shudog

I did the ceramic coating on the bumper. For the grille and wheels I used some turtle wax ceramic spray. The grill will always be getting touched up regardless if I ceramic coated it or not. The wheels are like mirrors. I'll do a simple spray and upkeep on them every few months when I'm washing. It's quick and easy, took 15 mins to do all 4 wheels and the grill

Finished up this morning. Started at 9am, gave the truck a quick wipedown with the prep spray. Took 15 mins. Started on the hood and did it in 4 or 5 sections, taking my time, overlapping each section and applying left-right then up-down to get full coverage. Took about 1.5 hrs to do all the truck panels. Did not do the grille, glass or wheels with the deramic coating. Had to go back and touch up a few areas. Took a long time on the roof. That is a big piece of area. Took another 30 mins to do a spray wax on the wheels and grill, then I hit the running boards again. A few things - Id probably not do this if my truck wasn't black and if I was able to park inside and do regular hand washing. It takes a lot. But having this coating on shoujld allow the truck to stay cleaner much longer and I won't introduce scratches with routine washing & dry. The Adams product goes on easy and wipes off easy. I had a few spots I missed wiping off that I caught after i pulled it outside. Just reapply the coating with the applicator and wipe it clean. Easy. I really like that this stuff can be appleid to glass, plastic, trim etc. It really makes the top of the bed rail, mirrors, running boards etc look good. The overall slickness is very good but maybe not as good as a full carnuba wax But obviously that only lasts a few months. I applied the product pretty heavily and still have over half a bottle. So overall I'd give the Adams product a thumbs up. Now we'll see how well it lasts.

I picked up on this project again today. Been sitting since Thurs night. Got all my supplies from Adams. Worked with the porter cable random orbital buffer and Meguiars polish which is very light for very light scuffs and overall cleaning, not any sort of real cut for deep scratches or swirls but truck is new so that's cool. Spent about 3 hrs to get it right. Ended up going over a few areas twice and spent longer than I should've making sure everything was buffed off after, kinda hard in the garage even with bright LED's and a couple work lights. I wouldn't have spent as much time but knowing this job should last a few years, I was willing to spend the extra time. Overall very happy. Ready to hit it with the prep spray in the morning and lay down the Ceramic. hoping that only takes about 1.5 more hours. Tailgate shine is insane.

also, I plugged in dehumidifier in the garage last night since it was wet from washing. Should have the humidity down to 50% by the time I start polishing tonight, will make it easier on and off with less buffing.

Adding some details here for those who may be interested in doing this themselves. Last night I got started in the garage. Gave the truck a really thorough wash last night, took close to an hour. Paid extra attention to the wheel wells, bumpers, glass, mirrors and running boards. Also ran back over everything with clay bar. It barely picked up any grit at all, maybe a bit around the wheel wells. I debated whether or not a light polish was necessary. The truck only has 2,500 miles on it. Paint is in excellent condition as you can see. I think I'm still going to hit it tonight. I have a Porter Cable random orbital buffer I'll use with the Meguiars polish, has a very light polishing effect. This is more to remove the existing coat of wax. There are a few small light scratches I could see, walking around the truck with a work light. This should knock those down, remove the existing wax and hopefully be ready to start the ceramic coating tomorrow.

Ran out at lunch to get some supplies for this project. Bought some spray wax for the grille and wheels (too detailed to do full ceramic), some clay bar, and big soft microfiber towels. $60. Dang. I really didn't need the claybar, I already have one but it's kinda dirty. THey only sold a 3 pack for $30. What a ripoff. The spray wax was $16. Towels were cheap for a 3 pack at $9.99

Thanks. I'm sure they are all top notch. I just bought a kit from Adams polishes - prep spray, Advanced Graphene, and boost spray along with towels & applicator. I'll be busy in the garage this weekend! I'm probably not going to do the wheels & grill with the ceramic. I wash my vehicle regularly and clean those areas, it just seems like getting the ceramic coating on those detailed spots evenly and wiped off, would be a major hassle. I typically just hit them with spray wax every other wash and keep them clean. We'll see. I'll probably be burned out on this halfway in...!!!

I have a full open weekend coming up. I think I'm going to give it a go in the garage. Friday night wash & prep, Saturday start applying, Sunday let it cure in the garage. I was researching various ceramic products over the weekend. Was set on Armor Shield but a lot of reviews said it didn't last. Leaning towards the Adams stuff now.

I got a 7' folding ramp. Loaded my kids bike this weekend. Going up into the truck was easier than coming back down. Having so many tie down points is awesome. I typically load the bike with it running in gear and let it drive it self up. I was able to load my kids' bike without any extra step, just the multiflex tailgate. For my bike I might have to use a bike stand as an extra boost.

I need to wait a bit. it's bitter cold here. My garage is barely 50*. Want to get it inside, warm and make sure everything is very clean and temps are more like 60+. I've watched a ton of videos, I'm pretty confident I can get it to turn out.

Yes, will do. I have 2 cans of piano black hyperdip to do the top of the grille. If it goes well I will probably do the GMC logos also. I have vinyl to do them as well but I think the hyperdip is easier and will last just as long as the vinyl.

If i could've gotten $10k off an elevation with 5.3L I would have gone that route. The only Elevations on the lot were stripped with turbo's and not much else.

