Paint Protection

WJCO

Meme King
Any of you have personal experiences with high quality waxes that last a long time? Both of our Jeeps are getting older and obviously show wear and some paint fade here and there. I've always waxed vehicles but in my experience, it only lasts 6 months max. I've seen a lot of detailing videos on YouTube in regards to polishes, ceramics, and even paint protection film. Some of that shit is expensive. I don't mind paying the money if it actually works but I have zero experience in this area and don't want to buy any snake oil. I'm not too terribly interested in polishing because I don't have the equipment. I'm just looking for something that I can spend half a day applying and then not worry about it for a few years.
 

TOPLESS

Caught the Bug
I’ll be following along too. I here ceramics are the way to go but I can’t pull the trigger without actually seeing the process and results in person.
 

Ddays

Hooked
JKBrick just had his truck done with the ceramic coating. It isn't cheap but the truck looks gorgeous. I'm thinking of getting the JL done.
 

WJCO

Meme King
I’ll be following along too. I here ceramics are the way to go but I can’t pull the trigger without actually seeing the process and results in person.

JKBrick just had his truck done with the ceramic coating. It isn't cheap but the truck looks gorgeous. I'm thinking of getting the JL done.

That's just it. Every detailing channel I've watched recommends ceramic (which they sell of course). And there are many levels of ceramic also. Honestly, I can see it looks sexy (and I'm OK with that benefit), but I'm more interested if it actually lasts where I don't have to wax it every year. I'll do it myself and don't mind spending the money if it actually cuts down on my maintenance time for 2-3 years. We'll do both of our current Jeeps and definitely want to do the gladiator right away before shit gets all over it. But honestly if it doesn't last more than a year for that price, I'll just wash and wax as I've been doing already for a fraction of the cost.
 
No first hand experience installing the stuff. But from my understanding it’s a replacement for wax. It bonds permanently or mostly permanently with your clear coat and becomes a permanent hydrophobic layer. Wild claims that it will outlast the paint on the car all the way down to needs to be reapplied every year and everyone and their mother selling their own version make it kind of impossible to really guess how long it protects before needing attention or reapplication.

It will for sure make it look better with less effort than wax and outlast wax.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE
 

WJCO

Meme King
So we're going to try out this shit tomorrow: McGuiar's Hybrid ceramic wax. Supposedly has ceramic molecules in it. It's gotten great reviews at a much cheaper price. I'll post a review tomorrow and follow up in a few months.

IMG_20190907_195340_797.jpg
 

morricus

New member
I'm curious to see the results. I have never waxed my Jeep, only take it to $3 washes every once in a while and power wash it in my back yard after its covered in mud from a trail. I need to start doing this at least once a year I suppose.
 

Jsouder53

Hooked
So we're going to try out this shit tomorrow: McGuiar's Hybrid ceramic wax. Supposedly has ceramic molecules in it. It's gotten great reviews at a much cheaper price. I'll post a review tomorrow and follow up in a few months.

View attachment 334274

Thanks for the reminder, it’s been a while since I’ve waxed my Jeep. If that hybrid stuff works well I might have to pick some of that up.
 

WJCO

Meme King
I'm curious to see the results. I have never waxed my Jeep, only take it to $3 washes every once in a while and power wash it in my back yard after its covered in mud from a trail. I need to start doing this at least once a year I suppose.

We purchased a pressure washer about 2 years ago. I bet we've used it 30 times or more. As much as we're out on the trails, it was worth it to us. As far as wax, I've done the WJ twice and never done the JK. This will be the first time if this stuff is really the same as hand wax. We're going to wash it and clay bar it first.
 

WJCO

Meme King
Thanks for the reminder, it’s been a while since I’ve waxed my Jeep. If that hybrid stuff works well I might have to pick some of that up.

It's supposed to be wash and rinse or wash and dry with NO buffing. We shall see.
 

morricus

New member
We purchased a pressure washer about 2 years ago. I bet we've used it 30 times or more. As much as we're out on the trails, it was worth it to us. As far as wax, I've done the WJ twice and never done the JK. This will be the first time if this stuff is really the same as hand wax. We're going to wash it and clay bar it first.

