Jopa489 Detailed: "The Beast" Black 2009 Ford F-350 V10 Lariat Crew Cab

[jopa489]

Intro



It's been a while since I posted one of these. Weather has been iffy the past few weekends, but I have a few details lined up over the next couple of weeks between my own vehicles and family/friends. I handled the truck a couple of weeks ago, and will be doing a full detail with polish on my own E90 very soon. I also have a friend's Lancer waiting for a full detail, and the Trans-Am will be getting a thorough cleaning too (getting it appraised). Also have an F01 750i which needs a quick cleanup. Look for these in the coming weeks!



Despite my camera dying midway through this detail, I still managed to snap 85 pics. Call me trigger happy I guess!



The Car



This is the "winter beater". The Beast, as it is affectionately known, is little over one year old and has about 15,000 miles on it. The paint is in good shape - no tunnel washes or other abuse from me. It's basically stock, but it's a cool ride and I enjoy driving it despite the MPG.



The truck has Ford's 6.8L gas V10 engine good for about 360hp and 460 lb-ft. Some "truck people" give me a weird look when told I prefered this engine over the 6.4L turbodiesel. I don't tow, so the V10 works well for me and honestly feels a whole lot quicker than the laggy turbodiesel. It's able to move The Beast with some semblance of authority, though it certainly won't win any drag races. Inside, it's got some goodies like Ford's awesome Sync/Navigation system, leather, sunroof, and upgraded 9-speaker audio. And lots of chrome outside.



Process/Goals



The standard spring cleaning. Being busy, the truck was still very dirty from winter. It's seen a few touch less washes to remove the salt occasionally, but not much else. The interior was dusty with sand all over the foot wells and salt stains on the carpet. The truck has a LOT of surface area, every panels is over sized. I'm 6' 2" and needed to use a step ladder to work on the hood, roof, and back of the cab. No polish this time around since the paint was dirty but in very good condition.



First up was the interior. Then tires/wheels/wheel-wells, then move on to a thorough exterior wash to clean the paint and strip off previous protection. Next, clay was used to remove any embedded contamination, followed by P21s Paint Work Cleanser. I then layered on a coat of Opti-Seal, dressed the wheels and tires, cleaned all the door jams with ONR, and cleaned up all the chrome using Mother's Chrome Polish.



Products



Exterior

• 5-Gal Buckets with Grit Guards
  
• Lowes Grout Sponges
  
• CG Citrus Wash N' Gloss
  
• CG Bug Bugger & Tar Remover
  
• P21s Total Auto Wash
  
• P21S Metal Polishing Soap
  
• DI Gentle Fine Grade Clay
  
• CG Synthetic Quick Detailer
  
• P21S Paintwork Cleanser
  
• OPT Opti-Seal
  
• Mothers Chrome Polish
  
• Eagle One Wadding Polish
  
• ONR
  
• Foam Applicators
  
• Various Microfibers
  

Wheels/Tires

• Sonax Wheel Cleaner
  
• EZ-Detail Brush
  
• Westley's Bleach-White
  
• OPT Opti-Bond Tire Gel
  
• PB Wheel Sealant
  
• ArmorAll Wheel Protectant
  

Interior

• Einszett 1Z Gummi Pflege
  
• Megs D103
  
• 303 Aerospace
  
• Stoner Invisible Glass
  
• PB Leather Stuff
  
• Shop Vac
  

On to the pictures!



Before shots. Bugs, grime, and water spots on the exterior.

Sand, salt stains, dust, and more dirt inside.

In Progress

Closeup of the salt stains. Removed with some water and elbow grease, really not as bad as it looks fortunately:

Rubber mats getting cleaned up with some car wash soap and stiff brush in the garage sink:

Done and left in the sun to dry:

Carpets looking much better:

Went to work on the rest of the interior using both Megs D103 APC mixed at an 8:1 interior ratio and 303 Aerospace.

Cleaned the sunroof with Stoner Invisible Glass:

 

[jopa489]

Dirty cup holders, cleaned with D103 and a Swissvax Wheel Brush:

Time to tackle the wheels:

Sprayed a liberal amount of Sonax Wheel Cleaner on the wheels. While waiting for it to turn red, I hit the tires with TAW and Westley's Bleach-White for the raised white lettering.

Much better!

Exhaust tip had some tar stuck all over it. Used a combination of TW Bug & Tar Remover and P21s Polishing Soap. Since I didn't have any steel wool, this result was far from perfect, but much better than before:

Washing:

Unfortunately, the camera battery died here. I proceeded to clay the entire truck (which took a while, mind you) and begin the P21s Paintwork Cleanser while the battery was charging.



Finishing up the P21s:

Ready for Opti-Seal! This is a fantastic product - when used correctly, it leaves no residue or anything to buff off later. Just apply and let it cure, couldn't be any simplier! The protection it offers should last about 6 months, and the depth of the black paint is amplified in the process:

Went around the entire truck polishing the chrome bits with Mothers Chrome Polish:

Armorall wheel Protectant and OPT Opti-Bond applied to the wheels and tires, respectively.

