# Toyota Tundra Detail by Kevin Brown



## Kevin Brown (May 10, 2008)

_I completed this detail almost exactly two years ago. Although I posted on the Meguiar's USA forum, I just recently added the pics to my Photobucket account (making it easy to post here). I hope you all don't mind that this truck wasn't recently detailed. Thanks!_

We all like to read about detailing, especially when it's done to exotic cars. Reality is, most of us work on common vehicles, and I am no exception. Although I do get to work on some really trick rides, I've washed & detailed thousands of daily drivers.

Recently, I spent some time detailing a Toyota Tundra. It had logged 77k miles in about 1-1/2 years, and was used as a work truck. The owner decided to have it cleaned up, as it was no longer going to be used in the field. A friend of mine asked if I could do the truck. The owner of the truck has given my friend lots of work, so it was important that the truck be done right. Here's some pics of the detail.

I did not plan on doing a write-up... I took pictures for my own reference.
Consequently, I didn't get all the shots I should have (such as a finalized engine). I think you'll get the idea, though.

*The truck was used off-road quite a bit. Dirt and tar are plentiful.









More dirt PLUS a lot of bugs litter the radiator area.









The engine looks as if it's ten years old.









The wheels are hammered, and feature bush & dirt scratches, with a dose of tar.









Hood area matches the rest of the truck: Dirty.









Making our way to the interior, more of the same.









Doorjambs, carpet and the rest will need thorough cleaning.









Removal of the kickpanels reveal electronics I don't want to get wet!









Doorpanels were removed to properly clean the backsides, speakers, & grills.
Window rubbers and felts are much easier to access this way, too. 









Shot of the door panel.









Gauges are dirty and the plastic fascia very scratched. 









Under the dash reveals a grimy a/c area and airbag.









A pile of easy to remove parts that will be thoroughly cleaned and reinstalled.









Air vents are pretty loaded with dirt and old interior dressing.









Driver's seat removed.
The center console and carpet were much easier to clean, too.









See? Incredibly, the carpet was not too bad in the rest of the truck.









That's where that cookie went!









Exterior- Needs a lot of attention.









M105 applied by hand will tackle the areas which cannot be machine polished.


















There were MANY scratches- Some required 2500 grit sanding.



























Some scratches were very deep. This one was only partly removed.
It was hard to locate it once the polishing was done, as the scratch-edges were smoothed...









Lots of heavy scuffs that were completely removed via M105.


















A test spot helps dial-in the polishing system. M105. Okay, that way easy.









This scratch was deep. It really stood out, so I had to sand it with 2500.









Gonna have to leave it like this and polish to an acceptable finish.


















Meguiar's Detailer D103 All Purpose Cleaner Plus was used throughout the interior.
No extractor, here... Just APC+, water, brushes, and a Craftsman wet/dry vac.
Towels and a warm summer day handle the drying duties.
Carpets are rinsed until dirt & APC+ is removed.









Door sills are cleaned easily. 
Meguiar's M40 Vinyl/Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner applied for beauty & protection.









Small parts are cleaned. Electronic buttons, such as this were cleaned sans water.
A dry towel & horsehair brush to clean. G134 Exterior Trim Coating to dress.
No water, so it's safer to use around electronics (versus traditional dressings). 









My helper, Annie, is not much help.









Under dash components are cleaned (to a degree). Not perfect, but pretty good. 









Vents cleaned with APC+, agitated, and a pressure washer rinse.
Once dried, Exterior Trim Coating adds sheen without stickiness. 









Results of APC+, thorough cleaning & vaccuuming, & M40.
Rest assured, carpet is super-clean.


















Glove box hinges & latches are free of sticky dressing & gritty dirt.
Water-spots & dust particultate handled upon final wipedown.









Plastic gauge fascia polished via M105 & Meguiar's Ultimate Wipe.
All other dash areas cleaned with APC+. M40 & G135 protect & beautify.









