TN to AL road trip detail Toyota Tundra

Tru_Shine

Tru_Shine

New member
I was contacted by a fellow Autopian on here about coming out to Alabama for a paint correction on a 07 Toyota Tundra, I live in TN and thats about a 600 mile round trip for me, This was my first extreme distance detail job that far away from home, but I was Excited to do it. I live a dream by detailing and being around all of these amazing cars and meeting people who have the same love for cars that I do. These people were a very nice and welcoming family. I started my road trip adventure crossing my fingers that I had everything I needed.





When I arrived to the house I came upon this beautiful Tundra in a nice salsa Red color. The truck had about 4 coats of all different types of wax on it (pinnacle souveran, zymol rouge, blackfire wet diamond, all kinds of waxs) . The owner tried everything he could to cover up the swirls but finally had to call in the artillery! Tru_Shine





My Weapons of Choice:





Wash & Clay

I had to wash this thing 4 times with Dish Detergent and some degreaser before all of the wax was removed and the water would finally stay on the surface and not roll off.

After the Wash, I clayed it with Auto magic fine clay. This thing had yellow overspray all over it



Here is the truck with all the wax on it.







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and after the wash the Tru surface was revealed!





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The Halogens didn't really show the Tru surface so I pulled out the LED lights and check out what was revealed



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After I taped up the truck, I began to do a test panel and see what the best combo is that I am going to use. I also used a Highline meter II PTG to check the paint thickness. even though its pretty new paint you can never be to careful.





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Newer vehicles have pretty thin paint. 4-5 is average, this thing was in the low 4's and high 3's



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My weapon of choice for the Buffing and polishing was FLEX 3401 and used a Lake country HydroTech Cyan pad using Meguiars M105. I have learned that using little product and working it till it's gone leaves and amazing clear swirl free, haze free finish. If you use to much product it will leave the surface hazy.



here are some before and after and 50/50 shots



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I Remind you, this is after 1 step of Cyan hydrotech pad/ Meguiars M105 compound via FLEX 3401!



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There were some scratches on the tailgate that had to be wetsanded out.



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After about 9hr of buffing I am finally finishing up on the hood.



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To be continued...........



 


My choice of LSP (Last step product) is my handy dandy Black fire Wet Diamond ( you just gotta love this stuff) It leaves the surface so slick and smooth. I believe that it should be scientifically proven that It increases your MPG's because it just makes your car glide through the wind! but thats just my opinion



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I applied it via Flex 3401 w/ blue LC finishing pad



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I finished up around 10:30pm and the weather was getting VERY BAD! I ended up having to stay at there house because there were tornado warnings and watches out on the weather channel app. The next morning another round of bad weather was coming through so I had to scadadle. the owner took some pictures out in the sun for me and emailed them to me, so here they are.



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Thanks for viewing and have a blessed day!

-Eric



 
So you did not use a final polish after the 105, not even 205?? You may find some holograms come back that you did not see directly after the 105, especially on soft Toyota paint. There's a reason 205 was developed you know....



Truck looks nice but don't be surprised if you get some buffer trails/holograms later on. Dont' trust 105 as a stand alone if using a rotary/flex, it will fool you.



Josh
 
What part of Alabama did you do this in?



Toyota paint, on this gen Tundra at least, is very thin and soft. I'd have thought you would have to finish down with something else as well (other than the 105 alone). But what works for you and your clientele is what's important.
 
JoshVette said:
So you did not use a final polish after the 105, not even 205?? You may find some holograms come back that you did not see directly after the 105, especially on soft Toyota paint. There's a reason 205 was developed you know....



Truck looks nice but don't be surprised if you get some buffer trails/holograms later on. Dont' trust 105 as a stand alone if using a rotary/flex, it will fool you.



Josh
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I am confident on its finishing capabilities, ive tested this on a few vehicles and they are holding up fine. if you only use little product via KBM and clean the pad and then go back and make another pass after you clean in it, it polishes it out beautifully! no hazing or anything, try it sometime, thanks for your concern.:bigups but I got this under control!



JaredPointer said:
What part of Alabama did you do this in?



Toyota paint, on this gen Tundra at least, is very thin and soft. I'd have thought you would have to finish down with something else as well (other than the 105 alone). But what works for you and your clientele is what's important.
Click to expand...



I was in Gardendale AL, and yes the paint was thin and kind of soft. the M105 if finished properly can achieve a haze free swirl free finish. pad cleaning before the final pass is very important and not clogging up the pad with too much product, and they are Hydro tech pads which work better with water based products. So I'm not sure if it's the pad or technique but its finishing out great! thanks
 
Nice job, that was a big piece of clay! So much contamination, i love seeing dirty clay bars when cleaning cars, makes me feel like im doing a better job haha.
 
Gardendale is right up I-20 from me. Less than an hour, actually. Next time you're down, shoot me a PM and maybe we could all meet up and have a semi-detailing gathering. I'm always jealous of the folks who get to have meets and such. Seems like there's not enough interest in my area.



If you can finish down with 105, that's great. No one can judge the job but you and the client, so if it is working for you then don't worry about it. Not saying I would finish down with it, but that's just me. Don't get too bent out of shape about reading emotion and smartassery into posts. On the internet you can never tell what the original emotion was behind the post. Plus it's the internet - there's always going to be someone smarter, better, or just more handsome than you. :)
 
JaredPointer said:
Gardendale is right up I-20 from me. Less than an hour, actually. Next time you're down, shoot me a PM and maybe we could all meet up and have a semi-detailing gathering. I'm always jealous of the folks who get to have meets and such. Seems like there's not enough interest in my area.



If you can finish down with 105, that's great. No one can judge the job but you and the client, so if it is working for you then don't worry about it. Not saying I would finish down with it, but that's just me. Don't get too bent out of shape about reading emotion and smartassery into posts. On the internet you can never tell what the original emotion was behind the post. Plus it's the internet - there's always going to be someone smarter, better, or just more handsome than you. :)
Click to expand...



Yeah your right! Something about it just rubbed me wrong, I feel better after my rant any ways, I'm gonna edit it! thanks for the love, and I'll be back down that way in a little bit, I am going to do his wifes car and maybe more, I might need some back up.
 
IMO, you will always get a better finish with a finer polish after 105.. Its a heavy cut compound, not a finishing polish. Should have spun the wheel for another 2 hours with 205 or at least 85rd. 105 isnt meant to be a one step compound/polish....



what if the owner of the car asked you to do a side by side comparison with your finished product of 105 on a cutting pad (cyan), line up some tape, and then do 105 cyan and 205 tangerine and said "if the 205 side is glossier and more clear, I dont pay"....what would you do?
 
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