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This is my personal vehicle I use to tow with, and now serves as my mobile detailing rig. So I have to keep it clean as possible, always. My plan was to properly prep polish the truck prior to some long lasting LSP, then maintain weekly with a simple wash and QD routine. I also planned to do this quick. With jobs lined up back to back I had one day to get it done before a client the next day.
I was able to pick this truck up from a dealer with 0 miles, and get them to not "prep" the car, as in never even wash it. I think they were happy to comply. I drove it back from Texas to Michigan through the winter. Then basically parked it ‘till April. It has about 4k miles so far.
To use it as my detail rig I added a few features to improve functionality. I added a bedslide to gain quick access to the bed. The bed turns into, basically, a big drawer, where I can load up all the supplies in bins and without having to climb up or into the bed. With everything in the bed, I would need to be able to cover it while driving, so I added a toneau cover. I also replaced the OEM plastic bed liner with a carpet bed liner. The carpet really dresses the bed up, and visually ties the rest of the bed to the bedslide's carpeted surface.
Anyway, on to the detail:
Here is the before condition: road grime, but not really too bad. It has been raining around here the last few weeks, so the truck has gotten "rinsed off"...
I used Megs APC and Super Degreaser on the engine and the wheels, and assorted brushes..
After the wash, I sprayed the fender liners, tires, and engine with Megs Hyper dressing at 3:1. The tuneau cover was dressed with 303.
Now it was time for the clay. I used Pinnacle clay with both DP Final Gloss and some 4-Star Clay Lube I got from a friend to try out. The DP has always worked for me, but having a dedicated clay lube changed my opinion. From now on I will use a dedicated clay lube and not just a quick detailer. Things seem to come off easier with the clay lube.
The truck had heavy deposits on all horizontal surfaces, and had moderate rail dust rust specs throughout. But since these rust spots has dwelled there for a few months with no wax, they were a b^&%% to remove. I clayed the truck twice using 2 full bars of clay and 3 bottles of clay lube! Here is the artistic version of the clay after a 2x2 section of the roof:
more clay:
making progress:
After the clay I inspected the paint to find no swirls, no marks, nothing. The one or two scratches I did find I decided not to polish. After 5 hours washing and claying it seemed daunting to proceed with a polish for just one or two very light scratches. I decided to leave it be and enjoy the time saved.
After good reviews regarding longevity, I decided to use Collinite Insulator Wax as LSP and see how tough it is. Application is just like any wax. It clumps out of the bottle like cottage cheese, and smells rather industrial, not fruity like Dodo or Souveran or NXT. But it goes on thinner than I thought, still thicker than other waxes and sealants. It was still easy to spread out thinly enough to "not see" it upon the silver paint. I had to rely on proper application technique rather than seeing where the wax had been applied. It comes off easy enough, and leaves a really deep shine. Note that the surface is not polished, just waxed, one coat.
The interior is OK, but I have seat covers to install, so I'm waiting to pull the seats to do it. In the meantime my GF added this for the overall usefulness of the rig:
In all it took about 7 hours to do the exterior of this behemoth, with help. I'm pretty satisfied with how it came out! Enjoy
Jacob
I was able to pick this truck up from a dealer with 0 miles, and get them to not "prep" the car, as in never even wash it. I think they were happy to comply. I drove it back from Texas to Michigan through the winter. Then basically parked it ‘till April. It has about 4k miles so far.
To use it as my detail rig I added a few features to improve functionality. I added a bedslide to gain quick access to the bed. The bed turns into, basically, a big drawer, where I can load up all the supplies in bins and without having to climb up or into the bed. With everything in the bed, I would need to be able to cover it while driving, so I added a toneau cover. I also replaced the OEM plastic bed liner with a carpet bed liner. The carpet really dresses the bed up, and visually ties the rest of the bed to the bedslide's carpeted surface.
Anyway, on to the detail:
Here is the before condition: road grime, but not really too bad. It has been raining around here the last few weeks, so the truck has gotten "rinsed off"...
I used Megs APC and Super Degreaser on the engine and the wheels, and assorted brushes..
After the wash, I sprayed the fender liners, tires, and engine with Megs Hyper dressing at 3:1. The tuneau cover was dressed with 303.
Now it was time for the clay. I used Pinnacle clay with both DP Final Gloss and some 4-Star Clay Lube I got from a friend to try out. The DP has always worked for me, but having a dedicated clay lube changed my opinion. From now on I will use a dedicated clay lube and not just a quick detailer. Things seem to come off easier with the clay lube.
The truck had heavy deposits on all horizontal surfaces, and had moderate rail dust rust specs throughout. But since these rust spots has dwelled there for a few months with no wax, they were a b^&%% to remove. I clayed the truck twice using 2 full bars of clay and 3 bottles of clay lube! Here is the artistic version of the clay after a 2x2 section of the roof:
more clay:
making progress:
After the clay I inspected the paint to find no swirls, no marks, nothing. The one or two scratches I did find I decided not to polish. After 5 hours washing and claying it seemed daunting to proceed with a polish for just one or two very light scratches. I decided to leave it be and enjoy the time saved.
After good reviews regarding longevity, I decided to use Collinite Insulator Wax as LSP and see how tough it is. Application is just like any wax. It clumps out of the bottle like cottage cheese, and smells rather industrial, not fruity like Dodo or Souveran or NXT. But it goes on thinner than I thought, still thicker than other waxes and sealants. It was still easy to spread out thinly enough to "not see" it upon the silver paint. I had to rely on proper application technique rather than seeing where the wax had been applied. It comes off easy enough, and leaves a really deep shine. Note that the surface is not polished, just waxed, one coat.
The interior is OK, but I have seat covers to install, so I'm waiting to pull the seats to do it. In the meantime my GF added this for the overall usefulness of the rig:
In all it took about 7 hours to do the exterior of this behemoth, with help. I'm pretty satisfied with how it came out! Enjoy
Jacob
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