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What did you do TO your RAM today?

DeepH20Driller said:
Washed and clay bar yesterday. Polish and ceramic application today. First time with ceramic and it went well. Used AvalonKing ceramic.
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Looks great. Nice color too. Tell us about this painful job of clay & ceramic. How old is your truck? How bad was the paint? How did you prep for ceramic? Was Iso Alcohol used?

I am thinking more and more of just tackling this myself. The money people want is insane. I could understand if a full paint correction was needed but my truck is new and while it may have a swirl or two......it's NEW! I want it sealed and coated. (Just ranting to further convince myself I need to do this myself). Materials are not that expensive.

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DeepH20Driller said:
Washed and clay bar yesterday. Polish and ceramic application today. First time with ceramic and it went well. Used AvalonKing ceramic.


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Nice... been looking at Avalon King as a very easy to use DIY for ceramic coating.
How did you feel about the process? Anything you would do different?

I'm good with doing any necessary paint correction, but being in Flori-duh, I think my window for application is pretty much gone as it is not recommended to be applied in high humidity/wet conditions.
This is the hood on my daughter's black car she picked up used... this was a couple of passes with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and a DA Polisher.

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whitexc said:
Looks great. Nice color too. Tell us about this painful job of clay & ceramic. How old is your truck? How bad was the paint? How did you prep for ceramic? Was Iso Alcohol used?

I am thinking more and more of just tackling this myself. The money people want is insane. I could understand if a full paint correction was needed but my truck is new and while it may have a swirl or two......it's NEW! I want it sealed and coated. (Just ranting to further convince myself I need to do this myself). Materials are not that expensive.

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Thank you!! My truck is a 2020 w/ 10k miles. I really didn’t have a lot of paint correction to do, just a little. The wash and clay bar isn’t bad. I’ve used clay bar a lot, on my other vehicles. Even if I did applied ceramic to a brand new truck, I would clay bar. There’s tons of contaminants that get deposited during transfer of vehicle. So, after wash and clay bar, I started polishing with Meguiars Ultimate Compound. I did the hood, bumper, and drivers side front to back. After I was done, I compared both sides and didn’t see much difference. So, I made decision to just spot polish a few tiny scratches that I identified. Polishing is very time consuming! After polish, I wiped entire truck down (really good) with Mother’s CMX surface prep. After that, I applied a coat of AvalonKing ceramic. It went on very easy, I think. I covered entire truck including wheels, windows, lights, and emblems. Time will tell how long it lasts. I will say this, make sure you have plenty of microfiber rags!!


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Great Pumpkin said:
My LineX appointment was yesterday and, oh my...
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That is fabulous! Boy, they sure did one hell of a job color matching it.

How long do you figure the inside of your bed is gonna stay that clean and bright!

You should at least get a WeatherTech bed mat for it.

I would be terrified of getting it dirty.
 
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Gondul said:
Nice... been looking at Avalon King as a very easy to use DIY for ceramic coating.
How did you feel about the process? Anything you would do different?

I'm good with doing any necessary paint correction, but being in Flori-duh, I think my window for application is pretty much gone as it is not recommended to be applied in high humidity/wet conditions.
This is the hood on my daughter's black car she picked up used... this was a couple of passes with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and a DA Polisher.

View attachment 15476View attachment 15477
Click to expand...

Yeah, I would definitely wait for a cooler time to apply. The process was definitely time consuming so make sure you have it! I work overseas and get several weeks off at a time so really wasn’t pressed for it. You could do it over a weekend though. Wash and clay bar Saturday, polish (if needed) and ceramic on Sunday. Also, make sure you have a good weather window, if you can’t keep it in a garage, like me. The AK instructions state to keep it dry for at LEAST 48 hrs. They recommend to not wash or expose to water for 4-7 days. But, I’m sure with Fla heat, and my Mississippi heat, it would be cured fairly quick. As far as product, I really don’t have anything to compare the AvalonKing to. I thought it went on nice. I ended up doing entire truck and some left over so I applied a 2nd coat to my front bumper and hood. The instructions say to not apply more than 3 coats. I hope this answers your questions. I’m more than happy to go further into detail about what products I used and the process, if needed!


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b307a1 said:
That is fabulous! Boy, they sure did one hell of a job color matching it.

How long do you figure the inside of your bed is gonna stay that clean and bright!

You should at least get a WeatherTech bed mat for it.

I would be terrified of getting it dirty.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Knowing the paint code (PVP) helped, stunningly so IMO. I’m not sure what to think about how it will hold up over time but a bed mat might be a good idea.
I have the powered running boards scheduled in two weeks, and then we’re looking at air flow, an S&B cold air intake and maybe the MBRP exhaust. Still deciding...


