How do YOU take care of your baby???

[Frontismo88]

Oh I see..I do tend to use a fairly dirty drying towel too...maybe the cali blade would be a good idea...Does pepboys have them???

C'mon people lets hear those washing methods....

[Irongrave]

i got mine at autozone so they should have it but i'd say i was but last i looked outside it was snow and ice (man i love NY) that and my truck is silver and gray two tone

[nizmut]

Ice soap. last time I detailed it, I rolled it the next day

Oh and a 6pack of mobil1 every 5K
Clean the air filter after every run or 2
Vacuum it out after every run
change the cabin filter every couple of runs
Check the rest of the stuff by the book for extreme duty

[Phil'sFrontier]

Originally Posted by Irongrave

i have used a blade on my truck from day 1, nothing a little wax dose not fix. a shamie will have the same risk of having things drug threw the paint as a blade dose, and you can clean it better that just what i do with mine

Good point. I think the important thing is that whatever you use to dry, etc; make sure is it clean and free of debris.

I always pick a cool day...not hard up here. Maybe around room temperature or a little cooler, that way I don't worry about the suns effects on my product application. I use my Dad's power washer and get everything nice and wet. Then hook up the power washer soap to get the majority of the dirt/debris(this step usually cleans off things like mud/bugs/dust), then go over everything again with a clean micro-fibre sponge/clean bucket+auto soap. Then rinse rinse and then rinse again. All the southern members here have to worry about the sun drying out the soap a little more than me up here North of 60.

[Sand Bag]

What's soap??? I ride her hard, and put her away wet...

[cctmobiledetail]

Start out by degreaseing the tires and wheels and wheel wells with purple power and let it purcolate for several minutes while I get my pressure washer set up and connected to my triple filtered DI Water ( your as only clean as your source , and clean water is a must ) I then use any kind of car soap, as long as it's car soap along with the DI water it'll work great. Then go ahead and wet the vehicle down , but stay off the wheels with the pressure washer as it's still working it's percolation on the wheels , etc. Once clients vehicle is good and wet, I then wash with a Microfiber wash mit, normally starting at the drivers side of the hood ( pick a spot on your car, then for each step of your cleaning process, go completely around the car and clean everywhere you can before moving on, except the wheel area, then the next step start back where you originally started for the first step ... this will save you alot of time ) as I wash the hood , I also use a 3M clay bar at the same time ( using Claybar lubricant is for amateurs , all lubricant is, is "Soapy water" ) anyway I go ahead and continue all around the car washing and claying the vehicle ( make sure to re soap the area just clayed, so you wont leave claying streaks ). Once the vehicle's all soaped up, I then let the soap stay on ( percolate) while I then use a different normally old terry cloth towel to wash the rims and tires and wipe the inside of the wheel wells, I also at this point use Q-tips to clean around the lug nuts, and other tight places , I also re spray the tires with the degreaser once more, and use a different terry cloth rag to scrub the dirt and grease off the tire. Once all wheels and tires have been scubbed , I now start pressure washing the vehicle off starting from the Top down , all the way down to the rims where I spray the wheel wells first with a steady stream completely around the inside lip of the wheel well along with then all in and around the wheel and on the tire....( I'm also dialed in at 1100 psi on my 3500 psi pressure washer which is the optimum pressure without damaging paint and other surfaces ). Once the wheel wells , etc. are rinsed, I then repeat the rinsing process again, to get any residual soap that may have resettled or missed on the vehicle. once I'm sure the vehicle is double rinsed, I turn off the pressure washer, and start drying the vehicle with a California Water Blade ( Yes, their the best , because their blade is made out of surgical silicone , which is 10 times less abrasive than any cloth you can use ! Also as long as the surface is clean, clayed and rinsed, there's no way it can scratch you paint[ now if you have left a speck of dirt on the vehicle well then , yes you'll scratch it, but you'll also scratch with a cloth] "you only as clean as your source" ...) Go ahead and one swipe the vehicle starting on the top down. The corners and the creases, etc. that the water blade can't get in to , won't matter , becuse I'm getting ready to either buff the vehicle with a polish or an express wax, so the couple of water drops here and there won't matter. Then depending on what the client wants on their tires I go ahead and do them now. It they want " Ghetto Shine" on their tires I go ahead and spray that on all tires ( yes it gets on the rims[ no problem , it'll come off later when polishing the rims ) anyway I spray the " Hot Shine" on the tires now, because if you wait until after you are finished waxing , etc. the paint , and then spray the tires , "Murphy's law" will prevail and a gust of wind will carry and spread the dressing all down the side of the vehicle , making you rewash or rewax the vehicle. Most of my Clients with High end cars, don't want the Grease magnet ghetto shine on their tires ( once you drive away with dressing on your tires, it normally slings all over your nice clean vehicle ) What I normally do with the Ferrari , etc. tires , is wipe and massage Leather condioner into the tire with a creme leather conditioner first , and let it sit on the tire while I do the next one with the creme, once all the way around the vehicle with the creme, I go back with some Leather spray conditoner to blend out the creme and smooth the matte finish ( this is the way that tires should look ... a nice Matte, slight sheen look ) I tell you , you won't see super greasey shiny tires at the Concours d' elegance in Pebble beach, thats for sure, they want matte , natural looking tires.

I now move on to the detailing stage .......but we'll leave that for another post

[hoauwant]

very true. I detail cars as a side business and I always use the Cali blade. Sometimes i'd get a scuff on the paint, but it's nothing a little polish wont take care off. The blade saves you a lot of time. I usually start drying with the blade and finish with a microfiber towel.

Originally Posted by Irongrave

i have used a blade on my truck from day 1, nothing a little wax dose not fix. a shamie will have the same risk of having things drug threw the paint as a blade dose, and you can clean it better that just what i do with mine

lol!

Originally Posted by Sand Bag

What's soap??? I ride her hard, and put her away wet...

[Frontismo88]

Just picked up my cali blade today from Advance and MAN DOES THAT THING WORK!!!! It rained cats and dogs down here in Jax so my truck was way wet from the rain....I used that Cali-blade on it real quick and WHOOSH!! The water was gone, no spots, no streaks! Nothing shown but the fresh wax underneath! I love this thing! I'll never need a towel for drying again!!! Great advice!!!!!

Lets hear some other methods for truck detailing and what not!

[frontpagenews]

ALWAYS used Mother's Showtime polish after every wash ALWAYS. The paint will feel like it has just been waxed...so smooth to the touch, and everything just slides off.

I prefer a wide brush (kind you see at the DIY carwash) to knock off the dirt, hand dry, Mother's Showtime polish, Meguiar's Tire COATING not the Foam stuff.

[06_footy]

dude u cant beat being lazy and just sit ur A$$ in the drivers seat taking a quick one ewwww and driving off " MY GOD I LOVE MOTHER NATURE..... "