What caused this hologram? (My F250)

Alright DBers,

I've been baffled more than once while working on my F250. Every now and then, near the top of the bed of the truck, I'll discover holograms that I've created. They're in a pattern. What's causing this?



This is the only vehicle I consistently have this problem with. Nearly always, they surface near the top of the bed, adjacent to the plastic "rail caps" that are sort of a bedliner type thing, which can cause the pad to hang up. They have always been correctable with a quick 85RD pass, yet still, it's annoying. What's gone wrong?

The tools: Makita rotary, green Uber pad, Menz. Power Finish, 1500rpm.

Ideas?

 

Moving it too fast? Causing it to skid over the clear coat? Maybe the pad isn't damp enough? Those are my guesses. Other than the streaks, the job looks pretty good man.

 

How long are you working thr product?

PF has a very long work time and when you use that to your advantage you can clear up 'gram issues. Try a slower machine speed to get all the fine polishing capabilities you need to remove the grams before the lubes dry up.

Faster speed = lubes get used up faster = Less time to do the very light finnesing to remove 'grams

Strange that this isn't happening anywhere else on your vehicle... maybe another issue is the ergonomics of that particular area and the way that changes how you hold your machine

Wish I had some feedback on the uber pads and what part that may play in it but ,I have not tried them yet

 

Thanks for the responses, guys. I guess it could be any number of things; here's my thoughts.

Thanks for the input. One thing I keep thinking of - and this is just a guess - is it's got something to do with the area on the bed where the sheetmetal takes two bends. I don't know if I'm describing it properly; it's where, just under the rail cap, it takes an angle about 15 degrees, then it curves right back down, sort of where the reflection of the street is in the photos.

Is it possible that the machine is skipping just a bit here? I didn't feel anything, but it was a long job, and I was getting pretty tired.

In this area in particular, at the time of day I was working on it, the sun was peeking under my canopy and making the tailgate very hot.

Could also be that I was moving too fast. I tend to speed up just a bit on areas like this, in an effort to keep the pad moving over little angled spots like the very top of the tailgate.

The work time *could* be an issue, but I use PF a whole lot, and I'm pretty confident that I typically work it a rather long time. I never time it of course, but I'd say a couple minutes per area easy.

Now, here's another thing, related to work time. It was BEASTLY hot when I did this; and of course, the truck is black. Perhaps the heat caused the polish to flash more quickly than I'm used to.

The more I look at it, the more I think it's something to do with the angled bits towards the top of the tailgate and the bed. The bed sides have a couple small areas that are similar, I just couldn't get them to photograph well. If you've never looked closely at a 1999-2005 Ford Super Duty, at the top of the bed, the panels go from vertical, to angled about 15 degrees, and back to vertical. It's this area that has me suspicious.

You may be onto something on the speed, too, DGAS. It's something I forgot about until you mentioned it. This is my own vehicle, and I decided to experiment with bumping up my machine speeds a little. I see folks discuss "1500-2000rpm" and even higher speeds than that, so I've been fiddling around higher speeds. 1500-1750 I'd say. Typically I run between 1000 and 1500rpm, pretty much regardless of pad choice and polish used. Maybe this had something to do with it as well.

The good news is that it all came good after a pass with 85RD.

I appreciate the input guys - always, always learning. If anyone else wants to hop along and offer feedback, I'd love to hear it.

 

What is the surface shape like around that area, I see you have a shop bend at the top but is were the holograms are a almost flat surface or does it have a large curve? How does the pad look after you do that area, any "hot spots?"

I dont know alot about rotary polishing but just by looking at the way the holograms are looks like some area of the pad is touching with more pressure than the other side. Now I could be 100% wrong and if so then just forget what I am saying.

Edit:
You ans the 1st quest, I was writing this as you were posting what you just said.

 

Yeah, for a pickup truck, there are some peculiar curves all over the thing, mostly up near the top of the bed and the tailgate. Not even my smallest 4" pads will help break them into sections, so I'm left to suffer through it. Many of the curves are in particularly nasty spots.

I'd also love to remove the plastic "rail caps" on top of the bed, but they seem to be glued on with something impossible to penetrate. So I'm left to work around them as best I can.

One of the things I enjoy most about detailing is that I'm always learning something new. Same goes for DB. There's always some new information that I've never thought about before.

 

Karl...I'm assuming after hitting it again with 85rd that you did so slower this time? If so, and they don't re-appear, that may answer your question. The only time I bump up speed is when a slower speed will not do the correction I need. This is a tool I use SPARINGLY. There is a real danger when bumping up the speed. Don't do it unless you have no other choice. Keep us informed as to how it does.

 

It looks like it from a tilted pad, with too much pressure due to such a small area of the pad touching. It's pretty easy to do when you are doing curved vertical panels, because it's easy to tilt the pad and not realize it.

 

Have you looked at a repair manual to see how Ford says to remove them. Sometimes there are some crazy clip designs and adhesive to hold down those darn things.

Just when you think you have seen it all something new will come up. I was just guessing pressure via tilting the pad because I have seen that kind of pattern before when doing machine work on Al.

 

+1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^:chips:

 

Thanks guys - this gives me some stuff to be aware of next time I work on my F250. The 85RD pass most definitely fixed it right up. And since you asked Richy, yep, I bumped the machine speed down to my usual speed, around 1200.

For a ten year old F250 that spent half its life registered as a commercial vehicle, it looks rather good. But MAN is keeping after a black, extended cab, long bed pickup truck a lot of work!:thud:

 

Well if you ever need a helper let me know, I would be glad to sit in a chair have a beer and let you know how you are doing, . Dont worry I get tired after doing my little GTI all day and i am 22.

 

To be double sure, I just went out to the driveway with my Fenix to check for holograms. This is how I spotted them last night. They're gone, which is a relief. I've struggled to see things properly on this truck in the past - maybe the great big, mostly flat panels have a way of tricking me into missing stuff. Anyway...

Now that's an offer! :lol:

Today was particularly miserable - the humidity was unreal. When I went inside to cool off a couple times, it looked like I'd been swimming in my clothes. As you know, it also rained a couple times, which only made the humidity worse than it was.

I'm not planning on polishing the truck again anytime soon. The "clearcoat delete" problem only gets worse the more I do it. I again chose Auto Balm as my LSP, partially because it looks so great on black, and mostly for its durability. 4 month old AB still felt slick and kept the truck easy to clean - I guess I just couldn't leave well enough alone!

 

I feel ya! I did a pathfinder (12 hours )today, and I thought something was wrong with my because I was sweating so much. I went in, took off my drenched clothes, and put new, fresh ones on hoping this would help, 5 minutes later I was drenched again. I really need a garage to work in.

 

I really, really hate when sweat drips down off my forehead and onto whatever panel I'm working on. HATE it. :lol:

Here's something to check out - try some Under Armor clothing. Or, find the knockoff stuff at Target, Kohl's, and similar places. Compared to a t-shirt, this stuff is wonderful. It dries quickly and breathes very well. Most of mine is made by Reebok and Columbia. I'll never, ever detail in a t-shirt again.