Post-Mud Wash and Re-Grease: Doing It in the Right Order

Mud is the terrain most owners underestimate, because the damage is not dramatic. Nothing breaks on the ride. What happens instead is that clay packs into every cavity, holds moisture against steel, blocks the airflow through the radiator, and works its way into suspension joints where it grinds away at bushings for the rest of the season. The cure is a wash, but a wash done wrong pushes mud deeper and flushes grease out of the joints that needed it most. The order below avoids both problems.

Before any water touches the machine, look at it dirty. Where the mud is thickest tells you where it has packed. Check the radiator screen and fins first, because a packed screen is the most common cause of overheating on a trail machine according to the site's UTV reminder notes, and a screen that stayed packed through the next ride is a temperature warning waiting to happen. Look at the CVT intake and exhaust ducts, because mud in the clutch housing is a slipping belt. Note anything that is leaking, because the wash will hide it.

Start washing from the top down with low pressure. A pressure washer is tempting and it does have a place, but pointed at a bearing seal, a CV boot, an electrical connector or a decal it does more harm than the mud did. Use it for the frame, the skid plate and the wheel wells, and keep it well away from seals. Under the machine, work from the center outward so you are not pushing mud into the joints you have already cleaned. Get the radiator clean from the back side, pushing debris out the way it came in.

Once the machine is clean, look at it again. This is when a torn CV boot, a weeping shock seal or a loose skid plate bolt actually shows, because it was hidden under an inch of clay a few minutes ago. Skid plate and underbody fasteners are on the site's truck and SUV reminder at about every 5,000 miles, with the note that rock strikes bend mounts and shear bolts. Mud riding involves plenty of hidden rock. If a bolt is missing, the mount has probably been stressed, so look at it closely.

Now the grease gun. The whole point of washing before greasing rather than after is that the fresh grease you pump in is what stays in the joint. On a UTV the reminder is to grease all zerks at about every 25 hours, and the note says water crossings wash grease out of joints that then wear quickly and quietly. Mud does the same, faster. Work each fitting until clean grease shows at the seal and pushes out the gray, watery grease that was in there. If a fitting will not take grease, the zerk may be blocked or the joint may be packed with grit, and either needs attention.

While you are under the machine, spend a minute on the driveline. Check the propshaft joints and the axle boots. On a truck or SUV, the differential fluid check is about every 15,000 miles on the site's reminder, but if the mud was deep enough to reach a breather, look at the fluid now for a milky tint. On a shaft-driven ATV, the final drive oil level is on the reminder at about every 50 hours and a mud weekend is a reason to check it early.

Brakes get a specific look after mud, because clay between pad and rotor is a grinding paste. The UTV brake reminder is about every 50 hours or six months, and the note beside it is that water crossings and mud eat pads far faster than road use. Pull a wheel and check pad thickness. If the machine is a truck or SUV, the reminder is about every 10,000 miles, but a season of mud shortens that considerably. Clean the caliper slides while you are there.

Dry the machine before it goes away. A wet machine parked in a closed trailer or a damp shed grows corrosion on every bare fastener and inside every connector. Run the engine long enough to warm through and drive off surface water, then leave it somewhere with airflow. Spray the electrical connectors with a water-displacing product and put dielectric grease in any that were opened. The air filter should be checked too, because mud riding often means water spray into the airbox.

Finish with fasteners. Mud riding is not high-vibration in the way that dunes or rocky two-track are, but the sideways loads of a machine being pulled through ruts do walk suspension bolts. The UTV reminder for re-torquing suspension and wheel fasteners is about every 25 hours. Go around with a wrench. The values are in your service manual, and if you find something loose, tighten it to the manual's value and recheck it after the next ride.

A last word on where the mud came from. Many areas that permit mud riding restrict it seasonally to protect trail beds, and running wet trails during a closure is the fastest way to get an area shut down for everyone. Confirm with the managing agency before you go.