Advice on Griots G9 and Black Toyota Tundra

R

reidharrington

New member
Long, long time lurker here, new poster. I have a 2015 Black Toyota Tundra with (I believe) single stage paint. Bought used and have typical car wash scratches and swirls from someone doing a terrible job detailing it before. I am thinking about buying a Griots G9 and am looking for recommendations on pads/polish/wax or an AIO for single stage black Toyota paint. I have been hand washing/wax my other vehicles for many years but now with a big truck I think stepping up to a DA would be a good idea. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated, thanks!!!

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I`d be very surprised if the paint is single stage. I don`t think any vehicle maker has used single stage paint for a very long time.

A DA will certainly make your life easier and get you better results no matter which vehicle you polish out. From my experience as a Toyota owner and working on my father-in-law`s Tacoma, the paint is very soft and easy to correct. Most Japanese cars are from what I`ve seen.

I`m always a fan of being prepared for a range of possible issues you might face while working on a vehicle. I`d recommend buying both polishing pads and compounding pads and a bottle of compound and polish. Since the paint is so soft, you may be able to do the whole thing with only the polishing pads and the finishing polish, but you never know when you`ll encounter the random scuff or deeper scratch which requires something a little more aggressive to fix.

On our Highlander and the father-in-law`s truck, I found Optimum Hyper Polish, Blackfire, Polish, DP Polish, and Sonax 04-06 all work pretty well with a polishing pad as long as it`s only light to moderate swirls.
 
Looked it up. Toyota used single stage white and black for a long time.

for the op, is it metallic? If so it’s the bc/cc paint. If it isn’t then it is probably u202 which is in fact single stage.
 
Cadfael said:
Looked it up. Toyota used single stage white and black for a long time.

for the op, is it metallic? If so it’s the bc/cc paint. If it isn’t then it is probably u202 which is in fact single stage.
Click to expand...

It is not metallic, it is in fact 202. Crazy to think they are still using single stage.
 
Are they still using it? Know they were as late as 2016 but couldn’t tell later. They even used it for Lexus which really blows my mind.
 
reidharrington --
Welcome to posting on the forum !

Anything labled AIO ( All in One) is not going to really correct the paint like a true compound or polish... Instead it will try to correct, polish and leave a product on the paint to protect it... This never works... It will also have clay in it to fill in and hide all the paint defects it cannot remove, so you will end up with a nice looking result for a little while...
Then, when you wash it or it wears off, all the paint defects are still there because the clay fillers are gone..
You should think about how much really nice, clear, flat, glossy, paintwork means to you and decide if you want to try to do this or just use an AIO which is what I described above..

Yes, a machine can help do whatever you decide to try..

If you have no experience with a random orbital machine, know that some of them if not all, vibrate, and this can sometimes be bad for people with things like carpal tunnel, etc..

I have not Detailed many Toyota vehicles but the few I did were Jet Black and Metallic Black.. They turned out beautiful, and were pretty easy to paint correct.
But I use Rotary Power, so this is a whole different machine (direct drive) compared to the Random Orbital machines.

The Griot`s line of machines appear to be very good and many, many, people love them... They also have the best warranty I believe..
Griot`s also makes their own compounds and polishes, that a lot of people like as well..

Whatever you decide to do, you will need many pads to complete this big vehicle.. Not just 2-3, many more.. And you will need a pad cleaner that is made specifically for cleaning foam pads, with very little foaming, etc., and that rinses out quickly and easily...

So if you have so many pads, and you use so many, you wash those, let them dry, and then use the rest of your pads, so you can keep going..

Pads in my experience need 24-hours to be dry if they are in a warm place, like the garage, etc.. I never dry anything in the Dryer, but some people do..
You will have to figure out how to handle that part... Just get lots of pads and you will always have some clean, dry ones to continue the work while the others are cleaned, rinsed, and drying..

Assume you have towels of some type to remove all the product you are going to produce as you do the work..

Dan F
 
Stokdgs said:
reidharrington --
Welcome to posting on the forum !

Anything labled AIO ( All in One) is not going to really correct the paint like a true compound or polish... Instead it will try to correct, polish and leave a product on the paint to protect it... This never works... It will also have clay in it to fill in and hide all the paint defects it cannot remove, so you will end up with a nice looking result for a little while...
Then, when you wash it or it wears off, all the paint defects are still there because the clay fillers are gone..
You should think about how much really nice, clear, flat, glossy, paintwork means to you and decide if you want to try to do this or just use an AIO which is what I described above..

Yes, a machine can help do whatever you decide to try..

If you have no experience with a random orbital machine, know that some of them if not all, vibrate, and this can sometimes be bad for people with things like carpal tunnel, etc..

I have not Detailed many Toyota vehicles but the few I did were Jet Black and Metallic Black.. They turned out beautiful, and were pretty easy to paint correct.
But I use Rotary Power, so this is a whole different machine (direct drive) compared to the Random Orbital machines.

The Griot`s line of machines appear to be very good and many, many, people love them... They also have the best warranty I believe..
Griot`s also makes their own compounds and polishes, that a lot of people like as well..

Whatever you decide to do, you will need many pads to complete this big vehicle.. Not just 2-3, many more.. And you will need a pad cleaner that is made specifically for cleaning foam pads, with very little foaming, etc., and that rinses out quickly and easily...

So if you have so many pads, and you use so many, you wash those, let them dry, and then use the rest of your pads, so you can keep going..