Pressure washer, towels, & vacuum super-sanitize center console.
Not shown- Two other cubby areas & cupholders built into console. They looked good. 









Headliner cleaned up nicely with APC+ and a bit of lacquer thinner.









Seatbelts cleaned with APC+, a green Scotchbrite, and a pressure washer.
Fully extend seatbelts to outside of cab, shut door, clean. 
Areas that cannot be pulled outside of cab surround with towels and vacuum excess water.
Wipe aggressively with towels, and leave fully extended to air-dry. 









Under-seat areas were dialed in by hand. Yellow wiring means airbag!









Doorjambs cleaned just like the engine bay.
Rinse with deionized water, mist on APC+, & agitate with a brush & sponge.
Then, use Meguiar's Detailer D130 Body Solvent to remove stuck-on tar & dirt-embedded grease. 
These particular jambs had a lot of calcium deposits (as did the emblems).
An application of Meguiar's Detailer D32 Wire Wheel Cleaner handled the situation.
Mist, agitate, & rinse. A soapy-water rinse negates acid remnants.









Meguiar's Detailer D140 Wheel Brightener cleans the wheels.
Meguiar's Detailer D130 Body Solvent removes tar speckles.
Meguiar's M105 Ultra Cut Compound used to polish wheels.
I was able to use my Metabo SXE400 random-orbital with 3" foam pads to apply.


















Meguiar's Detailer D108 Super Degreaser cleans tires, fenderwells, & mudflaps.
Meguiar's D170 Hyper Dressing diluted 50/50 with water used to dress tire tread & fenderwells.
Meguiar's M40 Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner used to dress sidewalls & mudflaps. 









Cowl area cleaned with APC+, than dressed with M40.
All exterior glass polished M105, applied with Metabo & a 3" foam pad.
Residue removed with D112 Super Soap and water. Pressure washer rinse.
Windshield edges carefully scraped with a razor blade.









Underhood looks fresh again.









Grill cleaned with APC+, then acid, then soap, and finally dressed with M40.


















Radiator support- Sorry, no pic of the radiator & support... DOH!









Undercarraige looks respectable again.
Tailpipe cleaned with APC+, acid, Soap rinse. 
Wish I'd seen the scratches on the tip- M105 would have removed them easily!









It's these areas that really make a detail right- Time-consuming, but what a difference.









Emblems cleaned via APC+ & a toothbrush & ventsbrush.
After a soapy water rinse, acid is applied & agitated.
Water rinse again. After machine paint-polishing, M105 is applied by hand to and around
the emblem. Soapy water is applied via trigger bottle, agitated, & pressure washer rinsed.









This is the spot where that big scratch was- Look closely and you can still see it.









From most angles, and in most light situations, it's hardly noticeable.









Pickup bed looks nice.









Side shot.



























Doorhandles look clean and feel smooth. M105 & Ultimate Wipes did the trick.


















Looks like a different truck.









Thanks!*


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## ArpusTT (Dec 25, 2009)

Some of the best work I have ever seen. Period.


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## perfectcar (Jul 22, 2010)

big big work :thumb:


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## SimonBash (Jun 7, 2010)

Immense! Very thorough work.:thumb:


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## 03OKH (May 2, 2009)

Very detailed write up, thanks for taking the time to share it with us. :thumb:

Tony


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## scoob666 (Mar 15, 2009)

excellent!!!!


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## MidlandsCarCare (Feb 18, 2006)

Now that's a proper detail. Excellent work, massively impressive. 

Thanks for sharing.


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## cotter (Aug 31, 2008)

Fantastic turnaround! Job well done :thumb:


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## Guest (Jul 31, 2010)

Now that is what i call detailing!!!