I'd bet that's a vinyl wrap. The whole truck appears to have been wrapped. If you search on youtube you can prob find a video showing how to do it. I just bought some black hyper dip and I'm gonna black out a bit of my grill and probably my chrome mirror caps. If I screw it up I'm out $30 and it and peels right off

I already have the subscription for Motocross/Supercross. It's $6/month, I never cancelled it from last year.

Been looking for months and finally pulled the trigger on a 2024 Denali with 5.3L and 22's. I drove Jeep Grand Cherokees for last 15 years, had 4 of them, all with V8's. Just needed to get a truck for hauling stuff and dirt biking and family road trips. I test drove Ford F150's several times but kept coming back to the GMC. I actually liked the looks of the Chevy trucks a bit more but wanted the multi-flex tailgate and nobody around me had them in stock and didn't want to wait on ordering. Ride: my truck has the magnetic ride and it's very good. Better than the other trucks. Compliant around town and firm on the highway. Not a lot of chassis flex either. Can tell it has a solid rear axle but for a full size pickup, I'm happy with it. Engine/Trans: the 5.3 is a "good" engine but with the 10 speed it's much better. That trans is really amazing. Incredibly smooth, shifts are barely noticeable at light or heavy throttle. My mpg has been trending close to 19mpg with highway and around town picking up kids from school etc. Got 19.5 on long highway trip over break with cruise set at 80. I'll take it. Exhaust note on the 5.3L is perfect. Just the right amount of rumble to sound sporty but not obnoxious. The displacement on demand of the V8 is much better on this truck than it was on my Hemi. Honestly, trying to identify when it kicks in & out, on slight uphills for example, I can't tell. But the 3.5L turbo in the Ford is a great engine - incredible power right off the line, really set you back. That was the #1 thing pulling me toward the Ford. Interior: I think the GMC interior is better than the Ford, at least on the Lariat models and below. Seats are comfortable, it's extremely quiet, excellent layout. The screens on dash area all configurable and great resolution. Nice materials. Tech/Infotainment: as most have noted, the stereo is "meh". I actually think it sounds better when you really crank it up over 50% volume but it could be better for a $70k truck. GPS is not my favorite. I don't love the Google map function. I don't like that it constantly asks where I want to go. My Jeep would display interesting features like altitude and coordinates, not sure that Google maps does that. The cameras are really good. I thought it was a bit of a gimmick at first but I use them all the time now for parking. Overall size of the truck seems a bit too big. The Ford is smaller overall, more compact. The hood line is lower and it's easier to see. I think GM might look at going this route also. The hood line is just too dang big. I'm 6' tall and have no idea where the right front corner of the truck is. Cameras help but the site lines are not great. The bed at just under 6' is fine for me. The Ford offers a 5.5' or a 6.5' bed on the F150's. The 5.5 seems too small and the 6.5' becomes too long when combined with a crew cab. The GMC has a really nice spray in bed liner, lights, an outlet and tie downs and of course the Multipro tailgate, all of which were better than what Ford had. Bottom line, I'm happy with the truck. I got a killer deal with $7k in discounts and I get compliments all the time. I ordered some super bright LED reverse lights to install this weekend and some carbon fiber vinyl to black out the GMC logos as well. I might do an upgrade to the speakers in the future but I hate the idea of taking the dash and door panels apart and breaking something.

I bought a 7' folding ramp. I think it's going to work great. Thanks all!

the professional application is all in the prep. I have a buddy that's had several of his cars ceramic coated at roughly $1k each. It doesn't matter if the car is brand new from the show room, they still do full PH-wash, clay bar, polish and paint correction. This is what guarantees the long term bonding and also what takes so long. Easily can be 8 hrs of shop time/materials before the actual ceramic coating even starts.

awesome. I was using Zaino years ago also with black cars, was very happy with it. I haven't seen or heard of anyone using it in a long time. I will check out the Armor Shield

awesome. I was an early user of Zaino back in the day also... whatever happened to that brand???

this sounds very similar to my situation. Thanks!

I've got a few friends with higher end cars and SUV's that've had them ceramic coated. The results are pretty stunning. I've always been a DIY hobbyist car detailer. Had several black cars and bought a porter cable random orbital buffer years ago. Also started using a claybar and doing multi-step process on our vehicles to get maximum shine & protection. Last year at Christmas I got a hybrid ceramic coating/wax. I applied two coats and was pretty blown away by the lasting shine and water beading. Getting a new black truck, I'm interested in max shine & protection. I googled some ceramic coatings and of course now I get hit with ads for various products constantly. I did a bit more research. Found this list. Curious if any of you have experience with any of these products. I"m not afriad of investing the time to do a great prep and application for long lasting shine and protection. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/best-ceramic-coating/

thanks for sharing! I've seen many of "Donslife" videos, he's done some cool stuff. I'm still looking to see what yourself and a few others do with speakers to see what a consensus is on the best upgrade

interesting, thanks for sharing. I'm 95% certain I could do all that with 100% certainty of breaking some fasteners and scuffing up the trim panels. Very interested to hear how you feel the new speakers sound compared to your factory setup

there's another thread on here with comments on exactly what model speaker people have used to upgrade.

I found the LASFIT bulbs on amazon but the T15 912 921 is not correct size according to Amazon. There are a ton of other manufacturers of other LED bulbs that do fit apparently...