Cleaning Your Off-Road Vehicle – Engine and Interior

by Ian Martinez

When you go off-roading, you know that it’s not just the outside that gets dirty. The engine bay gets covered and you track a ton of dirt inside. So how can you quickly get it safely clean and back on the road?

To clean the engine bay you are going to need a lot of water, as you need something to carry off all of that mud.

So first you are going to want to spray it down really good. Cover any exposed connections if you have something aftermarket, most care after 1990 has watertight wiring so as long as you are not flooding the engine and just spraying it, you will be fine.

Next, thoroughly soak everything in a good APC like Meguiars D101

Agitate with various brushes as needed to get into all the crevices.

Hose off and repeat as needed.

Next you want to add a good protectant that will help keep the plastics and rubber hydrated, and not only not attach dirt, but actually help repel it. This is where CarPro PERL comes in. It will make the plastics and rubbers look amazing as well as making them much easier to clean next time.

For the interior, it is pretty simple, but the right products will make your life much better.

First vacuum the vehicle.

If you have cloth seats then you can use P&S Carpet Bomber for the seats and the carpet. Spray in on, agitate with a brush and wipe with a microfiber. If you have leather seats, why are you putting your car through this? Use the Sonax Leather Cleaner and the same methods.

Now for the dash and plastics. Grab yourself Nextzettt Cockpit Premium and never look back. If will easily clean and leave a nice matte finish that won’t attract dirt and not greasy at all. it also helps reduce the outgassing that happens on your dash that eventually fogs up your interior windshield. Also grab this brush if you want to get into more detail. Spray the cleaner on the brush and then agitate the surface, things like the steering wheel and vents.

These simple tips will allow you to get your car clean for your trip in a very short amount of time and ready for your next adventure, or finally find out how many lick it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop, because the world still does not know.