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## PMC (Dec 4, 2009)

wonderful Job, Congratulations Kevin
what technique you use to polish ???
Thanks


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## Arfman (Sep 13, 2009)

PMC said:


> wonderful Job, Congratulations Kevin
> what technique you use to polish ???
> Thanks


He uses the "Kevin Brown Method". The man has a polishing technique named after him, for crying out loud :lol:
I believe it has to do with saturating the pad with polish/compound and really long working times, but I could be wrong. May the master himself explain it :thumb:

Top job, the words "looks like an other truck" really don't do your work justice. Truly epic detail.


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## Skodaw (Mar 19, 2006)

ArpusTT said:


> Some of the best work I have ever seen. Period.


+1 here - fab work:doublesho


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## Peter D (Oct 26, 2005)

Unbelievable attention to detail! Thanks for sharing.


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## OldMX (Nov 5, 2007)

The truck looks awesome now


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## FrazzleTC (Jul 4, 2009)

Superb work, amazing turnaround!


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Many thanks for posting. :thumb:
An awesome detail with incredible attention to all the details.
For me that is the essence of detailing and this is the sort of thread to show anyone who does not understand the difference of a detail over a valet.


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## Depaip (Jan 10, 2010)

Very very nice job!


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## zieluch (Nov 5, 2009)

briliant work


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## Hoppo32 (Nov 18, 2008)

Stunning!!! :thumb:


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## littlejack (Jun 11, 2008)

This truck looks like its been buried in the desert....LOL.. Real nice work fella big thumbs up


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

Stunning detail with awesome attention to detail and no less than I would've expected from you Kevin! 

You raise the bar higher and higher! 

A big thanks for posting! :thumb:

Alan W


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## npinks (Feb 25, 2008)

Great results there:thumb:

Looks as if you took photos of it brand new and said you detailed it


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## MoggyTech (Feb 28, 2009)

Simply awesome work :thumb:


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## backzilla (Oct 31, 2008)

amazing. well done


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## swest0223 (Jun 20, 2010)

What a turn-around! Ok... how long did it take?


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## IanG (Nov 21, 2007)

Superb piece of work


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

Knew I had seen this before... lol

It seems you posted this back here in at the end of 2008 Kevin!
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=97081

Well worth a double post though :thumb:


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## kc's (Jan 6, 2010)

Kevin you rock it again

keep it up

A big fan of your work


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## horned yo (Feb 10, 2009)

imense work


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

Wow, that is some turn around, a big well done to you buddy.


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## Kevin Brown (May 10, 2008)

PMC said:


> wonderful Job, Congratulations Kevin
> what technique you use to polish ???
> Thanks





Arfman said:


> He uses the "Kevin Brown Method". The man has a polishing technique named after him, for crying out loud :lol:
> I believe it has to do with saturating the pad with polish/compound and really long working times, but I could be wrong. May the master himself explain it :thumb:
> 
> Top job, the words "looks like an other truck" really don't do your work justice. Truly epic detail.


*Appreciate the nice comments. In a nutshell*... the "Kevin Brown Method" was coined by my friend Todd Helme (TH0001) after he pulled out an e-mail I had sent to him describing how I had been using Meguiar's M105 Ultra Cut Compound with a random orbital. At that time, it was not recommended for use with a random orbital. Neither was M86 So1o Cut & Polish Cream, but I use it as well with a random orbital. Anyway- by priming the pad thoroughly with M105, and applying enough pressure to the machine to negate the cushioning effects of a foam pad, and using enough speed to keep the pad rotating... it was tagged the "KBM".



GlynRS2 said:


> Many thanks for posting. :thumb:
> An awesome detail with incredible attention to all the details.
> For me that is the essence of detailing and this is the sort of thread to show anyone who does not understand the difference of a detail over a valet.


Appreciate the kind words.



littlejack said:


> This truck looks like its been buried in the desert....LOL.. Real nice work fella big thumbs up


Yes- I wanted to join it upon its delivery to my driveway!



Alan W said:


> Stunning detail with awesome attention to detail and no less than I would've expected from you Kevin!
> 
> You raise the bar higher and higher!
> 
> ...


