Post mud ingress interior cleanup

Liquidmantis

Liquidmantis

New member
So... On my Red River trip I went through a deeper than expected muddy soup water crossing and wasn't able to immediately climb out the other side. I ended up taking on some of said muddy soup through the rear and I'm trying to figure out how far I should take the clean-up. The passenger side rear carpet around the sill was definitely soaked as I kept blotting out muddy water. I just finished cleaning the cargo area since I just needed to pull my new cargo plate to get access to the pan. Right now I'm debating on whether I should pull the rear seats and get under the carpet or not. I'm worried that's going to lead to wanting to pull the front seats and then the whole damned carpet.

How far would you go? It's dried up at this point and I'm wondering if I should just vacuum the carpet as best I can and just be done.
 
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****. Well, I'm now at the point where all the seats are pulled. Anyone have a guide on pulling the center console? I have the two bolts in the cargo area out, not sure what else is holding it in.

Anyone have a part number for a carpet kit? Might be easier than trying to get this one totally clean. Anything I should do while it's stripped? Dynamat?
 
If you can, just do a good scrubbing to the original carpet. New carpet kits don't fit all that well, plus you have to cut all the holes in it for seats, shifter etc. Then trim around all sides because they're made oversize.
 
Pull everything you can and get to it, you don't want mold growing and you don't want to ruin your truck. Do it right the first time
 
Liquidmantis said:
****. Well, I'm now at the point where all the seats are pulled. Anyone have a guide on pulling the center console? I have the two bolts in the cargo area out, not sure what else is holding it in.

Anyone have a part number for a carpet kit? Might be easier than trying to get this one totally clean. Anything I should do while it's stripped? Dynamat?
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There are 2 bolts at the front and the whole section from console up to the dash comes out. You do have to take out the shift lever cover first. Check the pics in my build thread and let me know if you need more. I can go out and walk you through if you end up needing more PM or text ( I think I gave you my cell)

Edit: I checked and those pics I posted don't show what you need, pm inbound with my cell. I may have another pic somewhere but can't go digging until later.
 
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The console is a bit of a PITA. start at the front, there is a cover on the trans tunnel in either footwell, pull the covers for the fan speed and temp, then take the cover out of the bottom of the storage box. IIRC, this should give you access to all the bolts you need to remove it
 
Thanks! I got the console sorted. I still needed to pop off the shifter "bezel" to get the other two bolts out. I have the carpet out entirely, have the passenger floor pan totally clean (which was the worst of it), and have sprayed and scrubbed the carpet and backing. My shopvac pulled all the water out of the carpet easily but the sections of jute backing are still really wet. I'm wiped out at this point and will probably spray them down with some diluted bleach solution tomorrow and let it sit in the sun. Hopefully they don't fall apart. :(

The part number for the carpet kit is 58510-35a00-c0. Found the OEM part here and really hope I don't have to splurge for that.

Oh, it looks like this all happened because the front passenger drain plug was pushed in. I guess I had a "lucky" strike.
 
Liquidmantis said:
Thanks! I got the console sorted. I still needed to pop off the shifter "bezel" to get the other two bolts out. I have the carpet out entirely, have the passenger floor pan totally clean (which was the worst of it), and have sprayed and scrubbed the carpet and backing. My shopvac pulled all the water out of the carpet easily but the sections of jute backing are still really wet. I'm wiped out at this point and will probably spray them down with some diluted bleach solution tomorrow and let it sit in the sun. Hopefully they don't fall apart. :(

The part number for the carpet kit is 58510-35a00-c0. Found the OEM part here and really hope I don't have to splurge for that.

Oh, it looks like this all happened because the front passenger drain plug was pushed in. I guess I had a "lucky" strike.
Click to expand...

But did you get pictures while crossing? :rockon:
 
Jhalko said:
But did you get pictures while crossing? :rockon:
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I did, but I haven't started processing my pics yet. Here's one of me in one of the many other crossings though.

lm5QhP8.jpg
 
If I had to remove all that, I would install some conduit along the sides and or center for future wiring /mods. In each conduit, install a pull string (something strong you can attach a wire to, like lacing string or dental floss). It might just save you from having to pull or some of that interior again for some mod. If you never use it - no biggie.
 
Yaaaasss! Dynamat is laid down, carpet put back in, console reinstalled, and front seats are mounted. She's drivable, time for a beer run. Rear seats can wait until tomorrow. Or maybe I'll just throw a bean bag back there for the kids...
 
e60ral said:
where are the drain plugs, because this isn't something i'd normally check but i guess i should start
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EVERYWHERE! Sorry, I should have taken some photos while I had it stripped, but there are a lot of drain plugs. The key ones are in the four foot well areas though.
 
Yeah, if I hadn't been so frantic about the issue and all the cleanup work I would have stopped and chronicled it better. As it is this is the only pic I took of the gutted interior. It gives some idea of how dirty the floorpan was.

TlPybqa.png
 
Well, there was definitely an open drain plug so that most certainly didn't do me any favors. The mud was worst in that area, with actual sludge in the sill channel next to the dislodged plug, which would indicate that was the entry point. I think the muddy water then went to the back while I was stuck on an incline trying to wallow out of the quagmire. That allowed it to dribble over to the driver side once I leveled back out or pointed the nose down.

I know I've seen pictures of people doing deeper crossings where they claim no water came in.

See the plug in the bottom left of my picture, the one with the wire going through it? The corresponding plug on the passenger side was the one that was pushed in.
 
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