Even with the power washer, it never gets fully clean. That is part of the reason I don't bother waxing, its frustrating to spend 30 minutes blasting it with water only to see more mud and shit. I gave up and just deal with a consistently dirty Jeep. Honestly, laziness is the main reason, but it is irritating. Still, I hope your results motivate me to get it together and properly clean mine.
 

WJCO

Meme King
Even with the power washer, it never gets fully clean. That is part of the reason I don't bother waxing, its frustrating to spend 30 minutes blasting it with water only to see more mud and shit. I gave up and just deal with a consistently dirty Jeep. Honestly, laziness is the main reason, but it is irritating. Still, I hope your results motivate me to get it together and properly clean mine.

I get it. As much as we use ours, the pressure washer just takes off the big stuff. We've waxed the WJ just because it's 20 years old and for paint protection. We took your approach with the JK because it's daily driven with mud/snow/etc and that's not going to change. It just stays semi-dirty; No need to wax it. But now that we're getting another Jeep and keeping the others, we're hoping for some low maintenance protection that really works without wasting a bunch of time on all 3. And as I said in the beginning, if ceramic coating really lasts for several years, I'll gladly spend the money. But this is a compromise that I hope is beneficial.
 

TOPLESS

Caught the Bug
So we're going to try out this shit tomorrow: McGuiar's Hybrid ceramic wax. Supposedly has ceramic molecules in it. It's gotten great reviews at a much cheaper price. I'll post a review tomorrow and follow up in a few months.

View attachment 334274

I’ve used a bottle of this over the summer. Meh. First application make sure to rub it in and then rinse. And Your next couple washes you’ll be able to spray and rinse. I’ll probably get it again to spray something on the under side of the tub where I can’t reach.

I think a solid day of clay bar and a 1,2&3 step process for cleaning and waxing is still better.
 

sipafz

Caught the Bug
So we're going to try out this shit tomorrow: McGuiar's Hybrid ceramic wax. Supposedly has ceramic molecules in it. It's gotten great reviews at a much cheaper price. I'll post a review tomorrow and follow up in a few months.

View attachment 334274

Interested to see what you think of this product. My Jeep is admittedly a pavement princess and I keep it clean. I wax once a year with Turtle Wax Carnauba, wash only to rinse salt or occasional mud. Most of the time I use Rain-x Detailing Spray to deal with dust and rain spots. The rain-x seems to work well in prolonging the life of the wax, but it does require some hand buffing with my black paint.
 

Brute

Hooked
We did a ceramic coat on the Bronco...no regrets. For my jeeps, I just power wash them and dry with microfiber towels...
 
I’ve had a professional ceramic coating applied to one of my cars. Pretty sure all they did was charge me a lot of money. I saw zero difference.

Now I do it myself. I don’t play with ceramics though cause cancer scares me and most at home stuff is really really nasty shit you don’t want to breath or touch.

Clay bar, paint correct if needed, sealant, wax. In that order. Usually takes an entire day.

I like chemical guys products and their “jet seal” seems to last a long time.

If you only do one thing. Clay bar your vehicle. A lot of guys go straight to wax or sealants without truly getting their vehicle clean. Then are not happy with the results thinking they got ripped off with a cheap wax.
 

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
I use a lot of chemical guys stuff. One thing I have learned is that proper prep of the paint allows the waxes and sealants to hold and last longer. I recently used a clay bar on my jeep before apply new wax and it pulled so much crap out of my paint that the wash prior to it didn’t remove. Two months lasted and cleaning my jeep is still super easy cause of how protected the paint is.

Applying ceramic is very expensive because the stuff is expensive for one, and two cleaning and prepping everything before hand takes a while. Have debated doing ceramic on knuckles for a while now
 

boardsurfer

Active Member
WJCO, I've used that stuff on my Jeeps for most of this year. It is super confusing at first to get it to apply properly without looking like ass. My Renegade, being new, looks really really good. My Jeep looks really good but because it's white, it doesnt show the gloss quite as well. The wife's red Jeep looks really good though.
 

TrailHunter

Hooked
I’m a fan of quick detailers and spray waxes... It’s fast & easy to do a few times a year.... and you can spray that shit on everything: hardtop, plastic, bumpers, sliders etc.... I usually clay bar the hood now & then because it takes the most abuse... and a high quality polish is good to spot remove any bad pinstripes. Usually I wash the Jeep real good one day... then follow up the next day (no lingering water) with a spray detailer... 30 min to an hour and Done.
 
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