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DeepH20Driller said:
Yeah, I would definitely wait for a cooler time to apply. The process was definitely time consuming so make sure you have it! I work overseas and get several weeks off at a time so really wasn’t pressed for it. You could do it over a weekend though. Wash and clay bar Saturday, polish (if needed) and ceramic on Sunday. Also, make sure you have a good weather window, if you can’t keep it in a garage, like me. The AK instructions state to keep it dry for at LEAST 48 hrs. They recommend to not wash or expose to water for 4-7 days. But, I’m sure with Fla heat, and my Mississippi heat, it would be cured fairly quick. As far as product, I really don’t have anything to compare the AvalonKing to. I thought it went on nice. I ended up doing entire truck and some left over so I applied a 2nd coat to my front bumper and hood. The instructions say to not apply more than 3 coats. I hope this answers your questions. I’m more than happy to go further into detail about what products I used and the process, if needed!


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Pretty much what I was looking for!
Just two more questions... did you just use the one applicator pad for the entire job?
And I see you mentioned needing a lot of MF towel... was that for the wiping/buffing?

I've watched some videos and they say to not reuse rags, but they don't make clear if you should cycle through new towels when wiping/buffing the product after application.
 
THC1 said:
Thuren 2" leveling coils and fox shocks up front, timber grove air bags in the rear and some limo tint on the windows! She's done!
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Nice man! What are your thoughts on the 2” coils/Fox package up front?

I’ve been eyeballing the Bilstein 2” kit but it’s been out of stock forever and I’m seriously considering the Thuren coils/Fox package just to get it done!

Thanks!


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Gondul said:
Pretty much what I was looking for!
Just two more questions... did you just use the one applicator pad for the entire job?
And I see you mentioned needing a lot of MF towel... was that for the wiping/buffing?

I've watched some videos and they say to not reuse rags, but they don't make clear if you should cycle through new towels when wiping/buffing the product after application.
Click to expand...
So, I did use 2 applicators (which the kit comes with 3) but only because I dropped one and got dirt on it. Instructions say to change out if ceramic starts to “cure” on applicator. The kit is really good. It comes with the sponge applicator and 3 x small fabric covers to install on sponge. The sponge has crevices on each side and they give you a tool that’s shaped like a credit card to insert the cover into, to hold in place. It also came with a very nice rag (almost like a wool feel, but it’s something else) to buff excess off with. It lasted the whole job. I needed all the MF rags for the clay job, the polish, the pre-application wipe down, and for just wiping off dust that was constantly getting on after the polish. It was windy and we still have a small amount of pollen falling ! Overall, I would recommend AvalonKing. Really good kit and easy to apply.
 
DeepH20Driller said:
So, I did use 2 applicators (which the kit comes with 3) but only because I dropped one and got dirt on it. Instructions say to change out if ceramic starts to “cure” on applicator. The kit is really good. It comes with the sponge applicator and 3 x small fabric covers to install on sponge. The sponge has crevices on each side and they give you a tool that’s shaped like a credit card to insert the cover into, to hold in place. It also came with a very nice rag (almost like a wool feel, but it’s something else) to buff excess off with. It lasted the whole job. I needed all the MF rags for the clay job, the polish, the pre-application wipe down, and for just wiping off dust that was constantly getting on after the polish. It was windy and we still have a small amount of pollen falling ! Overall, I would recommend AvalonKing. Really good kit and easy to apply.
Click to expand...

Perfect.. and yes, I go through a crap ton of MF towels when I clay/compound/polish!
 
Matt58 said:
Nice man! What are your thoughts on the 2” coils/Fox package up front?

I’ve been eyeballing the Bilstein 2” kit but it’s been out of stock forever and I’m seriously considering the Thuren coils/Fox package just to get it done!

Thanks!


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honestly I installed them when the truck only had a hundred miles on it so no before n after opinion. I will say I believe it’s the only way to go if you intend to level...no way i would want to stiffen it with pucks. It does seem to take bumps really well.
 
I get to play finally.. no picture of all these things together yet.

18x9 Method NV 305 HD, 35" Cooper STT Pro's.

Bedlined the bumper with Raptor Liner (tradesman bumper), sprayed with HVLP gun... nice fine texture.

Added fogs, nothing fancy.. amazon special. Work well enough for my application.

Not pictured is a 22" lightbar tucked between the bumper and the grill, looks like it was made to fit there.
 

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