JLs Detailing: Toyota Tacoma

Well a good customer of mine called up and said that their son had gone to the beach with some friends for his 21st birthday and they wanted me to detail his truck as a surprise when he got back home. I picked it up at night and had no idea until the next day just how muddy the truck was. Hell I spent as much time washing off the driveway as I did clening the wheels, tires, and wells!! Next time I get one like this I'll go to the local coin-op and rinse all the red mud off there and leave it in their wash bay instead of my driveway. Well here's what I did:

Tires/Wheels/Wells: The wheels got Bilberry Wheel Cleaner @ 3:1 and a variety of brushes. I used a Swissvax Wheel brush, Black Magic wheel brush bent to 90 degrees for getting behind the spokes, HD brushes for the tires and wheel wells, and EZ Detail brush. My oldest EZ detail brush bit the dust for the second time. It has broken before and I glued on another handle, but it broke again.

For the tires and wells they got the ol' standby Majestic Solutions Super Green Stuff at 3:1 in a Solo 418 handheld pressurized sprayer, and some of the brushes I got from Home Depot. The tires were first dressed with Megs Hyper Dressing @ 3:1 with a MSs tire applicator. I then dressed them with the same method with a TW tire applicator and my new Tropi-Care tire dressing. As I've said it looks almost identical to Swissvax Pneu. I bought a gallon of the stuff and so glad I did. Now I'm only using this combo for all the cars I do. All other tire dressings are no longer in my cabinet, well except for the bottle of SV Pneu that I already had. Everything else that I had is just inferior in looks from what I get with the Tropi-Care. I'll tell you the stuff is very durable as well. Wells were dressed with my combo of MS Mr. Natural/Megs ASD. I then coated the wheels with MS Enviro Shield.

Engine: I gave the engine a quick rinse with the CR Spotless, and sprayed it down with MS SGS. There was a lot of dirt and dust in just about every crevice there was so I agitated it and re-rinsed. I dried most of the water with a leaf blower and then sprayed the engine bay down with Megs HD @ 3:1 in a Solo 418 handheld sprayer. I cranked the engine and let it run for about 20 minutes and it looked brand new.

Wash: I really didn't think there was any LSP to speak of but to be sure I went with an LSP stripping formula in the foam cannon of 2 oz of Tropi Care's latest beta version of a Citrus Wash. The first beta version I tried cleaned better than CGs CWC but didn't foam as much as I wanted. This version foamed a lot better and cleaned as good if not better than the first version I tried. I added 1 oz of MSs Power Prep which is like Super Green Stuff's Daddy. It is a stronger cleaner and Phil at MSs said I could accomplish a sure strip of LSP by adding an ounce to my foam cannon. This allows me to save my CGs Strong Wash for bugs, tar and road grime. As good as this combo cleans I knew nothing was going to be left behind. Put that in my foam cannon with the Karcher and foamed away.

I used the two bucket method with Poorboys Super Slick and Wax in my Griots bucket with grit guard and rinse bucket with grit guard. I washed the truck with my boars hair brush. The bugs got CGs Strong Wash @ 4:1 in a Solo 418 handheld pressurized sprayer, and a Majestic Solutions bug sponge. The entire wash including wheels and engine were done with the CR Spotless System. The car was then dried with the leaf blower, and a Vroom drying MF.

Clay: Well my mainstay for clay has become and always will be the Bilt Hamber and this detail was going to be no different. This is the best clay I have ever used and the only one I use now. Of course as always the lube was water.

Glass: Glass inside and out got Sprayway Glass Cleaner. I used a MS blue huck window towel to apply and a Walmart WW to buff off. The outside of the glass was treated with MS ES.

Interior: Well the interior was pretty bad. The interior was completely dusted down with a Swissvax look alike brush from Micheals. My buddy krshultz hooked me up with one and I really like it. It was vacuumed with the Shop Vac. Then everything was cleaned with Majestic Solutions Leather and Plastic Cleaner diluted at 1:1 with about an ounce of MSs Lemon deodorizer put in with it. The guy was a smoker and this actually cut way down on the smoke smell. So much so that his Mom commented when I took it back that she could believe how much better it smelled. That was an added bonus as I didn't try to get the smell out but the MSs deodorizers are awesome and adding it to the Leather and Plastic cleaner was one of krshultz's best ideas.

