Rear Hatch cleaning

[Bosman4]

Hey all, this is more of a frustrated rant than anything but...

Bought my Tahoe about a year and a half ago now and we moved to a location where i have 10 miles of gravel before i get the the highway. I was my truck at least once a week, and i swear around the rear hatch and glass, i can spray a pressure washer for 30 minutes and dirt and dust still come flowing out from behind glass and down the entire liftgate. I'm frustrated! Ill be driving a beauty clean midnight Tahoe and then the entire rear end is dried dirt that kept flowing out!

 

[B-train]

Nothing you can do but flush it with a steady stream. Been there many times. Short of caulking all the pieces, you won't keep it out.

Just drive 5 mph.....then dust will be bored with you and won't want to stick around

 

[Doubeleive]

nothing you can do it's a design flaw, you would have to go in a wind tunnel and design wings to deflect the dust and still maintain and a decent overall coefficient
your best bet would be to wire up a small air compreesor and hose with a nozzle tip you could easily pull out to spray the dust off each trip which would work as long as it is not raining. or a hudson sprayer filled with "soft water/deionized" to spray it off.

 

[Oh Kee Pah]

I too, as I'm sure EVERY owner on the TYForum, has the problem of dripping water after a wash.
Living in Maine I also get an unbelievable amount of muck thrown all over the back end.

I've found the following to be the best solution to keeping it looking REALLY clean...at least for the first few miles. Black paint is black paint, serious pros and cons IMO.

BEFORE you start your wash, clean the following dust/dirt prone areas:
1. Interior door sills and bottom 1/4 of doors and panels. There are pockets for junk to hide behind that you can clean with the doors open.
2. Open Rear GLASS liftgate and clean all around (Here you'll see an incredible build-up of dirt/debris I bet, especially up around the wiper)
3. Open Rear Liftgate and clean all around (make sure to focus on the top portion very well)
4. Consider removing Rear license plate and holder prior to wash

WASH VEHICLE AS NORMAL
A. Return to trouble areas after initial towel dry & DRY AGAIN - door sills, side view mirrors, rear brake light fixtures, rear glass liftgate, license plates
B. Repeat
C. Use a type of Quick Auto Detailer or Spotless Spray Wash for a final wipe on the problem areas. Can be done after vehicle sits overnight even.

Let us know...

Safe Travels!

 

[strutaeng]

No personal experience on that year of trucks ( but my BIL bought my sister a white Tahoe, so I'll have ask him...)

We own a 2013 Town and Country (in white, no less) and the exact same problem! Every time I wash it, it's like trying to drain a Black Hole from the Universe that sucked in all the junk from the trees and dirt! What I sometimes do is regulate the finest stream (more like mist) on my hose wand, open the lift gate and try to gently wash away the stuff in the jamb area. I haven't messed anything electrical or module related yet. Not saying to do this in your truck though.

Maybe a sponge is a better idea as was previously recommended.

Good luck.

 

[Thrust]

It's up under the spoiler where it collects. I had to pull the spoiler off to replace the third brake light and there was alot of dust/dirt in that area. Country roads and the aerodynamics of that area really allow the dirt to get up there.

 

[gonzoFL]

We spent a week in July visiting family that lived on a gravel road.....and we're still finding places where the dust got into (our Tahoe was only a couple weeks old). The only way we were able to remove the gravel dust from the tailgate and window was to wipe by hand with a wet rag (multiple times). We also found that the gravel dust penetrated into the trim so had to scrub/clean and use a restoring product to make the trim look clean/new again. Good luck getting rid of the dust!!