shilaeli hugger

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I couldnt find a cleaning section so i appologize if this has been discussed before.

I got the junk cab off my 87 bout a week ago and the whole trans engine frame... well lets say EVERYTHING is coated in bput 3 inch of mud n grease. I dont want to make a trailer queen but i wanna clean it up where i can spot leaks. Whats a good product to cut thru this crud? Ive tried greased lightning and scrubbin bubbles and they only worked bout half. I had to chisel the grease/mud mixture off the trans just to see the HD on the bell housing.
 

CSFJ

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Simple Green, Purple Power both work pretty good. and they're available at Tractor Supply by the gallon. you'll need to spray it and let it soak in good before you hit it with the pressure washer. Or pour it in a bucket and use a scrub brush to apply it.
 

Shilaeli hugger

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Thanks. Ill give it a shot. Borrowin a pressure washer tmrw so ill get some of that stuff in mornin n let it sit. U know its bad when the mud daubers have made their own lil trailerhood in the mud left in the frame. All they had to do was make the hole. House was all ready for em. I washed out probly 2 dozen nests just in the passenger rail.
 

BiggG74

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I use purple power. In my opinion it's better than simple green. I bought a gallon jug and use a Hudson sprayer to apply it.


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Purple Power is badass stuff, but it is corrosive and be careful on aluminum as soon as you see it foaming wash it off right away..
 

smoothandlow84

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I swear by Purple Power...just NEVER use it on aluminum or anything anodized!! Buy a gallon and dilute it...spray it on...wait...then spray it off.


A trick we use before heading into mud, is to coat items with Wd-40. Not only does it repel moisture, but mud will be much easier to rinse off.
 

1987 GMC Jimmy

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I like to use Krud Kutter from Walmart. It's really good stuff.
 

HotRodPC

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Never tried Krud Cutter, but Purple Power does work well.
 

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I've even used Purple Power as cleaning solvent to clean transmission hard parts slightly diluted and it seemed to work fine.
 

Tank6x2

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Save your money

Take it to a highway "tractor" truck wash bring a set of ramps and pay some one to steam clean it real nice, that'll be your best bet, you can spay crap on it, but you'll be forever pressure washing it off, like trying to piss on dryer **** on the inside of a toilet bowl, sometimes it's just easier to pay some one a few bucks...
 

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I swear by Purple Power...just NEVER use it on aluminum or anything anodized!! Buy a gallon and dilute it...spray it on...wait...then spray it off.
It removes anodizing, I use it all the time to strip boat parts and AN fittings to get redone. And I use it all the time on tranny cases, just have to keep an eye on it, as soon as it starts to foam up rinse it off, may have to repeat a few times depending how cruddy it is but it ends up looking new again, stuff is badass I buy it by the 5gal drum at Lowes.
 

Shilaeli hugger

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Take it to a highway "tractor" truck wash bring a set of ramps and pay some one to steam clean it real nice, that'll be your best bet, you can spay crap on it, but you'll be forever pressure washing it off, like trying to piss on dryer **** on the inside of a toilet bowl, sometimes it's just easier to pay some one a few bucks...

HAHAHA piss on dryer ****. Thats funny.
 

HotRodPC

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Don't Lie. I'm sure everyone has tried to clean **** off the toilet bowl with a heavy stream of piss.
 

MikeB

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In my experience, just about anything biodegradable (Green this, Purple that) doesn't work anywhere near as well as a good old solvent. I was cleaning up some suspension and steering parts this week and found that liquid laundry detergent (lots of it) in hot water dissolves caked-on grease better that the "green" all-purpose cleaner I have. Using a scrub brush only moved around the grease with the cleaner, but actually removed it from the parts surfaces when using laundry detergent.

If all you have is a very thin layer of surface oil (like from an oil leak), the green or purple stuff might work. But if it's a 1/8" thick combination of dried grease and dirt, you'll have to get out the scraper, because all the bio-cleaner will do is move it around.

And something else that works noticeably better than the green products is mineral spirits, and I doubt it costs 1/2 as much per ounce as the green and purple stuff.

Speaking of Purple Power, I threw half a bottle in the trash a few years ago! Maybe I should have saved it for minor cleanups. :)
 
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