mercer transportation

No. You only have to do the real work once. After that its a simple matter of wiping on a liquid polish/sealer letting it dry and wiping it off. If you get them back to shiny from dull and use the liquid polish every month or so they will stay shiny. Assuming you don't let the truck wash hit them with acid or other strong chemicals. That stiff will turn mirror finish aluminum into white crud in seconds.

 

Zephy has some good instructional videos on their website. Oh you will need a rake. Sorry i forgot to mention that before. A stiff wire brush will work but it will tear your wheels up quickly.

Edit to add: and you don't need that 400 dollar milwaukee sander they push. Any decent cheap 8 inch sander will work fine, just need a 5/8ths bore.

 

I'd say no, it's never pointless because I take pride in keeping my truck clean. It's not so much for the customer as it is for me. It's the same as cleaning your home, you live there and want to be comfortable there right? When my truck is clean and looks good I'd compare it to the feeling of a long hot shower after a hard day of dirty manual labor. Plus why spend this much money on a truck and spend that much time in it and not take pride in it. But I may have misunderstood your question.

 

Mack was talking about how muddy and nasty some customer lots are, especially job sites. I think he wad under the impression that a week of hard work with the cutting wheels and you go back to step one aftet the first mudhole. In reality you won't use those wheels more than once a year, just don't let the blue beacon hit it with acid and don't let the winter salt sit on it longer than necessary.

 

Oh yeah I understand that, but if everything was clean to start you can practically spay it with a garden hose and bring it back after you get it right the first time. Like you said once a year is more then plenty to keep it up .

 

I work for a oilfield company, well pads are just the same, but my company truck looks just as good, I wash it almost daily. Yeah it's alot of work and yeah I get pissed when the Nightshift guy flys down a lease road destroying my hard work but the sense in pride I get is well worth the work in my eyes .

 

Thanks.

 

I'd recommend a Porter Cable variable speed (2500-6800 rpm), random orbital sander/polisher, specifically model #7346SP. Not only is it a great sander for woodworking it can also be used as a low speed grinder/polisher. It looks like a typical 18,000rpm grinder and has a 5/16-24 spindle and you can get sandpaper peel and stick or velco pads for it as well as the polishing pad and bonnet. Its not as big as dedicated polishers but with the weight, 6 pounds, and variable speed you have a lot more control. (One of the versions of grief is polishing something painted and discovering bare, shiny metal.) Lowes and Amazon currently list them at $129.

Frank