The National Guard called our office last week for truck washing on the vehicles they’re using for the flood relief in northern Colorado.
Truck washing after the floods
They needed a truck wash crew for three days at their Longmont location just off I-25. They weren’t looking for a wash to keep the vehicles clean and shiny. They wanted us to wash the underside of their vehicles after they drove through the muddy water evacuating people who were cut off when the roads were washed out.
Since the flood waters they were driving through had washed down all sorts of debris, there was no telling what was in the water. They wanted to keep them as clean as possible so that no corrosion remained after the evacuations were over.
Washing the undersides after driving through the floodwaters
It’s a good policy for any vehicles that were in similar conditions. Many cars in Colorado have driven through deep standing water over the last few weeks. Even if it wasn’t as deep as the conditions the National Guard has dealt with, the potential for corrosion is there. Getting the undercarriage cleaned would be a good idea.
A touchless car wash, which uses high pressure jets of water and detergent to clean with. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One lady called us after her car sat in the mud for a few days during the flooding. She said there was a lot of mud on the underside and in the wheels. She couldn’t drive more than 40 mph because the car shook so bad.
When your tires are mounted and balanced, they only use a few ounces for balancing. So just a few ounces of mud can throw the balance off enough to make the car shake.
Consistent cleaning is a good idea no matter what kind of vehicle you drive. Many drive-through car washes offer an underside cleaning. You should get your car or truck washed as soon as possible after driving through deep standing water.
Related pages and articles
- National Guard Works To Evacuate Lyons Residents (denver.cbslocal.com)
- National Guard: 15 flood rescuers stranded on high ground near Lyons (kdvr.com)
- Colorado flooding rescue continues (bbc.co.uk)
- Truck Washing
- Comcast Awards Colorado Truck Washing Contract To Wash On Wheels
- Truck Washing For The EPA
- Lyons Flooding Leaves National Guard Stranded (krextv.com)
- Colorado floods: Lyons residents rescued by National Guard (denverpost.com)
