Tips/tricks/life-hacks for washing & waxing a big truck?

[Mykidsdad]

If ya got swirls...you need "PAINT CORRECTION".

Wash
Decontaminate paint with clay bar
Level paint
Progressive polishes applied with correct pads on RANDOM ORBIT POLISHER
Sealant then Wax or Ceramic coating

[Linkless]

I have used sealant instead of wax for quite a while now. THe easiest to apply is Adam's H2O gloss guard. Literally spray it on a wet vehicle after washing and rub it in.

https://adamspolishes.com/collection...2o-guard-gloss

[Irving]

Does that help dust, dirt, and mud just rinse off as well?

As to wax on the windows, if it helps bead the water off, I'd think it'd be fine. I once went an entire summer without windshield wipers just by applying Rain-X to the windshield.

[Mykidsdad]

Adams is located in Thornton....good stuff.

Key is to remember that waxes only make scratches and swirls vanish temporarily. Polishes will remover the imperfection.

[brutal]

Meguires liquid wax once every year or two and then Turtle Ice spray after a regular hand soap or auto car wash when you want a shiny truck/car.

That's a good solution/combo.

When I was using wax, I used the Nu-finish polymer which I believe is pretty much the same stuff. $8.49/bottle at wallyworld and it lasts 6-12 months unless sandblasted.

[LX470]

I vote on applying a ceramic coat. You have to make sure the initial paint surface is properly decontaminated and error free on the correction before applying.

I spent a full-day last year working on my then new 19 RAM to make it right.

Some of the ceramic products are fairly easy to use. Apply/Wipe on a 2'x2' area and microfiber towel off. However, you need to take your time and do it correctly.

You no longer need to wax and most of the retail products ($40-100) will last a year or more. Maintenance is usually just drying it off while utilizing a detailing spray.

Google "obsessed garage." You will learn more than you want to know about vehicle cleanliness.

[Bailey Guns]

I did that routine for years. What a PITA, especially on a big truck. I watch for detailing specials now. Or, when I take the truck in for service and the dealer screws something up, I bitch enough til they usually offer up a discount of one sort or another. Then I ask for a detailing and they almost always jump on that.

Even when I have to pay for detailing it's probably no more than buying all that cleaning crap year after year.

[Martinjmpr]

I did that routine for years. What a PITA, especially on a big truck. I watch for detailing specials now. Or, when I take the truck in for service and the dealer screws something up, I bitch enough til they usually offer up a discount of one sort or another. Then I ask for a detailing and they almost always jump on that.

Even when I have to pay for detailing it's probably no more than buying all that cleaning crap year after year.

I'm very much leaning towards this.

I used to roll my eyes at people who paid someone else to do mundane but relatively simple tasks like changing oil or washing and waxing a car, but as I get older I find that I value my TIME more and more and the prospect of having to dedicate most of a Saturday or Sunday to washing and waxing appeals to me less and less.

If it's a nice Saturday or Sunday I'd rather spend time with the family or go on a motorcycle ride than wash and wax my truck.

Ditto with oil changes on a car, which I like to think of as "10 minutes of prep and 5 minutes of work - followed by an hour of cleanup."

[beast556]

I have never waxed any vehicle that I have owned. Having a shiny vehicle is one of those things that doesn't matter to me. Every time I get one of our vehicles washed it alwys rains or I drive on a country road pretty regularly so they never stay clean for more than a day anyway.

[MrPrena]

Buy those long wash brushes.
I learned this from watching truck wash place like Blue Beacons.

It made my washing time much shorter.