Going To Do An All Out Cleaning Job On My Truck

[georgerosen06]

Im looking this week to wash clay and wax my truck....ive clayed and wax before but it was with "ice" products and really dident see as good of a finish as some of you have shown and as i have seen other people use. Now im most likely going to get meguiar's clay kit which comes with a micro fiber towel, some spray detailer, and two pieces of clay. Then when it comes to the wax im kinda lost as to how to apply and what to use(paste or liquid) I want to use NTX products as thats what most people around here use and have had some great results. so what do i need along the lines of applicators and wax etc. also any tips or tricks any of you have would be greatly appreciated. Usually I do all of this at my own house however I have a chance to do it a very big and very well lit garage so next week I go there for two days and it will be done then. Like I said before thanks for any help you can give me.

[georgerosen06]

no one has any tips of any kind? lol

[Outbacker]

Be ready for a long day to do all this, but in the end it will be worth it. This is my routine for a full detail:

 

-wash truck with water and a squirt of dish soap (dish soap removes any residual wax);

-dry with micro fiber towel;

-I use the Meguaires clay bar and the lube that comes with it. Take your time with the clay bar and only do a small section at a time. Squirt the lube on, move the clay bar over the area and if there is a dry spot, re-lube are carry on. If you drop the clay bar on the ground, throw it out;

-wash the truck with a good quality vehicle soap (I use Turtle Wax ICE soap);

-dry with mircofibre cloth;

-apply one coat of polish. I use Liquid Glass;

-I then apply 2 coats of Mequires NTX 2 wax. This will leave a deep, wet shine and looks awesome.

 

Afterwards, I use Mother Back to Black on all the black plastic, and Mother chrome polish on the chrome.

 

It normally takes me 6-7 hours to do all this, but it looks damn good when its done.

[2000DV4.8]

^What he said sounds good, just make sure you knead the clay bar when you see it starting to get dirty.

 

And I personally HATE liquid waxes, never used one that gave me the results I wanted.

[DofD]

 

You can also use the claybar on the exterior windows to remove any debris that might be sticking to it.

 

If there are any scratches or swirls in the light lenses, Meguiars Plastex works wonderfully to remove them.

 

Whether to use a paste or liquid wax is kind of personal choice thing. Liquid is definitely easier to use, but I find that paste can produce a more even coat.

 

For applying the wax, a sponge or microfiber towel works good. Just don't let them get too dirty before changing to a new one.

 

Make sure you have lots of microfiber towels for drying, applying wax, and removing wax.

 

When applying the wax, don't apply too much, or it makes it just a pain to remove later. Just put on enough so that you can see a slight haze. When it's applying, whether to use a straight strokes or circular strokes is debated. As long as you are using soft clean cloths to apply and remove you shouldn't need to worry about introducing swirls or streaks.

[chuck16]

Wow, I miss having that kind of time to detail my cars. I've been using Simoniz Wax with Teflon. It's old school wax but, the Teflon seems to last a lot lot longer than anything I've had. Funnily enough I can't seem to find it anymore. So once again I'll be searching for another wax product of some kind.

 

I guess my kids just take up too much time, perhaps if I didn't need to sleep then I could get my Truck back to it's uber cleanliness...

[georgerosen06]

huh...did not know that about dropping the clay. anyone use meguires scratch x? i think im gonna give that a shot on some of my scratches just to see if it will work because they drive me crazy!

[DofD]

Yep, you'll need to knead the clay bar once it starts to get dirty (from cleaning). But if you drop the clay bar on the ground, toss it out. As it will pick up any small bits from the ground and you don't want those getting into contact with the paint.

 

I've tried using the ScratchX with okay results. It is a very mild abrasive, so you really only want to use it on areas that have fine scratches or swirls. And will take some elbow grease for it to do its job.

[georgerosen06]

the scratches are light and still have some paint under them so i figure i will give it a shot.

[Schmids5.3l]

Not a fan of liquid waxes either. I just did a complete detail yesterday clay bar and all, and the liquid wax really got on my nerves. Not the best way to finish after hours of hard cleansing. Paste wax is definitely 10x easier to evenly distribute, which ultimately makes it a faster job.

[bsibold96]

the scratches are light and still have some paint under them so i figure i will give it a shot.

 

I use liquid wax with a microfiber applicator pad, before I get started, I spray some of the quik detailer on the pad, it seems to help even out the wax and makes it very easy to apply.

[asilverblazer]

the scratches are light and still have some paint under them so i figure i will give it a shot.

 

Lots of elbow grease and lots of scratchx to get any kind of result. Its how its designed, go figure.

 

I don't mind liquid wax, I shoot a bunch on the panel and the pad to my buffer, and smear it around prior to turning the buffer on, to keep the buffer from slinging it every where. I rub it in for a long time with the buffer, not sure if it helps or not. Then I wipe it off with a towel.

[georgerosen06]

Well I just got done using the scratchx and I have to say for something that was 6 bucks I'm very happy with it...took out scratches from tree branches on the rails of the bed. took out a couple scratches from I don't know where on the sides of the bed and even took out the mysterious scrape on the side of my driver door from one night at the movie theater off! The only scratch it did not get off was on the hood that was from a dent. I'm not quite sure where it came from as it was there when I bought the truck from my dad. Like I said for the 6 bucks...well worth it

[98silvz71]

I must be an a$$hole to my truck. It never gets washed unless people start writing stuff in the dirt. I left my truck in the parking lot at school over the weekend and had a lot of dirty words and drawings on it. I was pissed. Took a soft towel and wiped it down and today the rain washed it for me.