The time has come....

[shailey]

to seriously wash my vehicles.

Let me ask you something. Do your products come with instructions? Because I really don't know how to use this stuff and I am going to have to buy something from you. I still have wax in my garage that is 11 years old...no kidding. So I am certain that I can't use that stuff. I can rebuild a motor, but I can't wax my truck. LOL

Anyway, here are my needs. I have a few scratches from the next door idiot kid running by my truck with a stick. I want to clean it and wax it (now don't everyone fall over dead here!) and make it shine like there is no tomorrow. I have bird poop everywhere and probably need to get that off too.

What are your suggestions?

[knox_titan]

I suggest you mod a little more and try to make your truck so fast that the dirt just falls off because of the speed.

Then bring it home and shine it up!!

[Fishtracker]

If the bird poop has been on there a while you may find it's had a corrosive effect.

In answer to your question if it's been as long since you're truck has had a good detail as you let on I recommend you pay a professional to do it. I'm sure there's someone that the local dealers use. Depending on how dirty, it's probably going to cost you around a $100 bucks for a detail that includes an engine detail, steam cleaning of the interior, and quick wax. They can knock it out in a day. If nothing else, I'd start with this and "Then" wax my truck myself if you want to focus on the scratches and waxing.........

[gtcompscientist]

As much as I know you are a DIY guy... I agree with Fishtracker. If your vehicle is EXTREMELY dirty, as I know yours is, let them get the hard work out of the way, then you can use Adam's stuff to KEEP it that way. Otherwise you might burn out trying to get it all done right by yourself.

[MikeD1]

What are your suggestions?


Turn it over to the nearest detailer/paint shop ....... :D

Seriously, if the bird poo has been on a while, make have eaten thru the clearcoat !

[shailey]

In answer to your question if it's been as long since you're truck has had a good detail as you let on I recommend you pay a professional to do it.

LOL I have many witnesses. Especially the one's that wrote all over my truck at old town In the spring.

It was washed in January by my neighbor as a nice gesture and again in April and I think last month too. So it has had probably 6 washings in the 18 months I have owned it. It has never been waxed.

So I need to let someone else do it the first time?

[Buenasnalgas]

I say just leave it the way it is, no need to wash it at this point!!!

But if you must wash, here's a tip for the acid in the bird crap.

grab a quart of warm water, add 3 tbsp of baking soda and give those areas a nice bath. This will help with all the acid from the poop and remove it from the paint.

[Kingoftheroad]

LOL I have many witnesses. Especially the one's that wrote all over my truck at old town In the spring.

It was washed in January by my neighbor as a nice gesture and again in April and I think last month too. So it has had probably 6 washings in the 18 months I have owned it. It has never been waxed.

So I need to let someone else do it the first time?

One of my old friends never washes his vehicles, he claims they get washed when it rains. lol

You could have your truck detailed by a pro for $100 or you could do it yourself. If you have the time & don't mind using a little elbow grease, you could save that $100 for mods. But, depending on what you want done, you might want a pro to do it. I get asked frequently: " Can you wash my vehicle?, you do such a nice job washing your cars.

My neighbors say I'm always out in my driveway/garage doing something.

[Buenasnalgas]

My neighbors say I'm always out in my driveway/garage doing something.

That's funny, I thought you were always behind your keyboard here at MT!!!

[70DATSUN]

I'll let you wash mine also. That way you'll have a little more experience with this sort of thing under your belt. LOL

[motorvisions]

im disappointed with this thread. As the reigning dirtiest titan award winner - i vote leave it dirty!!!!!!

[shailey]

LOL I was still in shock that someone could actually beat me. LOL

BUT, I did post the pics on the site when my neighbor did the nice gesture by washing my truck for me while we were at the hospital having Emma. That erase sevral months worth of crap and dirt. LOL

One thing you definitely beat me on though was the inside. I do clean the inside of my truck all the time. When it was my daily driver, the inside got cleaned weekly.

King, my stepfather said the same thing. When it rained, that was when it got washed, but he NEVER cleaned the inside either and he was a smoker. I remember rolling the window down in that thing and how THICK the film was on the inside. LOL That truck was great and ironically, it was a nissan hardbody.

[Patrick@Adams]

Shailey,

Like said before, if your truck is that dirty and has bird poo that caked on there I would really have it done by a professional THEN take care of it with Adam's Products.

OR..

If you really want to spend a good amount of time you could tackle it yourself but IMO you would be making a day out of it.

[Kingoftheroad]

That's funny, I thought you were always behind your keyboard here at MT!!!

That too Scott...........

I wash my truck about every other week. Plus, I work on my car.

[jager2704]

Shailey, here's what a clean truck should look like. I just ordered some stuff from Adams and I can't wait for the UPS man to show up on my doorsteps.

