Detailing my truck.

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EazyE02

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Hey guys, I was wondering what detailing process should I do for my truck, and also was wanting to hear from you guys as well! I was thinking about doing the full line up like hand washing, clay bars, waxing, and polishing my truck. I know I will take a long time for the process, but I want my truck looking good. Also I'm having trouble cleaning my windows, and front windshields and the back glass.... Can't seem to get the dirt off the glass. What should I do? use a glaze? or polish it? I'm a chemical guy fan. Also I don't have a foam cannon, but I do have a pressure washer, but everyone says it's gonna mess up your paint.. so I don't use it lol I don't wanna argue with everyone.
 

Quick_Shifter

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Hey guys, I was wondering what detailing process should I do for my truck, and also was wanting to hear from you guys as well! I was thinking about doing the full line up like hand washing, clay bars, waxing, and polishing my truck. I know I will take a long time for the process, but I want my truck looking good. Also I'm having trouble cleaning my windows, and front windshields and the back glass.... Can't seem to get the dirt off the glass. What should I do? use a glaze? or polish it? I'm a chemical guy fan. Also I don't have a foam cannon, but I do have a pressure washer, but everyone says it's gonna mess up your paint.. so I don't use it lol I don't wanna argue with everyone.

These steps are once or twice a year not every wash. But by doing this you’ll save hours on maintenance washes
Pressure washer will not hurt your paint as long as you have a fan of water and keep the tip 8” away.
Wash your truck with a good strip wash soap (not PH neutral) then use an iron remover. Iron remover will be spray on and the contamination will turn purple (sometimes other colors but most brands turn red or purple) This process helps for the next step which is clay bar. You can use the traditional clay bar a clay mit or a synthetic clay doesn’t really matter all get the same results. Use a spray bottle with water and dawn dish soap as the lube for the clay. (Clay your windows too) I like to re wash after I clay you don’t have to but I normally do. Next step is to use an ipa, or wax and grease remover and wipe down all your panels. A DA polisher will be your next step if you want that ultra shine. I would recommend meguiars m205 and an orange or yellow pad on your DA. Go slow and work the polish in on all panels. I recommended m205 because you can use it on glass too. It will pull out the water spots that etched in.
Now it’s time for another ipa wipe down and your choice of paint sealant. I prefer Adams it’s really nice to work with gives it a killer shine and lasts a long time (over 6 months) this process should take you 1 really long day or a weekend. The following weekend I would pull the wheels off and repeat the same process as the paint. But instead of paint sealant use ceramic coating.

For maintenance washes use a sacrificial layer of something I like P&S bead maker. Wash you truck like normal and before you dry cover everything with beadmaker then towel dry. With bead maker the shine takes 8 hours to pop and it’s a sealant itself. That will protect you Adams paint sealant.
 

JB1

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@Quick_Shifter what DA polisher tool, would you recommend?

I’ve seen some cordless ones being advertised now
 

Quick_Shifter

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@Quick_Shifter what DA polisher tool, would you recommend?

I’ve seen some cordless ones being advertised now

I thought about the Milwaukee one as all their tools are great and a 9ah battery would easily last long enough. I use ridgid power tools because their lifetime warranty so I don’t have a bunch of Milwaukee batteries laying around. I think it’s a great option if you use their impact driver and they have a leaf blower now for drying.

The griots garage DA is a good one

I opted for the Shinemaster

I don’t have enough experience with enough of them to form an opinion to recommend one. You can’t really go wrong with a DA because unlike a rotary buffer a DA is not going to burn through your paint
 

shadowhawk

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in case the DA thing wasn't clear, that's a Dual Action (random orbital) polisher.
 

quietpeen

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@Quick_Shifter you forgot one very important supplement to this whole process.........some cold beer :drink_nl:
 

Quick_Shifter

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@Quick_Shifter you forgot one very important supplement to this whole process.........some cold beer :drink_nl:

I knew there was something missing

I drank it while playing back the process in my head then drank the rest while typing it out. So I wasn’t sharing.
 

armallard

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I know this is a old post but just now getting to it will a da polisher get away from you if you only use one hand? reason I ask I've had a stroke at 39 and I haven't gotten use back in it so I didn't want to mess my paint or anything else up on my truck by using it thank you.

Armallard
 

madtrucker2016

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I thought about the Milwaukee one as all their tools are great and a 9ah battery would easily last long enough. I use ridgid power tools because their lifetime warranty so I don’t have a bunch of Milwaukee batteries laying around. I think it’s a great option if you use their impact driver and they have a leaf blower now for drying.

The griots garage DA is a good one

I opted for the Shinemaster

I don’t have enough experience with enough of them to form an opinion to recommend one. You can’t really go wrong with a DA because unlike a rotary buffer a DA is not going to burn through your paint

just got a 6 inch one from harbor freight works good for the money
 

Quick_Shifter

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just got a 6 inch one from harbor freight works good for the money

The harbor freight ones were just on sale for $50 I drove to one and they were out of stock so I figured after I replaced the backing plate and ordered up my pads id be at the giots price range. after going back and forth with my self over small money I just started researching what I could get at a good deal and landed on the shine master
 

Maligator

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Hey guys, I was wondering what detailing process should I do for my truck, and also was wanting to hear from you guys as well! I was thinking about doing the full line up like hand washing, clay bars, waxing, and polishing my truck. I know I will take a long time for the process, but I want my truck looking good. Also I'm having trouble cleaning my windows, and front windshields and the back glass.... Can't seem to get the dirt off the glass. What should I do? use a glaze? or polish it? I'm a chemical guy fan. Also I don't have a foam cannon, but I do have a pressure washer, but everyone says it's gonna mess up your paint.. so I don't use it lol I don't wanna argue with everyone.
I clean my glass thoroughly with qyeon glass, then use ceriglass to remove any watersports and other crud glass cleaner doesn't get off. Then I follow up with glass sealant, Griot's is what I've been using with decent results.

Ceriglass Glass Polish 500 ml. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FX6ZKVA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_HHLjDb20D2S3A

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

Todd C

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Hey guys, I was wondering what detailing process should I do for my truck, and also was wanting to hear from you guys as well! I was thinking about doing the full line up like hand washing, clay bars, waxing, and polishing my truck. I know I will take a long time for the process, but I want my truck looking good. Also I'm having trouble cleaning my windows, and front windshields and the back glass.... Can't seem to get the dirt off the glass. What should I do? use a glaze? or polish it? I'm a chemical guy fan. Also I don't have a foam cannon, but I do have a pressure washer, but everyone says it's gonna mess up your paint.. so I don't use it lol I don't wanna argue with everyone.


Your pressure washer won't damage your paint as long is you are using the correct tip (25deg green tip is certainly safe) and you stay 12-18 in away from the paint. The foam cannons are nice and I use one if I'm feeling motivated. I also use a foam gun (just attached to the hose) if not so motivated to pull the pressure washer out. If you haven't used one don't think that is used as a substitute for actually washing your truck. After a thorough rinsing I use the foam cannon/gun to to coat the car then using a standard 2 bucket method I will wash. The foam really just adds more lubrication to assist with lifting and carrying dirt particles away from the paint without you grinding them into your paint. The foam alone won't just clean your car.
 

Snooter

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Lucas slick mist for windows - I would never apply that product anywhere else on any vehicle. It cleans windows and works great. Or, get a magic eraser and Meguires All Purpose Cleaner - that will work but the Lucas is all I use anymore on windows. - easier, faster and terrific results in wet weather conditions. I hand wash everything exterior - only time I power wash is if they sunk the fleet vehicle in mud up to the frame.
 
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