Before and Raptor...

Well it got almost all the way to 40 today so it was time...

I've had my truck for about month and a half and had yet to wash it. Hey, don't judge, I did pressure-wash all the mud off of it! That's the beauty of having a white truck, they really don't look that dirty (at least from a distance). Contrary to what many might think...

I used Adam's products almost exclusively and overall I'm pretty pleased with the results. I think the cold(er) temps may have affected some of the 'ease' of application but everything seemed to have worked as advertised. I can't say yet whether that is better than other stuff I have used...it's too soon to tell that.

So my process was to wash the wheels, tires and fenderwells first. I used the All-Purpose cleaner on everything other than the wheels themselves. For the wheels I used the Deep Wheel Cleaner. The DWC did not change colors like I've seen on the videos. I used the Fender Brush and Wheel Brush. Both worked well. I was particularly pleased to see how gentle the wheel brush was on the painted surface of the wheels.

What I didn't like was the amount of product I had to use, especially considering the expense. My 'Purple Stuff' cleaner does the same job as the AP and I buy it in gallon size and dilute it. I also had a hard time with the DWC coming out in more of a stream than a 'spray' Yes, I know there are two settings on the bottle and yes I was using the spray or 'misting' pattern. Even in this setting, however, the product seems to come out in more of a stream and I was forced to use more of it to get coverage. This is likely more of a design problem with the squirt bottle than the product itself. More on this problem later...

I then washed out my bucket and started everything fresh with warm water and utilizing a two-bucket system to wash the truck. The soap was great! Very sudsy and slippery. I should mention that I have one outside spigot plumbed for treated/softened water direct from our Culligan system. I use this for washing cars exclusively. No issues with the washing, grit guards, mitts, etc. Good stuff.

I then misted the entire truck with Detail Spray and started to hit it with the clay bar. I had left the bar inside so it would be somewhat pliable. I had a hard time with it though. It was difficult to get flattened out and folded, etc. I used more detail spray to lubricate and basically did the entire truck (painted surfaces, headlights, etc). I didn't really get a lot of debris on the clay, not nearly as much as I would have thought. The Detail Spray dried quite a bit necessitating the use of more product to keep things lubed-up. I ended up using almost 1/3 rd of a container on my truck.

After claying, I rinsed the entire vehicle and pulled out the H2O Guard & Gloss. I used the two double soft towels from my kit, one wet, the other dry. I really liked this product a lot. I sprayed one panel of the truck, wiped it with the wet towel and buffed it with the dry one. Beautiful results. I especially like that it's usable on all surfaces. The rubber trim, plastic moldings, glass, Raptor graphics...great! What i didn't like was the application (again). This product is pretty thick and would not 'mist' from the bottle. Instead, it came out in globs and streaks. Yes I did shake it thoroughly. Cold temps? IDK but it made me use more product than necessary. I used about a 1/4 of the bottle to do my truck.

Finally I used the Tire Shine to dress the tires. The best part of this product has to be the smell!! Banana pudding all the way!! Yummy. Unfortunately I had much the same problems with the Tire Shine as I did the G&G (only worse). It's relatively thick and I could not get a consistent spray pattern. I had globs and streaks and a great deal of the product got on to the wheels. I used way more product than necessary to get the coverage I needed. I let it sit on the tires for a while then used a cotton towel to rub the Tire Shine into the tire. I have some fairly aggressive tires (Duratracs) so it took some effort to get it worked into all the gaps. I then had to wipe down my wheels (again) to get all the over-spray off. I used the wet towel with G&G still on it to do the majority of work then buffed with the dry towel. Probably used 1/3 of Tire Shine bottle to do four tires, outside only.

Overall I am pleased with the products although expensive for the results I achieved. At this point I don't believe I will buy more All Purpose or Tire Shine. I like the soap a lot and the H2O G&G worked great. Also, the equip was great...the brushes, towels, grit guards, etc. I've never really had dedicated detail stuff so this is a bonus.

I believe I followed all the directions and even watched several videos before doing the job so if I did something wrong...well I'm sure Dan will let me know!

Pictures below...

Before... hard to tell, but it's dirty!

And after...

A couple more...

You can defiantly see the shine when done.

Truck turned out very nice! Great title on this thread, too!

Thanks for trying all the products, and providing your honest review of them.

For the Deep Wheel Cleaner, did you apply it to a dry wheel or was the wheel already wet? It needs to be applied first, to a dry wheel. Also, I rarely get much color change with the OEM brake pads. In addition, with your wheels sealed, you can just clean them with Car Wash Shampoo. This saves the DWC (which is pricey) for the times when you really have a lot of caked on brake dust. I always have good sealant on my wheels, and wash often, so I rarely even use DWC.

The clay bar would be a little more stiff at a colder temp, even if stored outside. Once it hits the cold metal, it cools off pretty quick. As far as not seeming to pick much up, did the paint feel smooth after use, or could you still feel bumps? For the Detail Spray, it does seem to take a lot or product, especially when working on a wet truck, since the Detail Spray gets diluted with the standing water. A couple work-arounds are drying first, so you only need a little DS to provide lubrication for the clay, or go off-label and use diluted Rinseless Wash as your lubrication. Let me know if you want to try this method, and I can give some guidance. Also, since claying would only typically be done twice a year, the excess use of the DS ends up not being too much of an additional cost. Definitely don't want to go through 1/3 of a bottle every week!

Yes, the H2O Guard & Gloss is a thick, gloopy product that does not spray very well. But, this is not much of an issue, other than seeming strange, since you have to spread it around with the wet towel anyway. That is, the HGG is not a "spray and walk away" product, so the gloops don't matter. Also, remember to shake the product while you are using it. I shake before every spray, as it separates quickly. It is definitely a somewhat weird product, but it works so well at protecting all the surfaces. Lastly, I picked up one of the Premium Dilution Bottles for the HGG, which does have a more powerful spray head.

On the Tire Shine, sounds like you used quite a bit of product, but this is somewhat normal on tires that are dried out. Once you get the rubber sealed up with TS, then it takes much less product. For example, I did the back faces of my tires, and it took a coupel heavy applications. For the fronts of my tires, 5-6 sprays is more than enough. To help with the overspray and also with getting the TS into the tread block, spray the produc directly onto the tread block only, not the sidewall. Then, use the Pro Tire Hex Grip Applicator to work the product onto the sidewalls and down to the edge of the wheel, and then go after the tread block with in-and-out motion, rather than in a circle around the wheel. This allows the applicator to conform to the tread block, and get down into the grooves. If you just go around the tread block in a circle, the applicator mostly rides on top of the treads, and does not get down into them. This is also a product that I switched over to the Premium Dilution Bottle.

For both the HGG and TS, the colder temp may have caused a little more of an issue with spraying, but they are both thicker, gloopy products and will spray weird at any temp.

Next time, see if these tips help out. I have found that using a new product sometimes takes a few uses to get the technique just right.

And the best part? If you end up not liking any of the products, send them back for the 110% guarantee. We want everyone to be able to try any of our products, without any risk of ending up with something that does not work for you.

Thanks again, and let me know if you have any other questions.
Dan

I will add the second wash is much easier just cleans faster.

Wilson said:

You can defiantly see the shine when done.

Click to expand...

Wilson approved!

Wilson said:

I will add the second wash is much easier just cleans faster.

Click to expand...

Excellent point my friend!

Keeping a good layer of protection on the truck by using sealants helps make cleaning much easier! This is why I seal the plastic wheel well liners and the plastic mud flaps, to keep the mud and winter gunk from sticking.

-Dan

^ I do this to my atv's

I do it on my motorcycles.