This winter I really want to CLEAN the out side of my truck. You know before winter gets here and get some wax on the paint not just do what I did last winter and say yea I'll do it and it never got done. I have seen a few videos on youtube and the clay bar really seem to pull the dirt off. Since I live under tress I'm sure my paint is packed full of all kinds of good junk. I know some of you guys have to have used clay bars before. It looks easy enough to do. Than I want to wax it but I'm not sure if a buffer is the right way to go. I don't want to burn the pain I have one but ehhh I'm ok with not burning the paint. How long would a good clay bar and wax take? Any good brands of clay bar and wax to buy and wheel shine? Mothers looks good so does turtle wax. I have no clue on what kind of clay to look at buying. It would also be nice to try to get some of light scratches out of the paint that I have. So many tree branches down the side of my truck it makes it look ugly. I found this stuff (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3z-D...eature=related) Anyone try anything like this before? Any help would be great!

 

those scratch removers only work on the clear coat.

 

(Looks like Sheriiff just got off work, Morning Bro!)

Anyway, a few customers of mine are show/classic car builders and sellers. Most have told me, it doesn't matter what you use on it, how good paint looks starts with the paint itself. Most of us are dealing with factory paint in most cases over 10 years old. So, you will only get so much out of it. I have tried both clay bar, and buffing compund with pretty much the same results. Clay bar can be a bit more expensive if you plan on using it on the whole truck. My best results came from using a clay bar on "high wear" areas, like the roof, hood, and rocker panels. For the rest of the truck I used buffing or polishing compound applied and removed with a buffer.

 

Get a random orbit buffer (also called a DA buffer) and you'd have to be a gorilla to burn the paint.

Start easy with a cleaner wax, it'll get off most of what you can do with a clay bar and it'll take less time. Meguiars makes a good one, so does Mothers.

Then just use some type of wax. The new Meguiar's stuff in the fancy blue futuristic bottles comes off really easy after you apply it, so I use it to save time.

 

Like others have said, your best friend is a cleaner wax. As for words of wisdom if you do decided to do a clay bar too, stay away from the "clay magic" clay bar. The clay magic clay is a softer clay and seems to leave some bar residue if you don't keep a constant spray where your rubbing where as the meguiars clay didn't seem to need that in my experience. Also the clay magic didn't seem to do as good of a job either. I read somewhere that people highly recommended it which is the only reason I gave it a shot, but... I'll know better next time.

 

Unlike most of your trucks my truck before I got it spent most of its time in a grague under cover. It was an old mans truck before it became mine.

 

Also the correct compounds and pads would be killer as well.

 

I've always had the best luck with the 4 stage meguirs stuff in the maroon bottles....the cleaner and scratch remover worked better on my yellow corvette where you can really tell than the blue coral and turtle wax as well as a bunch of other less notable stuff...... of course you will be there all day with the random orbit buffer compared to one that actually spins fast......I burned the paint on the ram with the high speed one so it does take more skill that way but all the detail shops seem to use them. I have both and the random makes my arms fall asleep before I'm even done with the hood....

 

i have used a clay bar on the Ram and it turned out great. It will make it shine up great but its not really for removing scratches. Its not as easy as it looks. It takes a lot of elbow grease as they say. Your arms will get tired and you will want to quit. Once ya start you gotta just keep going get it done and then you gotta kill your arms some more with the wax. I always set a side a day for washing, clay bar, and waxing cause it will take you the better part of a day to do it. I have always been scared of a buffer too. I used one on the Mustang once years ago but it was a 12v one that didn't spin crazy fast. I think it was the mother kit I used on the ram. I was told you can buy bigger bars at Napa but never went there to see if you could. Of course they would be another brand but might make things easier when doing a truck

 

i just clay bared and waxed in may, it took probably about 5 hours, but i think it was worth it, it made it look new. granted there were still some scratches, but if you clay bar first then compound then wax, most of the swirls and such will disappear. and the way your truck feels afterward is awesome. you dont realize how much crap is in your paint until its in the clay. i used the meguiars kit, it takes some elbow grease but is well worth it if you care about your ride.