Ask the Detailer

Kool beans

 

My 07 CM has developed a very small crack on the arm rest center console. It's right along the edge, maybe 2" long, but it hasn't really separated much yet. Is there a product out there that could repair something like this or is my only choice duct tape? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Is this vinyl?

 

Yes it is vinyl. I'll have to try that Performix stuff and see what happens. I did watch a y/t video on how to do it, but although the guy did an outstanding job with the repair, he had obviously done this before it was way too involved for me to try it.

 

Can you get a cover for it....for now...to keep it from getting worse? Any chance you could find one at a salvage yard and dye/paint it?

 

What wheel cleaner does Tundras.com recommend for getting rid of brake dust?

 

Griots Garage has two very good wheel cleaners...one for normal dirt/brake dust......and a heavy duty one for worse cases. Once you get them clean....apply a wheel coating and you will only ever need soap and water. I've not (regularly) used a dedicated wheel cleaner in many years. Even if I have really dirty wheels, Bilt Hamber Surfex HD at 10:1 usually gets it done....same product at 5:1 if it doesn't.

 

Wheel coating;

Doing a brake job in the next week or so,ceramic pads.
Want to coat TRD pro painted wheels while removed.

Recommendations on cleaner safe on painted wheels but strong enough to get off brake dust and a coating to help keep black painted wheels cleaner overall.

Budget is 100 and under, time isn’t on my side. I’ll have an hour to clean/ coat before I’m back on the road.

 

I love using IronX. Gets all the caked on brake dust off. Used cquartz dlux on my wife's Tesla wheels and its held up great. Can get both from carpro

https://www.carpro-us.com/wheels-trim/cquartz-dlux-trim-wheel-coating-30ml/

 

I don’t remember if I posted this after asking my question about getting rid of the hazing on my paint but this stuff with the recommended yellow pad from griots worked perfect. I know this picture is in the garage but now in direct sunlight I am swirl free. It’s so rewarding to put in the time and effort and see good results. Not like the CG stuff I was using that resulted in terrible results. In their defence the products were likely too harsh for the seemingly soft paint on my tundra.

 

That is good stuff....and the Griots pads are on the less aggressive side. Do not make excuses for Chemical Guys paint correction products....they suck

 

Most wheel coatings have a longer cure time than that.....I saw in another post that CarPro Dlux was mentioned...which is a very good wheel coating...but the absolute minimum cure time would be one hour. Gyeon Rim, also very good, has a 24-hour cure time.

 

oh shoot, i read it as only having 1hr to do the job...not 1hr to be back up and running. Dont think you can effectively do all 4 wheels in an hour...regardless of cure time

 

That said, CG has some excellent how-to videos. Theirs is one of the videos I always recommend to people looking to learn how to do corrections. I just tell them to use their technique, but not their products.

 

Good point....and they do have lots of videos

 

Quick question or two. Our 4r is the kid hauler and Starbucks gets spilled a lot…… usually sticky tea drinks; so I’m wondering what the best products or procedures I should use to clean the shifter select channel(PRND)
And also the rear window roll down switch is super tight and sticky. I planned to pull the entire shifter console assembly and remove any switches and start hosing it down with water, and then use electrical contact cleaner on the sticky switches

 

I got some new tires coming soon and I'm doing raised white letters. Realizing I've never owned raised white letters, much less cleaned them....is there anything to use to clean it without ruining the white. I typically clean tires with carpro reset. Every once in a while (1-2 times a year), I'll use optimum power clean 1-1 ratio to clean the tires really well. I usually use Adam's Graphene tire shine.
Keep doing what I'm doing and don't give it a 2nd thought or maybe change something?
Anything appreciated

 

I love using Bleche Wite on white letter tires

 

Any recs on getting these fingerprints off? Tried rubbing alcohol and plastic cleaner so far no luck.