Firebuff17

BMT on wheat, ADD BACON, lettuce tomatoe, pickles, spicey mustard, salt and pepper, oil and vinegar.

Well, was really hoping to make it this year because I was off from work and was looking good to go...... until the little league schedule I am coaching in came out yesterday..... got a game. I am already missing the previous 2 games due to going out of town for Easter. ☹️

I don’t have that exact hose but, my somewhat educated guess would be that once it warms up, gets used a few times, it will relax and be easier and more manageable. If it’s sunny out, lay it out in your driveway for a few hours and let the warmth of the sun and warmth of the blacktop warm up the hose.

GooGone is a go-to for me for adhesives. Follow that with APC to get rid of the GooGone residue and rest of the grime. Then you could do ID, or DS.

I started by using straight VRT. Got the same results as others have posted, streaking down the bedsides. Then switched to 50/50 VRT. Pretty happy with the results of that. Just used H2O GG 2.0 this past wash. And I got to say.... looks really good. And performs beautifully! Rained for the first time today since I applied it about 2 weeks ago.

Yesterday I was able to finally get some work done on my truck. Started off by giving it a quick wash and dry with DS. Wasn’t that dirty. Just washed it last week or so with a freash application of H2.OGG. Pulled the tires, wheel cleaner, and wash both the face and inside barrel. Set them aside to dry. (1 neighbor commented on me washing the inside of the barrels. “Wow, I have never seen anyone clean the inside of the rims”) Pulled the calipers, brake pads, caliper brackets, and rotors. Cleaned and sanded the calipers and caliper brackets. Painted the calipers and brackets matte black. Installed new rotors, brake pads, reassembled calipers. Applied Ceramic Spray Coating to the inside barrels and the front face of the rims. Rotated and reinstalled tires. Only second time doing brakes, first time doing rotors and painting calipers. Went fairly smooth. Started at about 10am. Took the test drive at about 6pm. Drove about 35 miles to work this am with all 4 tires still firmly attached and no squeaks, creeks, or groans so that was a bonus!

@Rich I hear ya on that!! Was a nice day out. Was in the 40’s but sunny. Tried out the Ultra Foaming shampoo sample that was sent in my last Adams order in the foam gun. Worked pretty well. Not sure I would buy that over the regular shampoo. The regular shampoo does a good job in the foam gun. I did try out the new H2OGG 2.0 today for some protection. Still holding out to do spring paint correction before throwing down the ceramic spray coating. Tire Armor is still holding up well. Trim coating I applied about a month ago is looking real nice still.

Use a spray or two of Detail spray per panel as your drying. Helps shed water, adds shine, and a layer of extra protection between the towel and the surface of the paint. My old old regiment was paint sealant about twice a year, G&G every couple of washes, and detail spray when I wasn’t using G&G.

I am 50/50 on Samsung. I have 2 40” LED Samsung smart TVs. The first one I got in about 2012, love it, smart TV part I don’t really use but it is very user friendly, easy to navigate. It’s mounted on the wall and all cabling is hidden. I had a dark horizontal line near the top appear one day. Couldn’t diagnose it for sure and no electronic repair places near me would look at it for less than $200 diagnosis plus parts...if available. Just ended up storing that one and got another 40” smart LED Samsung TV. Mounted this one on wall with same bracket as old TV. I didn’t like the smart TV that much, harder to navigate than the original TV but I put up with it. I finally got around to tinker with the old TV and took it apart after about a year. Found a burned out LED strip. Tracked it down online, installed and TV is back to fully functioning. Swapped the TVs back so original TV is on bracket on wall. About another year or so go by with no problems. Until one day I get a dark horizontal line near the bottom of the TV. I know what means, and I order another LED strip, except this time I order 2 so I have one for spare. While waiting for those to arrive, a day or 2 go by and the whole TV is black, no sound or picture. Take it off the wall, swap the bracket onto other TV and rehang it. Do some research and find that I need the LED driver board. So I order that and wait for delivery. When I get all my parts I take the TV apart and swap out the LED strip that was burned out and swap LED driver boards. Test it out and it’s back working. Then again, I swap mounting brackets and TVs. Been good for the last 6 months. Zero problems with the second Samsung LED tv I bought. Great picture on both TVs.

@shane@detailedreflections... I knew you would have more and BETTER input than me!! And I am certainly going to try my best to get over this year to your event. Really sorry I missed it last year. Sounds like it was fun and informative.