After cleaning everything the vinyl and plastic was protected with Scholl Concepts Purple 9000 interior protectant. This stuff is great. It gives a great matte finish with a nice smell as well. It also has one of the best if not the best sprayer that I have ever used. Only thing I can't figure out about it is why Scholl says to NEVER use it with a Microfiber. I have Pirex checking with Scholl to see why you can't use it with a MF. Well I used a yellow foam applicator. This stuff has some cleaning abilities as well which was evidenced on another car I used it on. I have yet to use a Scholl Concepts product that didn't truely impress me.

The Husky floor mats were cleaned with MSs Super Green Stuff. I cleaned the door jambs with a mixture of MS SGS and CGs Total Green Clean in a pressurized sprayer while washing. I used a Swissvax brush and rinsed with the pressure washer.

Paint: Well I went with my favorite paint cleaner first, DG 501. I decided to use my Cyclo with a couple of white LC CCS 4" pads. I removed it with the Yellow and black MFs from Justing at Obssessive Details.

LSP: Well I couldn't decide if I should use Tropi Care's Sunburst Sealant or their TC-2 Crystal Black Carnauba Creme. I talked to Steve at Tropi Care and he suggested that I would probably like the Crystal Black on a dark color better than the Sunburst. Well I decided to go that route and glad I did. This stuff really darkens the paint and adds some great depth to it. This is the second time using it and it impresses me more each time I use it. I am anxious to see how it holds up durability wise and after talking to Steve I'm expecting some good results. This product isn't available on the website but is an incredible one. This product is best applied via machine so I put a couple of red LC CCS 4" pads on my $25 cyclo and applied. I let it haze and removed it with some of the red MFs from Scandicshine. These are like the Superfly MFs from Justin. I do truely love these as they seem as though they can do it all.

It did leave the paint with a great deal of slickness and a very very very deep dark shine to it. I was really impressed with the look of it. It's pretty brain dead easy to use as well. It went on like butter and wiped off just as easily. No lie my 5 year old could have removed it. I let it sit about 30 minutes before removing. The shine was so good again that I didn't even do a QD wipedown before delivery.

Well here are the before and afters:
































Random and Reflection shots:

 

Damnnn that looks good. That stuff really did darken the paint! Nice job man.

 

Lookin good man!!! Steve's price point on the citrus wash is about that of CWC or CWG, maybe a dollar or two more. Weird thing on the scholl interior dressing....

 

looks good JL, any flake in the paint?

 

Thanks, I thought it came out extremely well. I got exactly the look I was hoping for with the Black Crystal.

Much appreciated Dust. If its on the same price scale as CWC then I'll be buying it by the gallons! Yeah not sure why Scholl says to never use the Purple 9000 with a MF.

Thanks bro and no there wasn't any flake in this paint.

 

Very nice JL...that truck certainly has seen it's share of off-roading.

 

Nice truck. you did a great job on the detail and write up...I thought I was going to see some foam for a minute there...:thumb:

 

Lookin good man!!! Steve's price point on the citrus wash is about that of CWC or CWG, maybe a dollar or two more. Weird thing on the scholl interior dressing....

 

WOW! Impressive work, JL! I was gonna ask you about MS SGS dillution ratios, but looks like you already answered that - 3:1.

 

Man that thing looks great! You're right. The blue looks deeper and darker than before, and by a lot. It looks like it belongs in a showroom! Kind of makes me want a Tacoma. I've always liked those trucks.

You know what leaps out at me as the most striking difference? The wheel wells. I 100% believe that you were cleaning your driveway for a long time after this detail!

I haven't worked on a smoker's vehicle since I started putting deodorizer into my LPC - that's a neat little side effect that I'm glad you came across!

 

Great turnaround, the wheel wells are awesome!

