07' Dodge Ram

AdrenalineJunky

AdrenalineJunky

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2007 Dodge Ram 1500, 4dr, Sunburst Orange

Concerns:
Spider-webbing, small-light scratches

Products on hand, for buffing/polishing/finishing:
-7424 XP DA
-Meguiars Mirror Glaze #105 Ultra-Cut Compound
-Meguiars Mirror Glaze #205 Ultra Finishing Polish
-CCS Orange Light Cutting 5.5 inch Foam Pads
-CCS Gray Finishing 5.5 Inch Foam Pads
-DP Poli-Coat Paint Sealant
-5.5" Inch Red Soft Wax

Any tips for addressing the concerns? Should I consider making changes with the products listed? Opinions?

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I would go with the Cyan Hydro Tech with M105, you will get more cut anf a nicer finish, then fallow with white ccs and M205 you should be able to go start to your LSP after that.

Work in a garage or under a tent, more the DA slowly, clena your pad after every section pass.

You should be fine, have fun
 
sullysdetailing said:
I would go with the Cyan Hydro Tech with M105, you will get more cut anf a nicer finish, then fallow with white ccs and M205 you should be able to go start to your LSP after that.

Work in a garage or under a tent, more the DA slowly, clena your pad after every section pass.

You should be fine, have fun
Click to expand...

Thank you for your tips. When you say every section pass what exactly do you mean? And by cleaning do you mean using a brush?
 
After you work the product down before you add more product to the pad clean with the foam pad brush. Then add more product and more to the next section. You never know if you got a price of dirt or something trapped in the pad you dont want to scratch the surface of the paint.
 
sullysdetailing said:
Work in a garage or under a tent, more the DA slowly, clena your pad after every section pass.
Click to expand...

Hi. Just out of curiosity, what do you mean by cleaning after every section pass? On extremely hard clears, you're gonna do a minimum of four section passes to see results. When you mean section pass, do you mean what Mike has described it to be as below?

_______
_______
_______

1 section pass

l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l
another section pass
 
rohnramirez said:
Hi. Just out of curiosity, what do you mean by cleaning after every section pass? On extremely hard clears, you're gonna do a minimum of four section passes to see results. When you mean section pass, do you mean what Mike has described it to be as below?

_______
_______
_______

1 section pass

l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l
another section pass
Click to expand...

What I ment was went your done buffing the section, before you add more product, clean your pad. Then add more product and start buffing agian.
 
sullysdetailing said:
I would go with the Cyan Hydro Tech with M105, you will get more cut anf a nicer finish, then fallow with white ccs and M205 you should be able to go start to your LSP after that.

Work in a garage or under a tent, more the DA slowly, clena your pad after every section pass.

You should be fine, have fun
Click to expand...

Just curious why you suggested 105 w/ cyan HT, but 205 w/ white CCS (instead of tangerine HT). I have found that (IMO), I personally like the way that 205 works and finishes with a tangerine HT better than a white ccs. (I do realize that either will work). But just curious why HT's for 105 but not 205?


Note to OP: Always tape off a test spot and dial in your process before going over the entire vehicle, and always start off with your least aggressive pad/polish combo and move up from there, until you see the results that you desire. Be sure to do an IPA wipe down in between steps (to ensure that you are actually removing defects and not just filling/masking them). I'm sure that you won't need anything stronger than the the 105 and orange pads that you have. However you may not need that strong. I would agree that going from 105/orange to 205/gray (IMO) is to big of a jump. I would recommend getting polishing pads, either white CCS pads or some tangerine HT's (if your going to get some cyan ones anyway) for the transition. However like I said; once you get some polishing pads (either the white CCS or Tangerin HT's) start off with them and see if you need the orange pad or not. Try a few combos (least aggressive first) and see what gives you the results you want in a time frame you can live with. If this is your truck and you don't mind spending some money: I would recommend getting some cyan and tangerine HT's and some white CCS pads. See what you like best. I really like the HT pads they work well and finish nice. No matter what polishing pads (white CCS or Tangerine HT) I use, I follow them up with finishing pads (like your gray ones). You can use 205 with these (finishing pads) after 205 with your polishing pads, or if you really want to go the extra step, (which IMO is well worth the extra time) you can follow up the 205/polishing pad combo, with a finner polish like Menzerna 85rd/ and a finishing pad (like your gray ones)..
 
DARK HORSE said:
I have found that (IMO), I personally like the way that 205 works and finishes with a tangerine HT better than a white ccs. (I do realize that either will work). But just curious why HT's for 105 but not 205?
Click to expand...
Almost the cut of an orange, yet finishes better than white! Wow!
 
I went home at lunch, a did some test spots on my 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 (light metalic blue). It's paint is more swirled than what yours appears to be in your pictures. I found the best correction plan for it was:

105/cyan HT
205/tangerine HT
Menz 85rd/Gray CCS

The following also worked well but IMO, not as quickly or as nicely:
105/orange ccs
205/white ccs
menz 85rd/gray ccs

Not saying this is the best approach to your paint (always try least aggressive first), I would try the 105 with a tangerine pad first. If that doesn't give you the results you are after in a timely manner, bump it up to 105/cyan. (assuming you buy some HT's). If not try 205/white ccs first, etc. I like to have LOTS of pads and change them often, but that's just my preference.