And ease of application, difference in cure time. Prep is basically the same for either. I have been been wanting to do the full coating myself but jumped on the ceramic coating spray when it was released. I use my truck everyday and weather is not always cooperative. And even if the weather during the day cooperates, the am dew doesn’t help. So having the spray..... for me..... is a game changer. Yes.. Life expectancy is less and I have to apply 2-3 times a year.. and even though it’s a 9h rating, it’s not as “thick and durable” as the full coating, it will help a lot for me. I am am going to tag a few that might have more and certainly better info. @shane@detailedreflections, @falcaineer, @Dan@Adams

Thanks Dan. Great way to treat forum members! I was kinda bummed earlier this week (I am sure I am not the only one) that couldn’t enter the essentials kit contest last week because I am not in social media. So this is an awesome deal!! 🤞🤞🤞🤞

Just use a microfiber blanket and cut it and sew it into apron. It’s certanly big enough. I love my blanket too much as a blanket to cut it up for use as an apron though.

Was able to wash the truck today. FINALLY was able to use some products I got a while back. Thoroughly cleaned all the black trim on my truck (man there’s a lot) applied Black Trim Restorer, let that cure, then applied Ceramic Trim Coating. Trim restorer really brought the color back and made it pop. Ceramic Trim coating, again, really made it pop. Letting it cure indoors tonight and will see how well I applied the coating in the am. Hopefully doesn’t look streaky. Next week or so I will run the polisher on the paint and then try out the new Ceramic Spray Coating I snagged when it came out.

@DaleH did you just clean the calipers or did you clean and paint them? I need to do the same to my truck... brakes and rotors. Was thinking of painting my calipers since they would be off anyway.

This looks amazing and I might be trying it at some point. I read the product page in Adams website, and I watched the video but that led me to have some questions. I understand the bare paint and that this could be used in everything on the exterior but what about using trim restorer first? They also said to use your favorite towel, looked like in the video they were using double softs, once complete how do we clean the towels?

What tools and polished do you have at your disposal? I have never used a 1 step but you will be amazed at what the orange coeecting polish and orange pad can do!

Rich That must have been honor to take part in the Wreaths Across America. I happened to be working the night the convoy from Maine passed through on its way to Arlington. Several of our trucks from my Dept lined a few of the highway overpasses as they passed by. And from the sounds of it... we were not the only Dept to to do it. It was amazing to see the convoy. If we were closer to a wreath laying event I would have participated in that.

I know I know.... I embarrassed for saying that. But in all seriousness I didn’t have a driveway for that period of time as well. It was torn up and was packed stone and stone dust. I now have a nice double wide driveway to work with now though!!

Hate to admit this.... but I finally washed my truck for the first time sunce about the end of winter.... about 5 months ago. Scrubbed and and scrubbed my tires so I can apply the new tire armour. Might have to apply another coat to get the minimal shine I like but we shall see what it looks like tomorrow. Had hopes of doing trim restorer today also but didnt have time time to accomplish that task. It requires 6 hours of cure time before getting wet. I had hopes of doing that today so I can apply my trim coating this week. Will have to see how the week plays out. Also so wanted to try out the new H2.0 but will try that out after I do the trim coating.

Here is my winter routine. I live in CT. I go to my local pay and spray and bring supplies with me. I try to go during the day, and avoid the lunchtime “rush” and never on a weekend. And I have a pair of thick rubber gloves that are wool lined and come up to almost my elbows that I use to keep my hands warm and dry. I only use them for washing the truck in the winter so they stay clean. I bring my Adams bucket with gamma seal lid filled with hot water and soap. I add money to the machine and do a methodical rinse in hopes of getting majority of heavy dirt rinsed off. Once the time runs out, I then I go around and with my hot soapy water, And give the truck a bath. Then add more money and rinse it off. Once that’s done, if no one is waiting I then dry using detail spray or H2OGG. If someone did pull in behind me than I pull out into one of the parking spots and dry it out there. My local pay and spray added a nice feature last year. They have an undercarriage wand sprayer ( much like the one Adams is selling this year). They add “Salt A Way” to the wand. I have gone a couple times last year just to use this a day or two after a storm and the roads have cleared up and dried out.

Surprised today when my order showed up at the doorstep. In previous orders when I used the free shipping it had taken 9-10 days to arrive. It arrived in 5 days! Pleasantly surprised!!!

I snagged a few things as well. Going to try out the new H2O 2.0 as well as the tire armour. Ordered placed about 20 mins after sale went live. Everything was slow but in the end it went through. Got the Adams confirmation email this am.

Marked it in my calendar!

@RayS On some cars those black steelies look good...older CVPI’s or the black and white PI’s.. but unfortunately they are needed due to being pursuit rated. Your not going to get the pursuit rating with better looking rims.