Adam's 2009 Chevy Silverado 3500HD Dually Club Cab

[BRZN]

I'm the care taker of Adam's truck right now here on the east coast, and it was in need of some major detailing attention!

I picked it up in Ramsey, MN a few weeks ago. It was there having a larger awning attached to the trailer we use at several shows.

I flew out of Harrisburg, PA on a Friday afternoon, connected in Charlotte, NC

 

and ended up in Minneapolis, Minnesota after dark. I made my way to Ramsey via Uber to stay over night in the local Comfort Suites.

A short half mile walk in the rain early the following morning and I made my way to the rig to start my 1,100 mile journey back to Carlisle, PA.

 

Somewhere just east of Chicago, IL Saturday afternoon, the sky's had finally cleared:

Sunday afternoon I had the trailer placed in its spot for the following weeks Fall Carlisle Swap Meet and Collector Car Corral.

The new awning is awesome! It's 20' out from the trailer vs. the 12' the old one is. This allows us to now have six tables of product set up along with two three sided racks of towels, brushes, and other accessories under complete cover, still leaving ample room to walk around. The 12' awning set up is still in the trailer and available for use at smaller shows and events.

 

Fall Carlisle ended, we loaded up the trailer, make arrangements to leave it over winter on the fairgrounds, and I brought the truck home with me. The vehicle needs some service, and as I'm only an hour from Carlisle, and the one orchestrating the Carlisle Events, it just made sense for me to deal with it.

Well it was filthy, inside and out. I washed it once in 2015, and I believe the Adam's employees did something with it while it was in Colorado last winter, as there were obvious tape marks down the center of the roof and hood, but nobody's touched it since. I believe I recall seeing it in a demo video for something they filmed last winter.

In 2016 it came to Carlisle from CO for the Ford National's in June, went to Columbus, OH for The Goodguys Show there, back to Carlisle for the Chrysler Show, then after Corvettes at Carlisle it headed west to Effingham, IL for the Mid America Corvette Show there. After Mid America off to Ramsey, MN where I picked it up to bring it back to Carlisle.

 

This truck's big, real big. 2009 Chevy Club Cab Silverado 3500HD One Ton Dually. 6.6 Liter Duramax Diesel, with a Detroit Allison Transmission.

 

A couple/few evenings of labor for a week, 32 ounces of Leather & Interior Cleaner, some APC, VRT, In & Out Spray, Interior Detailer, Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner, Glass Cleaner and I got the inside looking fairly respectable.

 

All Leather received a good, and well needed, conditioning with Adam's Leather Conditioner. Yea, the seat belts are dirty, what of it?

 

Saturday I began to wash the vehicle. I first used my pressure washer to remove the bugs from the front.

Oh, notice how the low beams are on? I'd just replaced the burnt out right one.

 

Foam Cannon with 3 ounces of Strip Wash was laid down and allowed to dwell for several minutes. Another 2 ounces of strip wash in my wash bucket followed and she was cleaned with the two bucket method.

Wheels, Tires, Mud Flaps, and Inner Fenders/Wheel Wells were cleaned and dressed. APC, Wheel Cleaner, Tire & Rubber Cleaner, Undercarriage Dressing, Tire Shine (all six tires), VRT, and Quick Sealant (yes I still have several cans stashed away )

The next week I was away for my day job until Wednesday. Once home I cleaned the door jambs, and in around the doors and hinges. There was way too much grease on the door hinges, and rust proofing was over sprayed in many places. 16 ounces of APC to get them looking okay. I had to keep telling myself, "this is a work truck, not a show truck". LOL! I also dressed all the rubber door seals with VRT.

Thursday and Friday evenings I clayed the truck, including all the glass. The Strip Wash did a pretty decent job of removing a lot of the contaminants on the paint. However, I still destroyed a brand new Visco Clay Refill.

I took care of a bit of damage on the passenger's side of the bed. Something had fallen across it and left a dent, deep scratches, removed some clear, and broke off the amber side marker.

 

This truck appears to have been repainted, so guess what's under the clear coat that's coming off? the OEM clear!

Saturday and Sunday were spent polishing. I addressed the chrome and stainless exhaust exhaust tip early before all the dew was off the paint. I used my Rupes Mini with the Blue Foam Metal Pads and Metal Polishes #'s 1 & 2.

Before:

After:

Since the truck was sitting outside it got wiped down several times with Waterless Wash; before claying, and before any polishing. No need to add any more scratches, swirls, or holograms than it already had.

I dressed all the exterior plastics and trim with a heavy coat of VRT and/or In & Out Spray. This was done to protect those areas from Polish or Sealant staining them in case I touched them, it worked well.

Test panel:

Before:

After:

Yea, that'll do!

 

Flex XC3401VRG, Orange Microfiber Pad, Paint Correcting Polish; one step, two passes on most panels, that's it. In tight areas I used the Rupes Mini, or Rupes Nano Long Neck, and on big flat surfaces like the roof and hood I broke out the Rupes Bigfoot21 Mark II.

Passenger's side front door:

Sunday afternoon one coat of Paint Sealant was laid down using my Porter Cable 7424XP and a Grey Foam Pad. Kyle, who helps at some of the Carlisle Events, stopped by to lend a much appreciated hand. Brilliant Glaze was applied to the Clear Bra Material, Quick Sealant was applied to the entire front end as well as to all chrome and stainless. I also applied Quick Sealant to the plastic headlights (I'd polished the headlights and tail lights too), Glass Sealant was applied to the windshield, and the exterior glass was cleaned with Glass Cleaner using the new microfiber glass cleaning towels. Just for kicks and to pass time while we downed a beer, we applied a layer of Buttery Wax to the hood and top edges of the front fenders.

Adam had sent me some DOT registration stickers for the truck:

I installed them prior to applying the Paint Sealant:

Where the stickers went I polished that area to perfection. Figured another polisher wasn't going to be touching that area any time soon. In this area I followed up the Orange Microfiber Pad with an Orange Foam Pad and Paint Correcting Polish, then a White Foam Pad with Paint Finishing Polish.

 

Done!

 

 

Final touch:

Edited October 18, 2016 by BRZN

[sahls01gmc]

Great job! My only advice would be your DOT sticker should say "US DOT...." I've received a ticket for that before.

[mc2hill]

Strong work Dave, the hauler looks great!

[blcksilv08]

Great job Dave that thing needed some Adams love after the season its had. I was also getting ready to say something about the DOT number as well. Never gotten a ticket for it but I've heard that.

[CMDChase]

Nice job Dave as always.

[BrianT]

That truck isn't much bigger then a Prius! LOL. Great job Dave!!

I never knew that awning was attached to the trailer, that thing is massive!!

[Thorsager]

Nice work and write-up!

[nunzimouse]

Nice Job Dave, Look me up if your ever in my neck of the woods

[Ls1transam]

Amazing work! Where you nervous trying to make it look perfect, considering who it for?

[pirahnah3]

Awesome work, that thing looks like the Adams truck now. 

 

DOT laws can be very finiky and if the DOT officer has a hair across his that day he can pick on anything he wants to, def should check into the labels. Make sure to have the trailer and all that weighed as well, dont want to get caught being just over the legal limits and not having the license for it. I know a buddy of mine got nicked for towing a trailer and such and they stopped him because they thought he was overweight, broke out the scales and.....26,150. The officer was nice enough to follow him to the hotel at the next exit and said if he was seen driving that combo again that night it would be impounded. He was lucky and not every officer is that nice, just hate to see something happen. 

[ocdrifter]

Looks Great Dave, I'm just curious what to longer the detail or the write up lol.