How to wash a Semi Truck with a Foam Gun

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

How to wash a Semi Truck with a Foam Gun



How to wash a Semi Truck with a Foam Gun

When I was asked by management to lead the team to wash and wax the Meguiar's Semi Truck, I chose the foam gun as my tool of choice to get the truck clean before we machine polished acres of paint.

Here's Frank laying down a rich, thick layer of foam using the Meguiar's Hyper Wash....

Andy and I will follow using Boar's Hair Brushes on extension handles extended as far as they will go!

Andy went down the truck washing the top half and I followed him washing the bottom half. No pictures of the bottom half getting washed as I had to put the camera down.

As soon as we finished washing a section of the truck Frank was ready to come back and start rinsing off the suds...

To dry, I used our studio mops also with extendable handles and wrapped Guzzler Microfiber Drying Towels around the head to reach the high sections.

We had to all work as a team and work fast in order to work the soap, rinse the truck and then dry the truck before the sun could get in our way.


Oh yeah.... nothing like washing a Truck and Trailer with a foam gun....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued....



I have a saying, goes like this....


If it has paint... it gets polished....


That means I don't miss a single square inch when I buff out someone's car. Now I have a new saying....

If it has paint... it gets washed.... every square inch...


If it has paint... it gets washed.... every square inch....

An epic wash that's for sure...

Now here's a truck that's clean enough to machine buff...

Keep in mind, anytime you're going to do any type of paint polishing and especially by machine, it's vitally important that the vehicle is absolutely clean.

You never want to risk any dirt particles getting trapped between your pad and the paint as this could inflict swirls and scratches at the same time you're trying to remove them.

 

[HUMP DIESEL]

Looks like a similar process I used to do for a dirt track racer. He had this huge purple semi, and every time he was in town, I would be called to clean it. I had two guys working for me at the time and we used the old Megs Wash and Wax. It worked great, because the wax additive allowed the large panels to dry without leaving any spots.

HUMP

 

[EXTJosh]

What a job to take on but came out looking great Mike! Did you dilute the Hyper Wash at all? Do you ever recommend dilluting when using a foam gun? I keep going back and forth on that.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

What a job to take on but came out looking great Mike!

The actual thread for this project shows all the work we did to this truck and it was a lot of work with a large but high caliber team of guys....


Meguiar's Big Rig Extreme Makeover - Pictures & Videos!

Did you dilute the Hyper Wash at all?

Yes. You cannot use soaps straight as they are so thick the vacuum effect won't pull or siphon the soap out of the container and into the water feed.

Do you ever recommend diluting when using a foam gun?

Yes. For the reasons stated above you must dilute a quality soap before using it in a foam gun.

I tend to use the Glug Glug Method and fill the quart size container about 1/4th to 1/3rd with soap and the rest with water.

 

[70fastback1]

I know this goes against the K.I.S.S. philosophy but this would work better....:laughing:

Evergreen International Boeing 747 Fire Fighter - YouTube

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I know this goes against the K.I.S.S. philosophy but this would work better....:laughing:

Might be kind of overkill....


:dblthumb2:

 

[dirtdestroyer]

Mike did every square inch include the roof? Hard to imagine how that would be done unless someone doesn't mind heights and has a scissor lift.

 

[Bill1234]

hyper wash looks like a good product. I wonder if meguiars has the extreme cling tech in the wash, if they dont, they should add it to the wash

 

[EXTJosh]

Yes. For the reasons stated above you must dilute a quality soap before using it in a foam gun.

I tend to use the Glug Glug Method and fill the quart size container about 1/4th to 1/3rd with soap and the rest with water.

Thanks Mike!! :dblthumb2:

 

[Bunky]

Is Hyperwash pink? I have a sample and it is goldish color.

 

[CowboyTruckn]

I thought brushes would scratch paint

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Mike did every square inch include the roof? Hard to imagine how that would be done unless someone doesn't mind heights and has a scissor lift.

Ha ha...

We didn't touch the roof. Hey we're all about doing a great job and doing a complete job but at the same time we have to be practical.

Next time I see the truck driver Mike, I'll ask him when the last time he or anyone did the roof.

Sure it's important to wash and wax the roof of ANY vehicle but seriously....


:laughing:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I thought brushes would scratch paint

I'm going to take a guess you haven't clicked on the link to the write-up where I DOCUMENTED (as normal), the true and accurate condtion of this truck BEFORE we even touched it?

Here you go.... the link....

Meguiar's Big Rig Extreme Makeover - Pictures & Videos!


The documentation.... (I'm always glad I take the time to get the "before" pictures) from post #10


As is the norm around here, I try to document the current condition of all the projects that go through Autogeek's Show Car Garage or in this case are parked out in front of the garage.


It was a challenge to get pictures using the sun because it was partly cloudy outside, there were row of trees along the side of the truck and even with the sun low in the sky it was shining pretty high on the truck which forced me to squat down to take these shots....

I was told this was the result of some shoddy work done at a truck wash...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

From post #11


Standing with my back to the shrubs and trees, lit up the side with my flash...

Then focused on the surface without the flash...

Here's where I'm going to do my Test Spot. Before buffing out ANYTHING, especially anyting very large, I cannot stress enough the importance of doing a test spot and dial-in your process and make sure you can make one small area look good or at least look good enough to meet your expectations BEFORE buffing out the entire rig.



This first shot is with the flash of my camera...

Now I'll use the Flex Swirl Finder Light, if you look closely in the picture below you can see me holding it in the refelction of the paint before I turn it on.

Now I've turned on the Flex Swirl Finder Light and taken a picture with my Canon...