tkr128
New member
I finally had time to detail my 4Runner last week. I bought it in September and only had the time to wash a few times. I didn't plan it to take a whole week, but that's what happened.
I started out by washing it with Z7 and clayed with a 3M blue clay bar. I polished the driver's side of the car with 3M SMR and a TOL Orange Pad. I'm really pleased with the Orange Pad, it took out the swirls the dealer put in when they washed it after being serviced (I let them wash it because it was very dirty, I didn't have the time since midterms were coming up and I knew I was going to detail it anyway). The only problem I had with the pad was on the front bumper. The bumper chewed it up along with a Meguiar's polishing pad. Otherwise, it did a great job with polishing out all the swirls.
The next day, I finished polishing the other side of the car and the horizontal parts. The hardest part to do was the roof because it was so high up and the roof rack was in my way. It was a lot easier with the platform that NozeBleedSpeed recommended in this thread.
I took a day off since it was raining. But, the next day, I managed to get in a dawn wash and a Z7 wash before it started raining again. In case you're wondering, Dawn to remove the oils in SMR and Z7 to remove any Dawn residue. I had the car in the garage and applied 3 coats of Z5 with ZFX with Z6 in between.
The next day, I put on 3 coats of Z2 with ZFX (Z6 in between each coat) and dressed up all the exterior rubber/plastic with 1Z Tiefenpfleger. It lasted a long time in my wheel wells, so I felt it would be good for the winter months. I dressed the tires with Turtle Wax Tire Gel.
I moved onto the Interior. After cleaning everything, I put on 1Z Tiefenpfleger on the majority of the interior pieces. It leaves really nice new look and dries evenly.
The only floor mat I had to clean was the driver's mat. I got caught in the rain without my rubber mats. The before pic is after vacuuming. I used APC+ in 1:12 dilution. I scrubbed it clean and then rinsed it out. Vacummed and then blew it dry. I'm always surprised at the cleaning power of APC+, one of the best cleaners I've come across.
And of course, a reflection picture:
A few notes: After applying Z2, I noticed an increase in shine, but it also came with a decrease in depth. I haven't noticed this on silver, but I can definately see a difference. Z2 also appears to attract dust more, so once I get the time, I'll probably use Z5 exclusively on this car. I also have the Klasse twins and S100 coming in soon, so I just might give that a try.
I used PakShak towels (it's my first time!) I'm really impressed with the towels, however I've noticed that the mint green towels don't seem to do well after being washed. They're still good, but not as soft and well-constructed as the dark green towels that were washed the same way. The WW towel is great! It's a lot thicker and softer than my JTI WW towel.
Sorry for the long post!!! This is my first SUV I've had to do a full detail on, and I don't think I want to do it as often as the other cars in my family. This wasn't even a large SUV either, I can really appreciate the effort when I see people do details on Suburbans, Excursions and all those other huge SUVs.
I started out by washing it with Z7 and clayed with a 3M blue clay bar. I polished the driver's side of the car with 3M SMR and a TOL Orange Pad. I'm really pleased with the Orange Pad, it took out the swirls the dealer put in when they washed it after being serviced (I let them wash it because it was very dirty, I didn't have the time since midterms were coming up and I knew I was going to detail it anyway). The only problem I had with the pad was on the front bumper. The bumper chewed it up along with a Meguiar's polishing pad. Otherwise, it did a great job with polishing out all the swirls.
The next day, I finished polishing the other side of the car and the horizontal parts. The hardest part to do was the roof because it was so high up and the roof rack was in my way. It was a lot easier with the platform that NozeBleedSpeed recommended in this thread.
I took a day off since it was raining. But, the next day, I managed to get in a dawn wash and a Z7 wash before it started raining again. In case you're wondering, Dawn to remove the oils in SMR and Z7 to remove any Dawn residue. I had the car in the garage and applied 3 coats of Z5 with ZFX with Z6 in between.
The next day, I put on 3 coats of Z2 with ZFX (Z6 in between each coat) and dressed up all the exterior rubber/plastic with 1Z Tiefenpfleger. It lasted a long time in my wheel wells, so I felt it would be good for the winter months. I dressed the tires with Turtle Wax Tire Gel.
I moved onto the Interior. After cleaning everything, I put on 1Z Tiefenpfleger on the majority of the interior pieces. It leaves really nice new look and dries evenly.
The only floor mat I had to clean was the driver's mat. I got caught in the rain without my rubber mats. The before pic is after vacuuming. I used APC+ in 1:12 dilution. I scrubbed it clean and then rinsed it out. Vacummed and then blew it dry. I'm always surprised at the cleaning power of APC+, one of the best cleaners I've come across.
And of course, a reflection picture:
A few notes: After applying Z2, I noticed an increase in shine, but it also came with a decrease in depth. I haven't noticed this on silver, but I can definately see a difference. Z2 also appears to attract dust more, so once I get the time, I'll probably use Z5 exclusively on this car. I also have the Klasse twins and S100 coming in soon, so I just might give that a try.
I used PakShak towels (it's my first time!) I'm really impressed with the towels, however I've noticed that the mint green towels don't seem to do well after being washed. They're still good, but not as soft and well-constructed as the dark green towels that were washed the same way. The WW towel is great! It's a lot thicker and softer than my JTI WW towel.
Sorry for the long post!!! This is my first SUV I've had to do a full detail on, and I don't think I want to do it as often as the other cars in my family. This wasn't even a large SUV either, I can really appreciate the effort when I see people do details on Suburbans, Excursions and all those other huge SUVs.
. Seems like you enjoy doing all that detailing to it.
