Is just the hose ok to clean the mud under my 4runner?

I get in the mud a lot. Is spraying the hose with nozzel to wash off the mud ok? If I have to scrub with soap or pressure wash everytime I'll be ill. Lol. I don't want the caked on mud to dry and make things go bad under there. I lube my drive line a lot so there is that. I have a diff breather and change my diff and tcase oil on the regular.

 

Hell yes it's okay. A lot of car washes have jets on the ground, to clean the under carriage of vehicles. I use to pressure wash my Tacoma's wheel wells, frame and under carriage components once every three months.

 

After coming home I wash under the car using my garden hose to get all the mud out even the ones inside the skid plates and then go to the (touchless) car wash with under body wash before the car dry.

 

I'll look for a fancy car wash as well. I can't seem to pass up a mud filled area to play in no matter the state of clean my rig is in.

 

Lawn sprinkler under the vehicle can help too.

 

Yes. You drive in the rain so the same parts would get wet.

 

^^This!

 

I also recommend, if you have the ambition, pull skid plates, lower the spare, and even put it on jack stands and pull the tires off. I've hosed mine thoroughly only to find more mud when I go to rotate/swap tires.

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-P...VrhqtBh1M_g7nEAQYAyABEgKni_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

these work great for spraying the undercarriage. There’s a bunch of different brands but the RYOBI is a decent budget option.

 

This! I got stuck in a hole recently and silty muddy water came up past the bottom door weatherstripping. High enough for all areas of my undercarriage to take in junk. Took me a couple-few hours per day, for three days, to get water running clear. But, I was the kid that loved playing with water/hoses, so it’s all good haha. This is my driveway after my third session:


Just pre-soak everything, including inside frame and cross members, wait a bit, then use a nozzle with a “jet” setting straight into any and all holes in the frame. I just use common sense to figure out what not spray hard directly (like cv boots, body plugs, case seams, driveshaft seals into diffs, actuators, etc.

It doesn’t have to “look” clean, the idea is to remove bulk that holds on to water…especially inside the frame and crossmembers. If you do a good job, you’ll soon learn to hate mud . If you don’t learn to hate it, then you must like playing with water too!

After I got everything clean to my liking, I was changing the rear diff oil and noticed my diff locker actuator was still crusted in mud. Make sure you can see this gap between the actuator housing and the diff housing:
If you dont see it, it’s encrusted. Leaving it caked in mud for sure will shorten its life. I’ve seen videos of the metal of the housing completely rotted away. I had to get in there with a pic to carefully work the mud out. You should be able to seen all the way through that gap to the other side.

If you play in mud, and you like a “clean” 4runner, and you want yours to last 20 years…there’s no way around it…you’ll have to love spraying it down and getting under there! (Edit: I’m kind of weird, I consider working on my 4runner as much of a hobby as using my 4runner. Not going nuts with cleaning doesnt mean it’s going to self destruct, but it’s good to stay on top of most of the mud rinsing…if at least for the extra weight you’d be carrying around!)

Besides, it makes for good opportunities to check everything out. For example, I just discovered I completely stripped the paint off the bottom of the diff, probably in that hole I got stuck in.

If I wouldnt have caught that and not repainted it, it would have looked like crap after one winter!

 

I hate mud and avoid it at all costs.

 

Florida, I wish I could.

 

A bit off topic, I will be doing by brakes all 4 corners, how stable is the 4 runner on the 4 jacks, and what areas are they placed? Back looks like on the axle? But the front? I have the jacks that have the top looking like a y, are these are OK to use? If I were to use the frame it looks like the cradle of the jack is just wide enough to catch it but barely.

 

LOLThats a good way to tickle the 4R instead of a good cleaning. There is a pressure washer roller to properly clean the underbody like the one below.

 

The sprinkler tickling is to soften up dried mud, before doing the deep cleaning.

Those pressure washers are nice, but using them on dry mud will leave things pretty muddy still in the nooks and crannies. Unless you really keep hitting it hard with the pressure. By then you might be forcing water into places it shouldn't be.

 

The manual shows the jack/stand points on a stock 4runner. The rear is lifted on the pumkin, with stands placed inboard of the shock mounts on the axle tubes. The front is lifted at the skid plate where there is circle with hole pressed into the front skidplate. The jack stands are placed on the frame rails behind the front wheels (right where it begins to curve off the main framerail. Pictures are in the manual for reference.

Mine has a belly pan system that covers the front jack stand points, so I hold it up by the skidplates in front.

Oh, and it’s never safe! If you get under it, make sure you have backups to the stands!

 

Exactly what @McSpazatron said. The sprinkler removes most of the dirt. You'd actually be surprised how good of a job it does.

Then, if necessary, you can get the rest of it with a pressure washer or hose.

Someday I want a waterproof wash bay in my garage or pole barn with a lift in it. For now I have to improvise.

 

I have been doing it since Ive had the rig in 2016 definitely helps! Having a good degreaser also helps! I have noticed letting the degreaser sit for a bit helps then pressure wash it off.

 

I have one of these brand new have not used it yet. Will be testing it out during the winter time when I wash my vehicles in the garage because of the cold.

 

So while working on it you have is supported by 4 jacks and 2 lifts, or just 4 jacks? I found the circle thing in the front. I lifted my previous car on jack, but it was smaller, this 4 Runner looks intimidating up in the air on 4 jacks....

 

If I’m gonna be going underneath the 4runner while it’s on stands, then yes I’ll use the hydraulic jack, at least under the area that I will be under. I also avoid having all four wheels off at the same time if it’s up on stands. In the picture I posted both driver side wheels are still on. I agree it is intimidating, and it’s always best not to trust the stands, or the surface they’re on without back ups.

 

One of best things you can do