 

[jopa489]

..And we're done! Enjoy some after shots.

Thanks for reading! Please post any and all questions/comments/critiques!

 

[snoboarder8232]

Super awesome job. I like the look of the opti-bond tire gel you are using. How long does that typically last? I recently tried Stoner's "More shine" and I was very disappointed. I have been using Meg's "Hot shine" wheel gel and it's been working/looking pretty good. I will most likely try Meg's Gold Class endurance tire gel next since I was so satisfied with Hot Shine.

 

[FinalTouchAuto]

...that is a large vehicle.



You did a great job!



Megs Hot Shine tire gel is my personal favorite. The application is so easy and I've never had any problems with slinging; wipe it on and then use a second wheel puck to wipe the excess.

 

[jopa489]

Thanks for the comments!

Super awesome job. I like the look of the opti-bond tire gel you are using. How long does that typically last? I recently tried Stoner's "More shine" and I was very disappointed. I have been using Meg's "Hot shine" wheel gel and it's been working/looking pretty good. I will most likely try Meg's Gold Class endurance tire gel next since I was so satisfied with Hot Shine.

I love the Opti-Bond. It's by far the best tire shine I've used, and I've tried them all. It has the perfect amount of wetness for my taste, doesn't sling, is water-based (so it won't brown the tires), and lasts a real long time. On my car, it even lasts between washes and driving through some light rain.

 

[kkreit01]

Very nice truck, and great job. I didn't know you could still get manual hubs?

 

[dmw2692004]

HUGEEE Truck! Looks great!

 

[condor]

Great job man! That is one big truck... Would love to see what you do with your e90.



This is MetsFan from e90post by the way. Saw your name in the threads and decided to pop in and say hi.

 

[PhatHoodDetail]

great job, a trick i use for rubber mats, i wash with about 6 or 8 squirts of my apc then 1 or 2 shots of interior protectant, scrub with a brush and rinse, when it dries it will still have its color and look matte instead of faded

 

[someidiot]

So do you think the ArmorAll product is worth the cost for something that doesn't last so long and doesn't go very far?

 

[someidiot]

How do you like that ArmorAll wheel protectant? I just watched the video on their website and it looks like pretty good stuff.

 

[jopa489]

Very nice truck, and great job. I didn't know you could still get manual hubs?

Thanks for the feedback! Yep, manual hubs still come on the heavy duty trucks. They're probably automatic on the 1/2-ton (and maybe on the 3/4-ton too).

HUGEEE Truck! Looks great!

Thank you!

Great job man! That is one big truck... Would love to see what you do with your e90.



This is MetsFan from e90post by the way. Saw your name in the threads and decided to pop in and say hi.

Hi! Thanks for the feedback man! The E90 is definitely due for a full detail with polish, I just need to find the time to get it done.

great job, a trick i use for rubber mats, i wash with about 6 or 8 squirts of my apc then 1 or 2 shots of interior protectant, scrub with a brush and rinse, when it dries it will still have its color and look matte instead of faded

Thanks for the tip! I was thinking of applying some 303 to the mats, but didn't want them to be slippery or greasy. Your method sounds perfect though, I'm definitely going to give it a shot.

How do you like that ArmorAll wheel protectant? I just watched the video on their website and it looks like pretty good stuff.

I like it. Not a fan of any other Armorall products, but this stuff does work. If you can get a nice stretch of weather, your wheels will look good for at least a week. It added a little extra shine to the chrome wheels on the truck too, which was a nice bonus. You need to lay it on thick though - a can is only designed to hit 8-12 wheels, and the stuff really doesn't work unless there's a solid coat on every part of the wheel.

 

[itb76]

Great work!

I love the Opti-Bond. It's by far the best tire shine I've used, and I've tried them all. It has the perfect amount of wetness for my taste, doesn't sling, is water-based (so it won't brown the tires), and lasts a real long time. On my car, it even lasts between washes and driving through some light rain.

+1, the Opti-Bond is great stuff!

 

[TLMitchell]

I was thinking of applying some 303 to the mats, but didn't want them to be slippery or greasy. Your method sounds perfect though, I'm definitely going to give it a shot.

I stumbled on to a method that works for me when I spilled some PB's Natural Look on my rubber mats while I was doing ther interior. After wiping up the spill I figured I might as well finish the rest of the mat and after a clean cloth buff-off was surprised at the lack of slipperiness or greasiness. I've been using a damp ONR rag for a wipedown after using UTTGP on the tonneau cover to dull the residual shine and it seems to aleviate dust collection as well. Gave the mats a finish wipe with the damp ONR rag and was even more pleased with the result. Ended up becoming my normal regimen for rubber mats and truck bed covers.



TL