SEMI transport truck pointers

[envious2014]

Hello everyone. I can use some help with a project thats coming up. I have a client that wants me to detail his frieghtliner semi and trailer. Now I have experience doing washes on these beasts but this is the first time I have been asked to detail one. he wants it lightly polished and waxed. Maybe buffed, just really wants to restore shine and protect.

Now I am very experienced in buffing paint on cars and polishing, i am experienced with a rotary , random orbital bigfoot 21 polisher, and have a flex polisher as well. Oh yeah another curve ball with this thing is that it just recently had a vinyl wrap removed from the thing and has some leftover adhesive that must be removed first. please any pointers on this project would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!! Feed back please.

I attached a pic too if that helps

[tuscarora dave]

By your description of it, it sounds like it needs completely reconditioned and not just lightly polished.

Sure, he wants to pay for a light polish but sounds like he needs a whole lot more.

I do a lot of commercial vehicles but don't have time right now as I'm on my way out the door.

I'll subscribe and help where I can as I get a little time.

Vegas Transplant is the forum guru on the big rigs. Hopefully he'll chime in and give you a hand.

[tuscarora dave]

Oh crap!! I just saw that you have a photo there...not sure how I missed that. That don't look too bad from afar.

Subscribed.

[jay_rap]

Removing adhesive residue can be very difficult. you need heat and solvent. Hopefully u can work in a warm space. Car pro also has a product. As for polishing I'd try a heavy duty one step with an abrasive. A rotary with a large foam pad may be faster.

[envious2014]

well this is the customer who 's semi I already service. I posted it to show and give an idea of what I am working on. The one I need to work on I have not just looked at yet.

[envious2014]

any advice you can give me would be great as far as products and machines to use. And had far can i take it before I do any damage as he wants the back trailer buffed.

[dad07]

You need to look at the one your going to be working on first off>

looking at the pics of the one you posted that you already service you should have a idea of what your working on.

most of those rigs are made of Aluminum and are uber thin (paint) and I mean thin........an AIO is in order.

I will say that Vegas Transplant has the most experience with the big stuff and I always look to guidance....he can help you a lot. Reach out to him Via pm......I'll send him one myself with a link to this thread. He has been on here the last few days......maybe he will chime in ( but I know he is on the road most of the time)

There are so many products that can be used and get very good results.....but if you let us know what you have to work with on hand we can help a little more.

[envious2014]

I really only have traditional paint type products like Menzerna FG400 for cut and Sonax 3/6 polish. I also have some 3D detailing HD speed too. also sir what is AIO mean? Thanks again for the reply too

[tuscarora dave]

I just typed for over an hour with a very detailed reply on this stupid touch screen laptop, don't know what my pinky finger accidentally touched but it all just disappeared...gone...wanted to put my fist through the screen but didn't... sorry but it's bed time now. maybe i'll get back to it from my desktop tomorrow.

[davey g-force]

AIO = All In One, or a Cleaner-Wax.

[envious2014]

jesus dude Im sorry to hear that !! I personally hate computer tech stuff!! proud to be a laborer!!! but thanks for the effort hopefully we can touch base tomorrow sir. Thanks again !!!

[Vegas Transplant]

Dave will hit you off proper on this one :props:
I remember his advice from a couple years ago on a not quite so similar vehicle.

Happy detailing...:buffing:

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Matt,

Thank you for taking this from our e-mail to the forum. I told you there would be plenty of guys that would be happy to help out.


:dblthumb2:

[Mike Phillips]

I just typed for over an hour with a very detailed reply on this stupid touch screen laptop, don't know what my pinky finger accidentally touched but it all just disappeared...gone...





I HATE that when that happens....


When my replies are going to be long, detailed and important I try to type in MS Word and then copy and paste into the forum using the "Editor Mode" in vBulletin so you don't get all the hidden MS Word code via html.

I feel your pain.... Bill Clinton

I feel your paint... Mike Phillips


:D

[tuscarora dave]

OK, no longer tired, no longer angry...lol.. It happens. I'm still getting used to that Windows 8.1 OS and the whole touch screen keyboard from the EZ chair thing.

What I was typing was all about the different types of paints one could encounter on commercial vehicles like the ones you'll be working on.

A lot of these trailers and or boxes on these commercial vehicles are a basic aluminum and steel skeletal system (for lack of a better term) constructed of a top and bottom rail, usually heavy aluminum connected with bows across the top and beams down the sides on 24" centers. At the factory they typically use pre-painted aluminum panels 4" wide by however high and rivet these panels from beam to beam down the sides. Most all these trailers use bucked aluminum rivets that have no coating on them, so when you polish on the paint on these giants you get a lot of black coming off of the rivets smearing across the white paint on the pre-painted panels. It really helps to know going into a job like this, how to "control" or handle the black as you polish. The key here is to work in small enough sections so that you can "work wet", in other words, you need to do the polishing in your work section, working between and over all the rivets and have the polishing residue good and wet upon wipe up of the resulting mess. If you push on without wiping up the residue as you work, letting the black residue dry as you go, you'll have one heck of a time getting the black smears "OUT" of the white paint.

I choose my wording very carefully when I type about this stuff. Notice above that I chose the words "OUT" of the paint, and not "off" of the paint.

As you polish along you'll essentially be deep cleaning the paint, working a chemical "into" the paint as you go. Better said, you'll be working a chemical cleaner below the surface of the paint, or into the matrix of the paint, pulling out years of road grime, stains etc. and you'll also have the black from the rivets finding it's way below the surface of the paint. You need to wipe all this crud away while the cleaning solution (the chemical polish) is still wet or it re-stains.

More to come...