New truck, new member

[NG4]

Hey all!
I just bought a new Ram 1500 (see sig) and I need a bit of help. The truck has been on the lot since early 2006 as best I can tell. I have treated the leather and that's all good. But I have questions about the exterior and it being a new vehicle. I use the 2 bucket method to wash and have already used the Meguiars Clay bar on all the top sorfaces since they felt a little rough...now they feel like glass!
I bought the Gold Class liquid wax and someone gave me the step 2 deep crystal polish.

My question is... do I even need the polish since the truck is new? Or would a light coat improve the luster and shine? Or just go straight to waxing.

Thanks.. and any other tips are appreciated.

[SVT Lightning]

Welcome to the forum......you are now on your way to becoming a detail fanatic. Definately use the DC#2. Especially if you have a dark colored finish. It will improve the luster, depth and shine as you said. Just remember, it is a wipe on, wipe off product. Don't let it dry or it becomes a pain to remove. Then top with the GC and your truck will look better than when new.

[NG4]

Thanks for the reply.

Quick too.

I always thought of polish as something that would rub out scratches and marks. I guess this depends on the grade/level of the polish?

[MikeGT]

Def use polish!!!

For good measure, I would of clayed the entire truck, but thats just me.

After that, I would look into DC1(a cleaner). With using a cleaner, it will prep the paint for polish and wax. You wouldnt really want to simply 'wax' the truck and call it a day. After you use a cleaner, I would use the polish to add some shine. After that, apply some sort of wax. (Gold glass, NXT, etc). Most would recommend doing TWO thin coats.

One of the most important steps is MAINTAIN MAINTAIN MAINTAIN!

Wash often, polish and wax often, and so on.

Here are the cliffnotes to my post:

1.) Wash and Dry with a good wash(anything by meguiars will do the trick)
2.) Clay
3.) Cleaner(DC#1)
4.) Polish(DC#2, #7)
5.) Wax x2

((6))MAINTAIN!

btw, Welcome to our group!

[GSKTech]

Welcome to MOL NG4.

Do like I did...
experiment one panel at a time.
and then compare the results.

I agree with MikeGT steps.

[Guiser]

Re: Thanks for the reply.

Originally posted by NG4
Quick too.

I always thought of polish as something that would rub out scratches and marks. I guess this depends on the grade/level of the polish?

Everyone uses different terminology. In Meguiar's land a cleaner removes scratches and marks (and other below the surface contaminants). It does this by using chemicals and diminishing abrasives (various combinations of the two). Polishes add oils to the paint to enhance the color and shine. It gets complicated because many of the products are combinations of cleaners, polishes, and waxes. The one thing I love about Megs though is that they are consistent about their terms, so once you know what they mean you can pick up any product and know pretty much what to expect of it.

- Ben