Wax Job

Does that include the slack adjusters? If not he is obviously cutting corners.

Does not include Slack Adjusters.

Wow !
Your MPG should jump right now to about 15MPG :)

Alek

Jon, I certainly wouldn't want to cheat you, so I'll include the slack adjusters.

Dale,
I'm impressed! I told you it was on my list of things to do. It is still on my list. It looks so good I might be motivated to get mine done now! Thanks for the inspiration. Deb

Deb, My roof looked good when I bought the bus, but this is the 4th time I've waxed it, and it does look better than before. Use the Meguiars, let Eric apply it and you remove it. You'll come out ahead. On second thought, if you really want to get it done, you will need to apply and remove it for obvious reasons. Or you can wait until we come up that way, and I'll help you do the job.

Dale, do you use a single layer of these pads, or double them up for extra padding and reinforcement?

Ray, I use 2-4 at a time. If I want to go from one end of the bus to the other in a hurry, I'll use 2 or 3 and make sure I am stepping lightly and on the support member underneath. If I am in one spot such as while waxing, I use 3 or 4 at a time. You really need at least 12 pads to be safe in what you are doing. I think I bought two packs of 8. I got the black ones on sale at Sears for about $10 and the others from Sam's for about $18. I use them quite often around the bus and other jobs around the farm. I try to use my black ones on the ground and my colored ones on the surface of the bus. That way, I don't transfer sand and grit to the paint. These are similar to what I have, but there are different thicknesses and qualities available. http://www.greatmats.com/products/foamspecial.php

I got curious about using a floor buffing machine for the roof job you describe Dale. I did cursory search for "light weight floor buffer" but got impatient after 30 seconds of searching the results. I don't plan on waxing my roof so I didn't spend much time on it. But then I used the search string "terry cloth floor buffer" and again only did a brief search so there is probably a less expensive / better choice but here's one http://www.floorbuffers.com/Qstore/p001676.htm It's $400. I think you could find a cheap unit that would work once a year for $200 or less with 3 minutes of searching. That one I found has terry cloth bonnets that fit it.

The other useless 2 cents I have is recalling a stupid trend from more than a decade ago that I never understood but might work for the roof deal. There used to be a stupid fad of kids waxing their cars and leaving the wax on instead of buffing it off. Obvious juvenile senseless-ness along with pants down to the knees but for the roof it could work. You'd give up the shine in place of extra protection. When I was a kid my first business was mobile detailing in Texas. South East Texas. Real hot of course. No matter what product you put on metal, it is going to evaporate in no time at all from the heat. Particularly the top of a car or a bus where it get's most hot. You'll get the benefit of cleaning it if you use a "cleaner wax" that contains some grit with a bit of abrasive in it without question. Naturally the hotter the climate the faster it will burn off. If you were to wax a car up north in the winter it will last a lot longer. I can't imagine any product lasting more than several months at the most is a hot climate. If anyone knows of one please share. The test of course is by touch (smooth to the touch) but better maybe is observing how the water is beading. Good water beading you got product left. No beading, no product left; or only a trace of it. I agree that doing this once a year is good maintainence to "clean up" the surface from the elements that have collected.

Which brings me back around to this knuckle headed fad of leaving the wax on the cars years ago. If you left the wax on the roof and didn't polish it off, you'd leave a considerable addition amount of protection to the roof, forefeighting the shine. I don't get up there and wash my roof very often anyway so if I were to follow this theory I propose then the wax I left behind would be covered up with tree fall and gunk anyway. All that extra wax I left would not be apparent and ruin the appearance in my case because I'm lucky to pressure wash it twice a year anyhow. BUT the protection WOULD be increased with that extra non buffed off barrier that would be sandwiched between the gunk that falls. I don't hanger my coach. So this idea will depend on your style of storage and how often you want to shine the roof and also how often your on a second story looking down at the roof of the bus anyway. The haze that would be left would be more or less noticeable depending on the color of the roof. My roof is silver so I can imagine that the left over haze from leaving the extra product on without buffing off the excess would be less apparent.

I wish I could contribute more meaneingful help more often but I'm just not as knowledgeable as most of you. So on the rare occasion I think (operative word THINK) I might have something to add I just try to put my 2 cents in in an attempt to pull my weight since I am very appreciative of what I gain from the group when I need help.

Jeff,

Polishing the roof on mine is not a bad job at all. When I am at home, I usually get on a ladder and spray the top off when I wash the rest of the bus, so it never gets really dirty like the lower sides do. I would be very skeptical of a machine built for buffing floors. Although I walk on my roof, I do use the mats strategically positioned, and I step as lightly as possible.

I would think leaving the wax on without wiping it off would be counter-productive. I think the smooth finish that I get when I polish the roof causes dirt and water to move off the entire surface easier and faster than if it were dirty or if it had un-polished wax on it. Like the maintenance on the rest of the bus, I think the main thing with the roof is keeping it clean and waxed on a routine basis. It took me less than 3 hours to do the entire top. Thanks for the suggestions.