[kyle@stillen]

I LOVE to wash my own vehicles. I actually don't like driving my truck lately because of how dirty it is right now. I haven't had much free time over the past few weeks so it is lookin' pretty scungy. I was going to do it on Monday (labor day) but decided that there was no point considering I am leaving on Thursday for a 6+ hour drive up to Northern California to help a friend move. It'll only be clean for a few days then it's going to get covered in bugs and junk. So, instead I will be cleaning it on Saturday or Sunday this weekend.

When I clean a vehicle, I usually spend a solid hour. That is just a soap down and wheel clean.

When I detail a vehicle I spend about two hours. That is a soap down, wheel clean, wheel well detail, and thoroughly cleaning and vacuuming the interior.

When I do a "show detail" on a vehicle I spend an entire day. Start off with the standard soap down, rinse, inspect the vehicle for any missed areas, sometimes re-soap the entire vehicle just for good measure. Dry the truck with Adam's microfiber drying towels and a compressed air nozzle or wet/dry vac blowing out to get the water out of the cracks, headlights, rearview mirrors, taillights, grill, EVERYWHERE that can hold water...Then once all of that is finished I will go over the truck with the Adam's polishes and buttery wax. Only applying with their microfiber applicator pads and removing with their microfiber polishing towels.

Once I finish the full detail I focus on the wheels and tires. Sometimes I will actually remove the wheels and tires and clean the inside of the wheels to remove all of the road grime. Then I apply the VRT on the tires. Depending on what kind of wheels I have this process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 hours. I have literally spent 5 hours cleaning my polished aluminum wheels before...This is one of the major reasons I will never own polished aluminum wheels again hahaha. I start with a dremel to get the major deposits off, then I finish with a thorough hand cleaning to remove any swirl markes the dremel might have left behind.

At this point it all depends on the car I am working on. If I were working on my Titan, I would climb under the truck and begin cleaning the frame, suspension, under the hood, bed liner, and wheel weels...Basically anything that can be seen AT ALL. With my Tundra, I have not yet pulled the wheels off to clean everything but I will once I install the PRG upper arms and Radflo coil overs.

Then, I detail the interior. For a show worthy detail, this can take an hour or two. It all depends on how many times I've been to the desert before the show haha. Using Adam's interior cleaners and a really good carpet cleaner I have found (I can't remember the name right now.) I can have the interior of my truck looking like new.

Here is the shocker that some people won't believe...I have literally spent an entire weekend detailing a vehicle before. After my first trip to Glamis I spent the next Saturday and Sunday cleaning EVERYTHING on my Titan. Pulling wheels off, removing seats, taking apart parts of the body work...You name it...I got in there. I only did that three times on that truck and I don't see doing it on the Tundra. I also know that it was way more than I needed to do, but I wanted it to be perfect. I was SUPER ANAL about that truck.

A typical wash/wax and interior clean on the Tundra tends to take me about 3-4 hours...

EDIT: I just remembered my prep. for SEMA LOL...I spent an entire day and a half just polishing all 6 aluminum shocks and all 6 polished aluminum wheels. The shocks I had on the truck were not the polished versions...Just the standard aluminum shock bodies. When I was finished, everyone thought they were the expensive polished versions. This was pretty much a waste of time though as they returned to a dull finish within a few weeks. I spent about a week getting the truck ready for SEMA...But that also included little details such as relocating stereo wires, brake lines, paint touch ups and more...But I consider all of those things "clean-up."

[griffee]

WOW! That's all I've got to say about that Kyle!

I personally just call my detail guy, and he comes and handles it. Frame, rear axle, all suspension, wheels, under the hood, inside, clay bars, waxes. The whole sha-bang. By the time I'm done at work my truck is all set. I find this method by far the easiest.

[shailey]

Dear goodness that about made me want to puke. I didn't think people really did that stuff to their vehicle. LOL

[kyle@stillen]

Yea, I have a tendency to go overboard. But, if I'm going to put something out for display, I want every single aspect of it to be perfect.

I am kind of a clean freak with my vehicles. In fact this year before I put my dirtbike away for the summer I stripped it down and cleaned everything with an old toothbrush. Pulled off the tank, fenders, wheels...Basically stripped it down without removing the engine. A few of my riding buddies asked me when I bought the new bike it's so clean haha...It's 4 years old and gets ridden HARD!!!

All this talk about cleaning inspired me to take my truck to the quarter wash tonight hahaha.

[Patrick@Adams]

Dear goodness that about made me want to puke. I didn't think people really did that stuff to their vehicle. LOL

yes they do, some more than others!

Before the Stillen Event a couple months ago I spent a good 3 hours doing mine in prep for the show.

I may not have had the pimpest car/truck but the detail work was the best in show

[MikeD1]

I spend a good 2.5 hrs just washing & drying mine & use a leaf blower to get as much water out of the nicks & crannies as I can. I even leave towels on the back bumper to catch the enivatible drips from the tailgate.