Chemical Guys saved my trail rash!

On my recent camping trip I got a little sideways on a trail and put some decent pinstripes down both sides of the truck. This definitely wasn't the worst case of trail rash I have ever put on a vehicle, but I wasn't exactly super happy about it either.

Tacoma World (and some Google searching) told me that Chemical Guys' polishing compounds will do a righteous job hiding those unsightly scratches. Here is a testament to that, with the best before and afters that my crappy phone can provide:



Yule Pass, before I got into the brush. The dust on the truck just ground in those branch marks.




Crappy before shots of the cleaned truck. Passenger side got it the worst, with a solid scrape from the headlight to the tail. Drivers side only got a small scratch on the rear door. They don't look too deep, most are in the clear coat, maybe one or two got down into the top coat, so they aren't the worst. Still, they can be seen from 20-30 feet away under normal sunlight.



Pitter patter, let's get at 'er.

Three passes with V34 polishing compound, followed by three to four applications of VSS scratch and swirl remover, then another wash, a clay bar, and finally a ceramic wax.

30 bucks for the cheapest buffer on Amazon, 20 bucks for a decent set of sponge pads, 5 bucks to attach said pads, and about 18 bucks per bottle. So I'm all in at roughly 115-120 bucks at this point.




Between applications of V34 polish. The pax door is starting to look pretty good, the fender obviously still needs a few more runs. In hindsight I really should have started with their coarsest V32 compound, but with a little bit of extra elbow grease it wound up decent enough.



Here's the rear fender again after clay and first coat of wax. Couldn't even get the scratch to show up in the photo. If I really get within inches and go over it like a used car appraiser I can still see the deepest of the scratches here, it's about 3 or 4 inches above the fender flare. I can't see it if I'm just walking by the truck though, and even though I know it's still there, that's good enough for me.




She's looking like a mall queen once again.



Any skepticism I had, I don't have it any more. I'm definitely on the chemical guys fan bandwagon now. They make a solid product .

 

Good job op, typically you want to clay before you do the polish, but if you're happy that's what matters. Typically after I polish, the last thing I do is wipe down with carpro eraser and then seal with either sealant or ceramic.

 

Thanks. No idea on why I got that step backwards.

 

No worries man, all that matters is that you weren't afraid to do it yourself and got the rash out. You did a kick ass job!

 

looks good, I couldn't tell if it had scratches

 

Any experience with soft tops, by chance? I already have a couple bottles of 303 for the canvas, but need to repair some scratches and light haze in the vinyl windows. Was looking into Meguiars PlastX. Is there something better?

 

What a coincidence, I just bought a softopper 3 days ago!

As for the light scratch and haze in the vinyl window, I believe they're actually closer to a rubber than a plastic, so unfortunately you're most likely better off just replacing them. I would stick to 303 if you have it, but if you're willing to shell out a little bit of money, Wolfgang's is the best for trim and vinyl (In my opinion).

Theoretically, you could remove the windows, tighten them very flat and secure on a flat surface, take a da polisher (like you did) and maybe try a very light polishing compound on them? I can only speculate, but that might be worth a shot before replacing them!

 

Me next

 

Should buff out

 

Yup.... If you Rub Really... REALLY.....HARD.

 

Haha, already spent this morning doing exactly that. A thorough sponge rinse to knock off the dust, a couple hours polishing each panel, reattach to the topper and microfiber any residue. They are definitely cleaner than they have been, I can see through them just fine, but they aren't "factory new" clean. I've been lurking on a couple of Jeep blogs to see what they do, someone recommended the Meguiars. Might as well give that a shot before dropping 70-80 bucks for a new panel.

 

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...^^^... Great DIY thread ...