Clay Bar Question??

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PGFDRAM

New member
I just bought a 2004 dodge ram, slate gray paint with clearcoat. I want to wax & polish it but I am unsure if I should clay bar it first. What brand wax & polish is the best??

Thanks
PGFDRAM
 
Congrats on the new truck!! Dodge ships most out by rail, so it probably isn't a bad idea to clay it first. My personal favorite is Adam's Polishes clay. I absolutely dispise Clay Magic, and if you try these side by side, you'll see why. The Adam's is elastic and is self cleaning, where as the clay magic (and Mothers) comes off in chunks. The bar is also larger, and there is plenty to split into 2 parts. In the end, it takes me significantly less time to clay with the Adam's.
 
I guess the reason why I say that is because you have to use the both of them to really see, along with the other 3 I've used in the past. Elastic is the way to go!! I think Wolfgang's is also elastic, which I would be tempted to try.
 
I haven;t tried Adams or Wolfgang's ..I am due to place an order....
4 Star i see has there own Clay bar.....so many products...
I will try Wolfgang's or 4 Star..but since PAC doesn't sell Adams I will have to wait on that one
jef
 
:wait :wait....Dwayne just got in a few of mine in today:D they are also very elastic and good size:)
I also have to agree with Nick on the clay magic..I was sent samples and was not impressed:dunno
one was too hard and didn't kneed well, the other was too soft and was basically falling apart..
 
I think its time for someone or some people to test several clay bars and give a review...

4 Star Clay Bar
Poorboys Clay bar
Clay Magic
Meguiars Clay bar
Adams clay bar
Pinnacle
 
I was able to get two good sized Eagle One clay bars at a car show for $10 once. They clean very well but leave residue sometimes. Worse depending on the lubricant you use.

Mother's is one of my favorite. First bar I ever tried and they're really great. Another plus is you can easily find them.

I've got two brand new clay magic bars sitting in carport that I'm going to try out soon.

The only bar from PRO that I've used is their Clay Away 3 and it's very agressive. Only use it for the worst overspray, etc. Nothing for a normal car. I have yet to try their Clay Away 4. Possibly one day but it's expensive compared to other clay bars.

I've got Adam's Clay Bar and I agree that it is pretty good and doesn't seem to streak at all. I've always used it with car wash though. Some of the others I've tried with a quick detailer or spray lubricant.

I've also got the Perfect Shine Clay bar from the autopia store, which I haven't gotten to try out yet.
 
JeffBruce said:
I think its time for someone or some people to test several clay bars and give a review...
Click to expand...
I've tried 7 different types of clay bars. Of these, my favorites were the dark gold colored bars from the Kucala (i.e. Erazer/Elasti-Clay) source. The Mother's California Gold Clay and Poorboy's clays were included in this group. They seemed to have a good balance between stiffness (easy to knead but didn't fall apart) and contaminant removal ability (enough grip to lift out debris but didn't mar paint or leave residue).

I've tried 3 bars from the Auto Wax source. These included the yellow, blue, and gray colored Clay Magic bars. The blue and gray bars seemed fairly similar. Both were a little difficult to knead (very stiff), but did appear to remove contaminants well. The bright yellow bars were quite different as they were so soft that they seemed to just melt in my hand. The yellow bar also seemed to be less effective at contaminant removal, though it was very gentle to the paint surface.

The first detailing clay bar that I used (about 10 years ago?) was the Meguiar's greyish-white colored bar that was sold in a kit with a miniature bottle of Quik Detailer lube. I do not know who actually manufactured this bar back then, but it was far inferior to today's commonly available bars. It was mediocre at removing contaminants and smeared residue all over the paint. Since this first experience was so unsatisfactory, I actually abandoned the use of clay bars for a few years.

The most unusual clay I've tried was a blue colored prototype sample from an Australian manufacturer. It was a solid block which could not be kneaded. After a few attempts to stretch the bar, it started to shred. Cutting the block into smaller slices worked for awhile, but the inability to knead the clay meant that you really only had two sides to work with before you had to throw that slice away.

Clay is just another detailing product. Different ones will appeal to different people. Pick a couple to try, and learn how to use them correctly.
 
JeffBruce said:
I think its time for someone or some people to test several clay bars and give a review...

4 Star Clay Bar
Poorboys Clay bar
Clay Magic
Meguiars Clay bar
Adams clay bar
Pinnacle
Click to expand...

The funny part is that 4 of those bars are MADE by clay magic!
 
Nickc0844 said:
The funny part is that 4 of those bars are MADE by clay magic!
Click to expand...
Many people probably don't realize that there are very few clay manufacturers. Most brand names of clay are just private labeled versions from those companies.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I have been checking out other products on the board also and I am going to go with poorboy's. Any additional comments on their products would be appreciated.

Thanks
PGFDRAM
 
i also agree with nick...Adams Polishes clay bars are the best ive ever used (ive used mothers, meguiars, and most recently clay magic before i finally ended up fallin in love with adams clay). Their Quick detailer, which you use as the lube, is also my favorite QD for non-Carnauba finishes.

As for the original questions....sure, you can go ahead and clay now, it probably needs it, and it definatly wont hurt. Then youll already have a clay bar in about 6 months when you need to clay again.

For a beginner with no PC, id recommend anything from PoorBoys. Really great products that are super easy to use. Also check out clearkote.
 
Nickc0844 said:
The funny part is that 4 of those bars are MADE by clay magic!
Click to expand...

Very interesting, which ones? And are they all very similar or are they simply manufactured by clay magic to the indevidual brand's specifications, which would make them very different?
 
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