Noob advice for my daily driver!

[LRaymond]

I honestly did do a search looking for info, but there are literally thousands of threads on here and I'm not sure what I should be searching for, so please don't flame me!

I bought a new 2014 Ram Sport 1500 (White) a few weeks ago and I'm looking for advice on protection and polish for it. It cost more than my first house, so I want to protect it. I enjoy cleaning and detailing my vehicles, but honestly didn't realize it could be done at this level.

Early in my lurking here a couple weeks ago I bought a bottle of Klasse "All In One" polish and a bottle of Klasse "Sealant Glaze". I read somewhere on here that a top coat of Pinnacle Souveran past wax works nicely.

My question is "Is this good enough for a daily driver?" Is there a better combo?

I have polished, stainless steel step side running boards. What's a good product for that?

[GenesisCoupe]

There are a ton of combinations that you can use. I am not a white car owner so i'll leave product recommendations to those with them. I did however really like the Meguire's White Wax, which i guess is more like an All in One product. It made a CLS550 that i did look great and smooth.

Glaze followed by Klasse AIO is a great start.

Sooo...you live in a shed or something? Or is Detroit THAT bad in home values these days?

[jankerson]

I own a 2005 White Ram 1500.

I use Wolfgang and Meguiar's Products. :)

Check the threads below.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/72440-05-ram-1500-m205-megs-uw.html


http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/wolfgang-car-care/74517-05-ram-dgps-other-wg-products-used.html


http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/76279-washed-blow-dried-truck-today.html

[BobbyG]

Congratulations on the new truck! :props:

All finishes need care, even mew finishes!

Klasse All-In-One and Klasse Sealant Glaze were designed to be used together but don't have to be. In this case I'd use Klasse All-In-one to clean each panel, buff, then apply a nice coat of Klasse Sealant Glaze for superior gloss and long lasting protection.

Wash it with your favorite car wash.
Clay each panel to remove any embedded particulates
Clean / polish each panel using a product such as Klasse All-In-One.
Protect each panel by applying Klasse Sealant Glaze

Autogeek offers an almost endless list of top quality products that if used properly will keep your truck looking better than new inside and out...

[LRaymond]

Sooo...you live in a shed or something? Or is Detroit THAT bad in home values these days?

LOL! No! The truck stickered for $50k and I bought my first house 27 years ago. I'm actually about 25 miles from Detroit. Detroit IS that bad!

[peter hurcos]

Me? If I lived in Michigan and had a new truck, I'd take it in to get the Krown undercarriage spray, even if I had to drive to Canada to do it. Probably it can wait until spring. I'd plan on doing that every couple of years. I would also be careful to spray the undercarriage with plain water at the coin operated car wash. I'm experimenting with using the Salt Away product which helps in rinsing away the accumulated road salt. Salt is basically inert so there is no way to really neutralize it.

After that you can attend to the shiny stuff.

I would thoroughly wash the car with CG citrus wash, the two bucket system with grit guards and microfiber mitts. Then I would claybar it or use one of those Nanoskin things. Claybarring a new car is a fairly perfunctory thing, I think of it as a lint roller for cars.

I'm sold on the "Garry Dean" two bucket rinseless method, which you can Youtube. [for a truck you will need to make three gallons, not two]. I like it because I can wash my truck at night in the garage or in inclement weather, and in the middle of the week, In an area with water restrictions you sidestep a lot of restrictions. You aren't supposed to use the "Garry Dean" method for really dirty cars, but most of us acolytes will knock the dirt off with a hose and then go to the Garry Dean method in that case.

I get one of those $14 microfiber towel packs you can buy at Sam's Club. I use just about all of them to wash my truck. [wash and dry the towels separately. Consider using an extra rinse cycle--no fabric softener]. Some people feel they need to buy high dollar towels. I don't.

The Turtlewax rinseless wash works just fine if you can find it. Most people buy Optimum No Rinse. I've been using the Duragloss product, although I notice if I mix a batch up in advance in warm weather it will go sour (but still work) in about ten days.

I think a Dual Action polisher is a good investment for as much sheet metal as you have to cover. I got the high-dollar Flex, which works great but is way overkill for me. Now they have $60 Harbor Freight models. Get a couple of the black (soft) pads while you are at it.

Paste waxes are actually easier if you use a dual action. I settled on the Collinite 476 product for its cost, shine, and price. There are many, many other effective products. Not many of them are as cost-effective as the Collinite, though. I'd consider springing the extra ten bucks for the 915 Collinite product, which I understand is nearly as durable as their others,[VERY durable] and even shinier. Duragloss makes a cost-effective two-step system and Klasse is also durable and fairly priced.

I finish up with a spray wax and I don't bother anymore with Carnauba, which attracts too much dust. I use the Duragloss Aquawax as the spray wax.

I can easily go 4 months without rewaxing, probably six if I wanted to. I spend maybe 20% more time on my car than a guy who takes it to a drive through car wash every week, but my car looks twice as good and it will look better, longer. Again, this happens at night during the week, with very little done during my precious weekends. You can really go to town with this detailing stuff if you want to--its pretty addictive. But what I have described is what I would call a pretty good bang-for-the buck regime.

[GenesisCoupe]

LOL! No! The truck stickered for $50k and I bought my first house 27 years ago. I'm actually about 25 miles from Detroit. Detroit IS that bad!

Gotcha! I haven't been to Detroit in 4 years or so.

Good luck on the car :)