OuachitaAdventure
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I'm wondering how much did cost to ceramic coat your truck?Nice! This was mine when I picked it up from full 95 percent correction and Kamikaze ceramic coat. Sounds like you got a basic prep and coat which you can get away with on white. For any dark color you want to do at least an 80 percent correction prior to coating. Yes, even on new vehicles. And on vehicles this large that adds up.
Question: How do you guys plan on maintaining the new surface?
I had this done on an Audi years ago and my wash options became limited to my driveway with specific (and expensive) solutions. Hoping there are alternative solutions now as I can't imagine having that as my only option for an HD...
Full correction and coating of all exterior surfaces (glass, wheels etc) was 2000. You can get it done for less but there will be less or no correction prior to coating or less quality quality ceramic products.I'm wondering how much did cost to ceramic coat your truck?
Glad it turned out well for you guys. I enjoy waxing and cleaning the truck up...until I’m about halfway through and realize there’s a whole lot of truck left to go. I am always tempted to have the ceramic coating I just can’t justify the price. My dealer was down to $2k but I didn’t have confidence they knew what they were doing. It’s been my experience most of the clean up guys at dealerships aren’t the best. I think going with an outside company was a safer bet.
As soon as I can when I get a new truck, I clay bar it, buff it with chemical guys VSS swirl and scratch remover and then apply Turtle Wax Ice Seal & Shine. That stuff is absolutely amazing. It’s inexpensive and lasts around 6 months. Just like ceramic coating you can put it on everything, plastic trim, mirrors, glass, wheels etc. I even put it on my tonneau cover. On the painted surfaces I put a coat of Mother’s carnuba over it after I let it cure for a couple of days. It can be found at any Walmart and is les than $9 a bottle which typically does a truck and half they way I apply it. Check it out on YouTube and prepare to be amazed.
Hopefully you guys keep this thread alive with updates on how the coating performs over time. One white and one black exterior should make for good beta testing. One of you should post some pics of how it performs in the rain. Great video by Quachita Adventure, thanks for sharing.
Glad it turned out well for you guys. I enjoy waxing and cleaning the truck up...until I’m about halfway through and realize there’s a whole lot of truck left to go. I am always tempted to have the ceramic coating I just can’t justify the price. My dealer was down to $2k but I didn’t have confidence they knew what they were doing. It’s been my experience most of the clean up guys at dealerships aren’t the best. I think going with an outside company was a safer bet.
As soon as I can when I get a new truck, I clay bar it, buff it with chemical guys VSS swirl and scratch remover and then apply Turtle Wax Ice Seal & Shine. That stuff is absolutely amazing. It’s inexpensive and lasts around 6 months. Just like ceramic coating you can put it on everything, plastic trim, mirrors, glass, wheels etc. I even put it on my tonneau cover. On the painted surfaces I put a coat of Mother’s carnuba over it after I let it cure for a couple of days. It can be found at any Walmart and is les than $9 a bottle which typically does a truck and half they way I apply it. Check it out on YouTube and prepare to be amazed.
Hopefully you guys keep this thread alive with updates on how the coating performs over time. One white and one black exterior should make for good beta testing. One of you should post some pics of how it performs in the rain. Great video by Quachita Adventure, thanks for sharing.
If you do all this work to apply wax, why not apply ceramic yourself then? Tons of videos out there on how to do that.As soon as I can when I get a new truck, I clay bar it, buff it with chemical guys VSS swirl and scratch remover and then apply Turtle Wax Ice Seal & Shine. That stuff is absolutely amazing. It’s inexpensive and lasts around 6 months. Just like ceramic coating you can put it on everything, plastic trim, mirrors, glass, wheels etc. I even put it on my tonneau cover. On the painted surfaces I put a coat of Mother’s carnuba over it after I let it cure for a couple of days. It can be found at any Walmart and is les than $9 a bottle which typically does a truck and half they way I apply it. Check it out on YouTube and prepare to be amazed.
I actually do enjoy detailing the truck, the initial heavy lift of clay bar and buffing doesn’t take that long and once it’s done you’re good for years. I always hand wash and am particular how I do it. I’m concerned over the many different brands of ceramic coatings and they’re still fairly new for me to feel good about investing a $1000 or more dollars in. That amount of money goes a long way toward buying spray on sealer/wax. The spray waxes of today really perform and are as simple as spray on wipe off and bang you’re done. Goes on everything and repels/sheds water, amazing.If you do all this work to apply wax, why not apply ceramic yourself then? Tons of videos out there on how to do that.
GREAT video !! I appreciate you giving an honest perspective of expectations vs reality. You verbalized exactly what my expectations would be. The same reality applies to the hybrid wax/sealers. You still have to hand wash and just like the ceramic coating everything does come off easier, especially bugs on the grill and mirrors. I also hoped the sealer would provide a simple rinse off capability but that’s not the case with It either. Glad you’re still happy with it. The truck looks great, keep up the videography.Here's a video I did on my real world experience with Ceramic.
I actually do enjoy detailing the truck, the initial heavy lift of clay bar and buffing doesn’t take that long and once it’s done you’re good for years. I always hand wash and am particular how I do it. I’m concerned over the many different brands of ceramic coatings and they’re still fairly new for me to feel good about investing a $1000 or more dollars in. That amount of money goes a long way toward buying spray on sealer/wax. The spray waxes of today really perform and are as simple as spray on wipe off and bang you’re done. Goes on everything and repels/sheds water, amazing.
I’m not sure which ceramic coating is a good one since the market is flooded with so many different brands. Most of them require reapplication every year so I don’t see the differences other than the ceramic coating being significantly higher priced. If you do the math...using round numbers of a $1000 figure for professionally installed ceramic coating (Just a WAG but close to beginning price point).... using Hybrid Spray wax/sealer (whatever brand) at $10 a bottle which should do the truck twice - applied every 6 months, 2x a year= $10 per year. $1000/$10=100 years. I’m not being funny, just simple dollars and sense to me. I have the time to invest and I enjoy seeing the results of my efforts. The ceramic coating business will get there eventually and maybe some already are. I personally just don’t have the confidence in it right now. If you’ve ever seen the movie Fargo - the TruCoat scene plays in my head when the dealers approach me about coating. I pasted the link to the scene below for a good laugh.
Have you used a specific brand you would recommend and how satisfied are you with the results?You know that you can buy the product and do it yourself for $60? That's why I said if you go all the trouble to do the prep work for wax, why not do a ceramic coat and be done for 1-2 years?
Here is a howto video: