Hello,

I picked up my truck a week or so ago. Im getting ready to give it a wash and wax. After reading all these posts apparently i must have been doing thing wrong with my previous vehicles. What cleaner/wax/polish etc. do you guys recommend? Also what techniques/tips can you give a beginner? Things i should avoid doing? Any information you guys can give would be great. It should be noted i live in an apartment with no access to a garage. Thanks.

Dan

 

Do you have access to a hose or are you going to a car wash?

 

the cheap @%#&! landlords take the crank for the spigot. I can take my truck to a friends and use their hose tho, thats not a problem.

Dan

 

wash your truck with Dawn to remove all wax and grease, then claybar the truck (well worth the time and effort)
then apply a high quailty wax. (your choice)

 

Having not seen your finish, it's VERY difficult to recommend a 'catch-all' type of prescription but, I'll do my best and assume that the paint is in 'average' shape. You never mentioned what year/miles/etc...

Settle in... this might get lengthy...

First and foremost, surface preparation is the most important part in a full-detail. Any average gator can apply a coat of wax but, it takes a special kind of crocodile to do the necessary surface preparation to achieve depth, remove swirls, and have long lasting protection.

With that in mind....

1. Wash. Utilize a high quality car shampoo like Meguiar's Gold Class or something similar. Don't go skimpy here; go ahead and splurge for some decent stuff. The 'wash/wax' combo products are useless and avoid them at all costs. I'd recommend washing in the shade to avoid water spots etc...

2. Assess. Look at your finish in the daylight. Do you see swirls? Can you feel that the surface of the paint is rough to the touch? It should feel like GLASS.

3. Tires/Wheel Wells/Engine Compartment: Degrease, clean, and dress your tires/wheels/wheel wells/engine compartment. There are oodles of high quality products out there that you can use on any of these areas. Pay particular attention to compatibility between chemicals and your rims as you DO NOT want to hurt them. Any parts store will have a variety of products. My personal dressing favorites are Vinylex, Meguiar's NXT Protectant, or Meguiar's #40.

4. If you answered no to either of the above questions in step 3, follow these steps (in this order if you have both):

For rough texture: Obtain a quality clay kit from your local parts store. Meguiar's makes one, Mother's makes one, and there's another from the fine folks at Clay Magic. Any of them will work for this application. Follow the directions on the packaging EXPLICITLY. This will remove the 'stuck on' crud that is causing your paint to feel rough and better prepare you for the next steps.

For swirls: Utilize a product called Meguiar's Swirl Remover (you'll hear us call this #9 all the time and hereafter in this post). Follow the directions EXPLICITLY. Assess again after one application and determine if you need to do it again. Be patient and, again, follow the directions. This is probably the most important step to achieve a great looking finish that is swirl-free.

5. Optional Step: Polish: Many folks like to utilize a pure-polish like Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze at this point but, it's optional. You may or may not notice a huge difference in appearance after utilizing this product. Personally, I wouldn't skip it. Hint: Apply your polish VERY thin... I mean ULTRA-THIN.

5. Assess again. See any areas of polish that you missed?

6. Glass: Utilizing a product OTHER THAN WINDEX, clean the exterior glass. I like Stoner's Invisible Glass or Meguiar's Glass Cleaner Concentrate. The Stoner's product is available just about everywhere...

7. Wax: Pick a high quality wax to use. There are oodles of them on the market. Some are liking Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax, some like Klasse, some like Liquid Glass, some like.... well, you get the picture. All of these products will apply pretty easy and come off just about as easy. Follow the manufacturers' instructions. Apply two coats. This will ensure even coverage.



I hope that helps out a bit. Please ask specific questions if you should have them as the question that you asked is generally open-ended and has about 557,629 correct answers. What I've mentioned above is a 'general/quick' overview of the necessary steps.

RP

 

Details for my vehicle are in my signature. its an 04 darkshadow fx4. There are pics also in my gallery. Built 7/04. Has about 570miles on it. Finish is pretty good as far as i can tell as its a brand new vehicle. Id like to start out right before a bunch of crap is able to work its way onto the finish. Do you recommend chamois for drying? Perhaps your recommendations have changed upon learning its a new car? Thanks for all this information.

Dan

 

Unless the stealership did a 'bang up' job on preparing your vehicle, the entire process as mentioned above should be generally applicable. Personally, I've only seen a couple of vehicles that were seemingly prepped well from the dealership and none of them were Fords.

The only steps that you could really miss would be the clay and/or #9. Make sure they're necessary steps for your application based on your own opinions.

Drying -- I'd recommend going with a waffle weave drying towel like this one or this one. I own a couple of both and they're both FAR superior to a chamois.

With chamois in mind, I'd save your $ and go with the microfiber. In my opinion (as well as many others), while the chamois provides excellent absorbent qualities, it provides very little protection from something that could come trapped on the surface. For example, let's say you're drying along and you encounter a grain of sand. This grain of sand has NO WHERE to go if you're using a chamois because it has no 'nap' to it what so ever. Whereas, if you're using a very high pile 100% cotton bath towel or a microfiber drying towel, you have a much higher liklihood of having that sand grain become entrained in the fibers of the towel and thus, have much less of a chance of destroying your paint. Remember, it only takes one grain of sand to cause a WORLD of hurt.

RP

 

I recommend and use ZAINO, which is a "polymer-based" wax, lasts 5-6 months instead of 5-6 weeks like wax. You can only get ZAINO on-line, and no, I'm not afiliated with ZAINO, just a strong-believer in that product-line.
Good Luck!

 

managed to get some products earlier this week. Grabbed some NXT, goldclass shampoo, terry washmitt, and some MF towels. Washed the truck up today and put on 1 coat of nxt. As i type this its pouring down rain on my beautiful truck. Tomorrow when i go to throw another coat of NXT on the truck should i wash it down with goldclass again or just some water?? Thanks.

Dan

 

Since it's rained and it's had a chance to sit outside in the elements, I HIGHLY recommend that you wash it with the GC again.

Simple dust from atmospheric/environmental conditions can scratch your paint. It's important to lift, clean, and remove these particles prior to any type of surface protection being added. This holds true, not only with NXT and Meguiar's stuff, but with all of the other brands on the market as well.

RP