wash/wax properly

Trinova Paint Sealant.

https://www.amazon.com/Sealant-Protection-Synthetic-Polymers-TriNova/dp/B01KGC9F3E

 

Sorry, I loled at waxing my lawmmower.

I would use a heavy duty stripping soap, not the gold class to strip off anything the previous owner might have put on. Then I would clay bar, then lay a good sealer and wax over that if you have a dark colored truck.

If you live in a warm area I would polish before a sealer. If not wait till summer.

 

Yes this.

My method for stripping previous sealers/wax is using a degreaser soap like dawn during a wash followed by claying all the painted surfaces (don't do this as a normal wash; use a car wash soap like mother's, meguiars etc). I then wash the vehicle one more time again with dawn, rinse then dry and inspect the paint. To ensure I have fully clayed all the surfaces and didn't leave any area un-coated, I take a sandwich plastic bag and place my hand inside the bag. I pull the bag tight and carefully with a spray detailer on the paint slide my hand over the paint. What this does is allows your hand to feel any debris or rough spots still on the paint. The plastic smooths out the ridges in our skin allowing you to feel the paint better. If it's nice and smooth the clay has done it's job. If not then clay the area again and re-inspect.

As for LSP (last step protection) I use ceramic coatings or also known as glass coats instead of wax or sealant. My Tacoma currently is coated with 22PLE. It's nearly 2 years since I coated the truck and it's still going strong. The product claims to last 2 years so this coming spring I'm going to repeat my process of applying 22PLE. This entails doing a full detail, degreaser wash, clay, minor correction where needs be, polish and finally apply coating. It leaves the car not only protected but leaves an amazing gloss finish. There are tons of ceramic coatings available now on the market if anybody is curious.