Good luck and keep us posted on your choices and progress...
 
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DARK HORSE said:
I went home at lunch, a did some test spots on my 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 (light metalic blue). It's paint is more swirled than what yours appears to be in your pictures. I found the best correction plan for it was:

105/cyan HT
205/tangerine HT
Menz 85rd/Gray CCS

The following also worked well but IMO, not as quickly or as nicely:
105/orange ccs
205/white ccs
menz 85rd/gray ccs

Not saying this is the best approach to your paint (always try least aggressive first), I would try the 105 with a tangerine pad first. If that doesn't give you the results you are after in a timely manner, bump it up to 105/cyan. (assuming you buy some HT's). If not try 205/white ccs first, etc. I like to have LOTS of pads and change them often, but that's just my preference.

Good luck and keep us posted on your choices and progress...
Click to expand...
I wonder how surbuf pads compare to Cyan HT's as far as cut and finish?
 
Cyan HT's and surbuf have about the same cut from what I have observed. However, surbuf leaves a lot to clean up after compounding whereas cyan HT finishes off like a white CCS. This is just what I have observed.....
 
The Surbuf pads cut a LOT faster than the Cyan pads, BUT...and it's a HUGE but, they leave a lot of marring behind to clean up as Jonathan said.

I don't think the truck he's posting needs the Surbuf pads. He could probably get everything out that he's going for with the Orange pad and 105 then follow up with a White pad and 205. The gray pad has no cut and probably won't remove any marring left behind by the 105 on Orange. Dodge paint really isn't that hard, so correcting the light swirling that's in that paint shouldn't be too difficult. Good luck! Seems like you have a decent process lined up already, but the best way to know what it's going to take is to go out, tape off a spot and try what you've got on-hand and choose the one that takes the least amount of time without being TOO aggressive.
 
One thin I REALLY like about surbuf pads, they're VERY easy to clean "on the fly". A few strokes with a pad conditioning brush, and it's as good as new. MUCH easier to thoroughly clean than foam pads "on the fly", IMO.
 
Adrenaline Junky, that is one nice looking truck! I have a 2007 Pearl Black Dodge Ram 4 dr that I am getting ready to work on. I just bought Meguiars UC, Swirl X and NXT 2.0 and I just received my GG DA and LC orange, white and gray pads in the mail. Hopefully I get a nice day and I can do some work. But your truck looks great!
 
I just got in from 9hrs of phase 1 on the Ram. On my test area, I started out with Wolfgang TSR w/orange pad, and was not satisfied with the results.

Then applied M105 w/orange pad, followed by M205 w/white pade. Definitely found out the importance of having smaller pads when doing the entire vehicle. (Lots of cleanup to do) The swirls appear to be taken care of, however there are still some stray vertical/horizontal lines/scratches that are not deep enough to catch a finger nail. Would the next step be wet sanding to remove those?

Tomorrow, hope to lay down a layer of DP sealant. Then begin cleaning/detailing/polishing chrome etc.

My next project is the Jetta, which I have another thread on. The condition of that is worse than the Ram, I think I may need to get more aggressive pads/compounds to bring the Jetta to satisfaction. Any tips for that?
 
AdrenalineJunky said:
I just got in from 9hrs of phase 1 on the Ram. On my test area, I started out with Wolfgang TSR w/orange pad, and was not satisfied with the results.

Then applied M105 w/orange pad, followed by M205 w/white pade. Definitely found out the importance of having smaller pads when doing the entire vehicle. (Lots of cleanup to do) The swirls appear to be taken care of, however there are still some stray vertical/horizontal lines/scratches that are not deep enough to catch a finger nail. Would the next step be wet sanding to remove those?

Tomorrow, hope to lay down a layer of DP sealant. Then begin cleaning/detailing/polishing chrome etc.

My next project is the Jetta, which I have another thread on. The condition of that is worse than the Ram, I think I may need to get more aggressive pads/compounds to bring the Jetta to satisfaction. Any tips for that?
Click to expand...
Try surbuf pads with 105.
 
AdrenalineJunky said:
2007 Dodge Ram 1500, 4dr, Sunburst Orange

Concerns:
Spider-webbing, small-light scratches

Products on hand, for buffing/polishing/finishing:
-7424 XP DA
-Meguiars Mirror Glaze #105 Ultra-Cut Compound
-Meguiars Mirror Glaze #205 Ultra Finishing Polish
-CCS Orange Light Cutting 5.5 inch Foam Pads
-CCS Gray Finishing 5.5 Inch Foam Pads
-DP Poli-Coat Paint Sealant
-5.5" Inch Red Soft Wax

Any tips for addressing the concerns? Should I consider making changes with the products listed? Opinions?
Click to expand...

On the ram, make sure to put a line of tape on the door edging, the door edges are really thin and the 105 can get through the clear really easily on them.
 
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