Jeep Archives - The Artisan Life Co.

Why should you detail your own car? Some people think that taking their car to the car wash is all they need to do to keep their car looking great; however, cheap and quick car washes can leave your car with scratches, swirls in the paint, and not protect your car from the elements. I try to detail my vehicles twice a year, for the exterior that means not only washing, but also using an iron remover, clay bar, and waxing.

Earlier this Spring, the front brake on the Ram locked up and totally disintegrated the brakes. The aftermath of this was a fine layer of iron throughout the paint on the driver side. The iron slowly started to rust and left the surface feeling like sandpaper. Washing the truck did not remove the rust, and it continued to get worse. The contaminants had embedded themselves into the clear coat of the truck. The bonded contaminants have corrosive properties and over time they will destroy the finish of your vehicle.

The rust is visible in the paint after washing. The surface was gritty like sandpaper and washing alone did not remove.

First step is to wash your vehicle. I prefer to use a power washer with a foam canon and soap specifically made for a foam canon. I like to pre-rinse the vehicle first, then spray soap suds on with the foam canon. Next I wash the vehicle with a terry cloth mitten and a bucket with the same soap that was in the foam canon. Ideally, it is a good idea to have 2 buckets, one for soap and the other filled with water to rinse the mitten before it goes back into the soap bucket. This minimizes the risk of re-applying the grit and contaminants back to your vehicle which could scratch and/or put swirls in the paint.

After the vehicle has been washed and dried it is time to remove the contaminants from the paint. Depending on how bad the paint is will determine if you should use an iron remover before using the clay bar. The clay bar will remove iron from the paint, but depending on how much iron is in the paint will determine how effective it is at removing the contaminants. Solely relying on the clay bar to remove iron contaminants can cause the bar to become overloaded with iron and cause scratches in the paint. For a 1-2 punch it is best to use a chemical iron remover first followed up with a clay bar to remove the rest of the impurities. This will decrease the risk of scratching the paint with the clay bar.

This picture was taken after the iron remover was applied and rinsed off.

The last step that needs to be done is waxing the vehicle. For this I like to use Maguiar’s NXT Generation 2.0. This will fill the microscopic pits left from removing the contaminants.

Let me know what products you use to detail your car: http://theartisanlifeco.com/contact/

Theartisanlifeco.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. If you enjoyed this article, and are considering purchasing the products reviewed please check out the links below. Thank you.

Mothers California Gold Clay Bar Kit: https://amzn.to/2BUAOYY

Car Care Haven Iron Remover X: https://amzn.to/302deBs

Meguiar’s NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0: https://amzn.to/38X8u4c

Camera Gear Used:

Sony A7RIV: https://amzn.to/2YKp0AZ

Sony 55 mm F1.8 Lens: https://amzn.to/2CKVFOa

DJI Ronin-S Essentials kit: https://amzn.to/2YGcgey

This year my brother moved to Chicago, and left his 2-door Jeep Wrangler JK to my daughter and I. In the past, I’ve had two Jeep Wrangler TJs and loved them; however, every year when the weather was finally nice and the top came off I would always get a bad sunburn. There’s nothing worse than sitting in rush hour traffic and turning into a lobster… This time around, I need to take extra precautions with my daughter riding in the back. I was searching for something that was easy to install and would block the UV rays while still keeping the open air feel of a topless Jeep. That’s when I came across the Alien Sunshade.

It is important to minimize our exposure from the sun and its harmful UV rays. When I was 25 I was diagnosed with melanoma twice within 6 months of each other. According to the Skin Care Foundation, 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer, and getting sunburned 5 or more times doubles your risk for melanoma. Be smart and use a sunshade to reduce the UV rays and risks of getting skin cancer.

The installation of the Alien Sunshade was a breeze. This project did not require any tools or special hardware, and only took about 10 minutes to install. Before you begin though, you will need to remove the hard top and/or lower the soft top. It is recommended to leave the sunshade in the sun for 30 minutes to warm up. By doing this the sunshade will stretch easier and it will remove the wrinkles. The first step is to unfold the sunshade and position it so that the front eyelets align with the 3 footman loops along the windshield. Use the 3 short bungee balls to attach the sunshade to the footman loops. The ball end of the bungee should be underneath the sunshade. Next, use the 12 long bungee balls to attach the sunshade to the roll bar. To keep the sunshade centered and aligned I alternated between driver and passenger sides of the Jeep. After a few tugs and repositioning bungees I was happy with how the sunshade fit. When you are ready to put the top back on you will need to remove the 3 front bungees. After the top is back on you can reattach the 3 front bungees.

The Alien Sunshade turned out great! I purchased the extended version for the 2 door, so that it extended back behind the seat rest. This way I don’t have to worry about my daughter getting exposed to the sun. The paint on the Jeep is called Deep Cherry Red Crystal Pearl, and I wasn’t sure on how well the red colors would match, so I went with Sand. In my opinion, the Sand color goes really well with Deep Cherry Red. It’s great that you can still see through the top, it reduces wind noise, and I think it reduces the extreme heat of the sun in the summer.

So in conclusion, I highly recommend checking out the Alien Sunshade. This product was easy to install. works great, looks great, and reduces your exposure to the sun!

For more information on protecting yourself from the sun check out the Skin Cancer Foundation at https://www.skincancer.org/

If you have, or purchased an Alien Sunshade let me know what you think of it: http://theartisanlifeco.com/contact/

Purchase the Alien Sunshade Extra Long Version from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3dIK27s

Alien Sunshade Full Length Version: https://amzn.to/2NGy4Re

Camera Gear Used:

Sony A7RIV: https://amzn.to/2YKp0AZ

Sony 55 mm F1.8 Lens: https://amzn.to/2CKVFOa

DJI Ronin-S Essentials kit: https://amzn.to/2YGcgey

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