Ceramic coating discussion and B.S

Yeah, I already can see the miles in the paint! I've only had the truck 3.5 months, but have almost 11K on it.

My biggest concern at this point is trying to hide some scratches that occurred at the dealer or while parked on the street.

I thought the street would be safer than my parking lot, as people seem to enjoy opening their doors as far as possible without looking. After 2 years my Tacoma had a ton of door dings

 

McKee's 37 paint coating from Autogeek is an inexpensive and super easy one to apply yourself.

 

Really thinking about having mine done. Local shop wants $1200 for it though.

 

Okay. Lots if info here.
We got our T4R done yesterday.
Windows tint to match.
Paint corrections and xpel wrap with cquartz ceramic coating. I also got some maintenance items for washing it.
First impression of wrap was odd. They said the first day it will look the worst ever. 30 day cure time! A few water bubbles in areas... Nothing major. The wrap is 8 mil thick! Pollen & dust just blow right off the truck now!
It was spotless yesterday as I pulled out of their shop.
This is the first post (these are those pictures).
As it rained a half inch last night, I have some interesting observations on that. With more pictures.
Mothers day plans... hopefully tonight I can finish.

Edit for spelling.

 

Teaser...
Here is the hood after a night with a half inch of rain.
Spotless! I hope the suprises continue.

Here is the proof we purchased this. I am not affiliated with them in any way. This will be an unbiased review. This was very expensive and I hope it does what it claims!

 

You can’t really see anything good/bad from the pictures. I’ll be looking for your opinion after you’ve ran it awhile. I’m definitely interested in the ceramic coating for sure. I’ve seen two local people advertising locally, one is Ziebart and another is a local guy with 30 years detailing business. Both are around $1200 which is very fair if the ceramic is as good as I think it will be. The detailer says he clay bars and buffs before it’s applied to remove any paint imperfections.

 

Got mine done last week and with the rain leaves water spot . Applied ceramic pro on it. Is water spots normal? Did not get it wrapped. Just had ceramic pro applied 9h. Now when it is applied do we just spray water on it and then use a shammy to dry it off?

 

Looks good, I am putting cquartz on my T4R Pro myself. So far i am impressed with the shine and ease of application.

 

What tint did you go with?

 

Not sure what they used for tint.
I just asked to make it match.
It matches perfectly from the outside but appears darker than the others from the inside.
If any of the other questions were for me, I am sorry. Please ask me again.

 

It started raining here. I don't think the imperfections will show on a phone camera.
I will try after it dries.
I have no issues with them I know they will work out & if not. In 30 days he said to bring it back & he will recut & reapply the area.
I will be starting a build thread that will follow the wrap. I will keep updates here also.

 

Today was the first day in the rain since I applied cquartz to my hood. Very impressed

 

Let it dry and tell me if it leaves water spots. How many days did u let it cure before it saw its first rain?

 

It was a week before it saw any rain

 

Okay,
Part two of xpel wrap & ceramic coating...
After getting the xpel wrap I mentioned some imperfections that should fix themselves.
Here are a few pics of those areas & why I know with time & a few hot days it will seal right up.
The one next to the wheel well is the biggest concern. He said if it didn't fix itself to bring it back...
This is my only negative comments on the wrap.
All the positives will be part 3 & this is only short term; first impression and testing.
Remember that the wrap is 8 mills thick!

 

Part 3: first rain
The day we got our truck back it was nice for a few hours.
That night we got a half an inch of rain.
We did not go anywhere in the rain but the vehicle was outside.
This is the next morning (untouched) after the storm. Only a few streaks where the water just ran off it!
Absolutely amazing. It self dried with no spots!
This was Mother's day morning.
On the way to lunch we got hit with very heavy rain while on the interstate. I could barely see it was raining so hard.
This is how the vehicle looked after that...
The only panel to have visable waterspots & dirt is the tailgate (which we did not wrap, only ceramic coated.) All SUV's have a dirty hatch instantly... we all know that!

Sorry for length. Just trying to tell all.
Hope this helps someone.
I would do it again!
*edit* For clarification the only panels without wrap are ceiling and rear tailgate.

 

Does anyone know of a good detailer in the Seattle/Issaquah area? I would like to try the coating, and maybe wrapping the roof before I put on the new rack.

 

Doing round two today. The roof of my T4R. Already did the hood a few weeks ago. Baby steps.

 

that is NO shit baby steps!

After washing, claying,waxing and sealing my 4 runner this morning I was like WTF am I doing!

 

It looks beautiful & is now protected.
They wash a lot easier when coated!
Also, just washed mine yesterday. Do they grow in size?! Lol

 

If you install it yourself, make sure you don’t get any on your Hootus.

https://www.explorerforum.com/forum...w-do-i-get-herculiner-off-of-my-hootus.18595/

 

Great comment right here....


Hoppe's No. 9 solvent might work. If anyone asks, you're just cleaning your "gun". On the other hand, the protective qualities of herculiner may be an advantage... on the second thought, forget that.

Really, just call the manufacturer and ask them. Use a pay phone. They don't know you from Adam. It'll give their office something to talk about for a few days.

 

That thread was awesome!

 

I'm definitely reading this later! Lol

 

I took the cheap way out and it actually turned out better than expected! I clayed with mothers speed clay 2 bar, spayed on meguiars ceramic wax. Was excellent as is but I topped off with Collinite with a DA polisher. Needed zero paint correction as car is a day old, figured I would protect it early

 

Did you get any on your hootus?

 

Whats hootus?

 

Apparently it's exactly what you think it is

 

It's apparent he didn't polish his Hootus!