I was sooo happy to post it... I posted it TWICE on accident!



swest0223 said:


> What a turn-around! Ok... how long did it take?


It took about 50 hours of hands-on time. The work was done over five days.
I had anticipated 25 hours, but once it was delivered, I knew that my 'schedule' was blown to bits.



tim said:


> Knew I had seen this before... lol
> 
> It seems you posted this back here in at the end of 2008 Kevin!
> http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=97081
> ...


Uhhhh..... so this is a BIT embarrassing..!!!!!! :doublesho Sorry!


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## "SkY" (Apr 21, 2009)

excellent.looks great


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## mjd (Dec 18, 2006)

Words just arent enough - awesome work.


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## Eddy (Apr 13, 2008)

Amazing, thanks for posting


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## Motoract (Feb 18, 2010)

serious effort went into that! good job.


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## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

Awesome work, amazing how people can let their vehicles get into such a shocking state... :thumb:

Greta write up thanks:thumb:


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## Kevin Brown (May 10, 2008)

123quackers said:


> ...Awesome work, amazing how people can let their vehicles get into such a shocking state...


*The back story on the truck:
*
The owner didn't intend to use the truck for work, but that's how it ended up. This man is the type that will work even when *damaged*. What does this _mean_?

How about having carpel tunnel surgery, but REFUSING anesthetic because you don't want to miss even a DAY of work. How about being told NOT to use that arm for some time, but you return to work the NEXT day... working in the oil fields?!? One tough dude. Loyal. Honest. Quite a man.

So, if the company needs you, but a work truck isn't in the cards at that time, you just use your brand new Tundra. This is what happened to the truck. It was used every day. Off road, through bushes and dirt and oil and tar. All the good stuff.

Once the time came to provide a truck to this man, the company wanted to make things right. New tires, full-blown diagnostics, major tune-up, and of course, the detail.

Hearing of this, MY friend, who owns a business that works directly with this man, wanted the truck to be **** and span, and restored to as close to NEW as possible.

He asked me to do the truck, told the man it would take two days to complete. I see the thing and, after sobbing for quite some time, I tell my friend that this truck is going to take longer than a week because I am scheduled to go out of town for two days. I tell him, "You need to let him know." He says, "just do the job- I'll keep him at bay because NO WAY is he going to understand why the [email protected]#K it would take so long to _wash & wax_ his truck."

So I go at it. And every day, I'm getting pressure to get it done. This guy is getting fumed because "He's not the kind of guy to go out of town when the job's not done!". He doesn't know that I was up front about this point.

Upon hearing this, I had the interior finished, so I washed up the outside (it had been partly buffed). The engine and undercarriage had been cleaned, but not dialed-in. I told my friend, "Come get it. No charge." He said, "No, just get it done as soon as you can." So, I head out of town and upon return, I get back to the task of finishing the job.

I finish, finally! I tell him, "Bring him over, it's done." He says, "No- deliver it. I'll meet you there."

For all I know, this guy is gonna clobber me because he probably thinks I have to be the laziest, biggest flake he's ever met. But I know the effect a transformation like this can have on a guy, so I honestly wasn't tooo worried. 

I get to his place, my friend driving in front of me to show me the way. We show up, and the guy is already cleaning out a loaner truck to put his goods into the truck I just cleaned. I get out and "walk" the truck. "Final wipe..pop the hood...check the windows..."

This guy inevitably has to meet me and eyeball his rig. We meet. His hand dwarfs mine. Luckily, he refrains from turning my fingers into bone dust. I go into show-off mode, pointing out the engine, interior, fenderwells... and the guy is obviously STOKED. He truly appreciated the job. His wife loved it, and FINALLY agreed to ride in it again!

As for my friend? He took the brunt of the drama, convincing the man that it would be worth the wait. After we discussed the whole ordeal, he tells me:

"I expected no less than this." What he meant was that, he knew that if he could keep the truck in my hands long enough... the truck would turn out the way it did.

Now, how cool is that? :thumb:


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