 

JL your right that LSP really darkens the paint, I'm interested as well to hear about the durability. As always buddy great work I love to read you're nicely organized write ups!!!

 

Well done there JL, truck looks great.

I like how the tires finished off, I may have missed it what did you use on the tires? I like how it looks :thumb:

 

Looks great JL!

 

really impressive work. it's amazing how much harder it is to clean up a truck than a normal sedan. you really made it look better than fresh off the lot.

 

Thanks man and you are so right about the off-roading. If my detailing it had not been a surprise gift for him I would swear he took it out mudding because he knew someone else was going to have to clean it up, lol.

You're right I should have taken some pics with the foam. Thats a very good idea then folks can get an idea how much or less different soaps foam up in the cannon.

Thanks supercharged! Hey did you get your stuff? Oh and SGS @ 3:1 will clean most any and everything. If you get a car that is just really super nasty step up to 2:1 and it'll make quick work for you.

Yeah Steve at Tropi Care was dead on with his recommendation to go with the Black Crystal because of the color. Nice when a product does exactly what the manufacturer tell you it will. I was really pleased with the wheel wells but damn they took a long time to get that way. It seemed like red mud came from everywhere under there! And the LPC with the deodorizer was a "pleasant" surprise for me as well. Glad you came up with that.:thumb:

Thanks Jordan!

I'm not going to post anything about the durability yet as I'm waiting to see for myself but if it holds up like the experience Steve had with it, it will be one of the best products on the market. You certainly can't argue with the look of it.

Carlos the tires have always been a look that I have been in search of for quite sometime. Sort of like you quest for the perfect metal polish. Well after many attempts with various products I have finally found the product that gives me the perfect look. Its actually a combo of Megs Hyper Dressing @ 3:1 first as a base coat while its in the garage. I have been doing this for a while since cost wise Megs HD is one of the best on the market. I then apply what has for me become the holy grail of tire dressings - Tropi Care tire dressing!

I do two coats to help increase durability and I do one coat while its in the garage (the Megs HD) and then another coat (Tropi Care) when I pull it out. That way I don't miss or forget the part of the tire that is on the ground and usually doesn't get any dressing on the first application. Back when I used to just do one application I forgot to go and touch up that area that didn't receive any and I delivered the truck. Well what do you think was the first thing I noticed when I delivered it. That was embarrassing and I wasn't going to have that happen again.

I could just go with 2 coats of Tropi Care but I prefer to not go through that so fast and the combo of Megs HD and Tropi Care gives a phenomenal look. Also it has very good durability too and could pass for Swissvax Pneu's identical twin.

Thanks Denzil.

Dude you nailed that, and I have always thought the same thing but wasn't sure if I was right. I'll take a standard sedan over a truck any day as far as ease of cleanup. Well at least around here in the South trucks are abused. I've seen buddies buy a brand new truck and drive it straight from the lot to the woods!:yikes:

 

Yeah, I got it. Thanks again, bro. I am really anxious to try it all out. Yesterday I tried Megs Shampoo Plus for the first time on my daily driver and loved it for its slickness and lubricity.
Today I wanna try out that new "fruit punch" shampoo you sent me (it smells so good, I love fruit punch!) Sounds like I might be placing an order with Majestic Solutions in this case.
Looking forward to do some "spring clean ups" on my cars once I get my foam lance from Polishedbliss.

 

Nice job. Did you dress the bed?

 

The Tropi-Care dressing is pure, 100% win! JL was kind enough to give me a sample to play with. I love the stuff. Using the TC dressing, tires look like tires you might see on display at a tire store. Black, clean, and they look "dressed" just enough to tell you've done something. And, so far, the stuff is proving durable.

I'll be adding JL's step of a base coat of Meguiar's HD to my routine.

 

No I just clean the bed when I wash the truck. Most of the people I get around here actually use their trucks to haul stuff so dressing it would be a waste of time. I've often wondered what others do to bedliners.

I told you this was the dressing you were looking for! Glad you like it and your description of its look is dead on.