Pads in my experience need 24-hours to be dry if they are in a warm place, like the garage, etc.. I never dry anything in the Dryer, but some people do..
You will have to figure out how to handle that part... Just get lots of pads and you will always have some clean, dry ones to continue the work while the others are cleaned, rinsed, and drying..

Assume you have towels of some type to remove all the product you are going to produce as you do the work..

Dan F
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info, that was awesome! Any recommendation on a good compound or polish for a beginner? Also, what should I start at with pads? I was looking at the Lake Country foam pads and was thinking of starting with white.
 
Hi reidharrington
I`m not a detailer, nor do I have any garage queen show cars. All three of my cars are what I would say daily drivers even if they are not driven daily. But depending on who you talk to everyone will have favorite products. I have been a fan of Griots for some time. Easy to use and get good results in my mind. It also helps that their flagship store is only about 45 minutes south of me and I get a discount via the Mini Cooper car club I belong to. I previously had used their `One Step` but found (like Dan noted) I had better luck and more durability using their Complete Polish or Complete Compound followed up by their Poly wax. Especially on the two black MB`s I have. I use their pads and microfiber as well. And I will also agree with Dan about having a lot of pads and and microfiber towels to get the job done.
 
reidharrington -
Thanks for your reply -
I have used Lake Country pads for almost 20 years. and they have always been great.
Also used the White Flat Medium Cut pad forever until they invented these - https://www.autopia-carcare.com/hydrotech-low-profile-pads.html
I liked that I could use one pad, usually the Cyan (Blue) pad and correct and finish down sometimes just perfect, so I did not need to use another finer grade pad..
These guys are made of a foam that does not easily absorb the product you are using so they can go a lot longer before they are too saturated to do the work, and you have to change it out..

I like to take a small, white, cotton towel, and wipe down the pad after I finish the series of correction on each spot, and this also helps keep the pad cleaner..
Yes, it is another step but it does not take that much time, and it`s always good to see what is coming off the paintwork, hence the use of clean, white cotton towels..

You can also start with the Industry Standard, the Flat, White, Foam Pad and it will work good too..
Just remember that all correction comes from - Pad Rotation -.. If you dont have it, the process will take a lot longer and it may not look as great..

All the things that are painted in the world use Rotary Power machines to correct the paintwork and of course, these direct drive machines are the ultimate in - Pad Rotation -

So, you want your Random Orbital to have as much -Pad Rotation - as possible, to get the best result..

You might want to look at this pad cleaner made by the same people, Lake Country to clean your foam pads after you use them..
I have used only this product for almost 20 years and it has also been the best.. It cleans really well, is not really foamy and soapy, so you dont have to spend a lot of time trying to rinse out all the product from the pad.. Here it is -- https://www.autopia-carcare.com/snappy-clean-powder.html#.YKlo_repH3g

Get a few of these if you decide to use it.. Wear gloves while using it as it will remove all the oils in your hands..
I just half fill a 5-gallon bucket, throw in packet, mix it around, and throw all the used pads in it until the end of the day and clean them in the bucket, and rinse them in the sink...

Ok, looks like you are getting farther along with your project prep - that Tundra will come out beautiful !
Dan F
 
reidharrington:
My suggestion for a wax is Collinite Marque D`Elegance #915 Wax: https://www.autopia-carcare.com/marque-d-elegance-915.html#.YKujj7dKj3g
It`s an excellent carnauba paste wax that is easy to apply with its wax-on-wax-off methodology. You do NOT let is dry, but wait about 2 or 3 minutes for it to slightly haze over and it has very good durability for a carnauba wax. I can get about 6 months on a vehicle that is driven and parked outside during the day and garaged overnight in Wisconsin weather. If it is outside 24/7, MAYBE 3-4 months. It has that "carnauba look" with deep gloss and reflectivity, especially on black.
Another wax is Merlin`s Enchanted Concours Paste Wax. I have no personal experience with it but it is highly acclaimed and you can review it here in these two link threads:
https://www.autopia.org/forums/waxe...-enchanted-concours-wax.html?highlight=Merlin
https://www.autopia.org/forums/car-detailing/192057-merlins-wax.html?highlight=Enchanted
 
reidharrington- Welcome to Autopia!

I`m just chiming in to opine that there`s nothing at all wrong with high-quality single-stage. I myself often prefer its appearance over that of b/c.
 
I would "guess" (and it is just that; an uneducated, surmising, hypothesis) that Toyota is NOT clear-coating white because:
1) White single stage paint is harder due to the inherent nature of the pigment titanium oxide (yes, the ultra-hard metal) used to produce the whiter hue, so it does not NEED the protection a clear-coat offers.
2) White is less prone to UV-fading due to its natural reflective color hue and does not need clear-coat UV-inhibiting fade protection.
3) White "hids" minor scratches and swirls, so a harder, swirl-protecting clear-coat is not needed.
4) It saves money in the vehicle assembly-painting process without the application of a clear-coat.

My question is:
Are there coatings specifically formulated to work "chemically" (AKA, be compatible with) single-stage paints?
I know little about clear-coat chemical composition and formulation , but I am guessing that it is, indeed, "different" than base-coat pigmented (colored) paint and that it is has its own unique paint-protection, clarity/reflective-ness, and durability characteristics, which is why it has been used now for some time over base-coat paints on modern new vehicle mass production. I also assume that pigmented base-coat paints have a "different" chemical formulation than pigmented single-stage paints.
 
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