[rheavn]

Over the last year I have conducted two tests that I felt would take at least a year to evaluate results. Hopefully the results will help others in the maintenance of their coach.

The first was I have not washed my coach with soap, water & a brush for over a year.  I have used microfiber cloths and Wash & Wax All exclusively.  I have not seen any degrading of the painted surface.  No scratching of any kind.  The positives I have found is washing the coach can be done in my shop in any weather.  I don't have to do the whole coach at one time and I no longer deal with water spotting.  I wax my coach once a year and have found that it polishes & waxes easier now than before.  This is not an advertisement for Wash & Wax All as I have received nothing from the company.  I chose it based on availability and price.  There are other products that may be similar and give similar results.

The second test was with some delamination of the basement skins.  I caught the delamination early on four different doors.  The delamination areas ranged from 3 inches to about 12 inches.  Each of the delamination areas started at the door frame corners.  I tested several products using scrap aluminum of similar qualities.  After testing I chose to use in a real life test two products.  The first was Loctite epoxy instant mix.  It is a clear epoxy that is mixed in a mixing tip as it is being dispensed.  I worked the epoxy behind the aluminum frame where it was delaminating and then clamped the skin to the frame.  After letting it dry I unclamped and all of the delaminated areas were now solidly attached.  I chose to reenforce the corners by adding a bead to the corners of the door frame.  After doing a couple of doors I felt the epoxy was not leaving the bead as I wanted as it tended to run.  I left it to see if it would stand up to use though.  I decided for putting a bead to reenforce the corners on the rest of the doors to use Sikaflex 252.  The Sikaflex was easier to apply in a larger bead that did not run like the epoxy.  After a full year I have not had a single door that I fixed begin delaminating again.  All frames have stayed tight with the frames.  Both the epoxy beads and the Sikaflex beads remain intact.  The epoxy beads are clear.  The Sikaflex 252 is black.  Again this is not an advertisement for Loctite epoxy instant mix or Sikaflex 252 as I received nothing from either company.  These products were chosen based on my testing of their bonding qualities, availability & price.  

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/epxy_1m...Minute.htm

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/use...oCFgnw_wcB

[qcj]

Great write-up Steve.  Please tell me what polish you use once a year and how you use it.  I have never used Wash Wax to completely wash the MH, but have used it as a spot clean-up, like getting bug off the front at a park and I also use it to completely do the slides both sides and top and bottom at lease twice a year in hopes to keep the rubber bladder from sticking.

[Junior Guru]

Thanks Steve!

I use Wash & Wax All as well. Works really well if you keep the pads clean or have extras.

I still wash my coach with soap and water when it's really really dirty. It's not so much that Wash Wax All won't get it clean, I just find soap and water is more effective at keeping dark (black, blue, etc) paint from getting scratched from dirt and particles.

But you've got to use the right soap. I use soap from Adams Polishes car wash http://adamspolishes.com/shop/exterior/g...allon.html. It's expensive but works very well and very concentrated. It's PH neutral so you do not need to rinse it off right away. You can actually let it dry on the paint or wash in the sun before you rinse it off. If you dry using a little Wash Wax All Spray or Adams Detail Spray, you will add lots of shine, make drying easier, and add some protection.

I rinse with deionized water from http://www.crspotless.com.

I could share more very easy to use products that I use to keep coach clean and protected if anyone is interested.

[rheavn]

I have used the Griot's polishes with their 6" polisher and applicators for a few years now.  There are four different polishes for addressing different levels of paint issues.  Remember polishing is NOT waxing.  Polishing is addressing the imperfections in the paint and hopefully removing them.  I have had very good results.  For waxing I use the Griot's 6" power polisher, their applicators and any good carnuba wax--not a cleaner wax.  I currently use Meguiar's "Gold Class Carnuba Plus". 

http://www.griotsgarage.com/category/car...lishing.do

http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G7014J-Cl...guiars+wax

If I was starting from scratch, I would wash the coach.  I would then clay bar the entire coach.  This goes fast & removes surface impurities.  I would then polish imperfections as needed.  If the paint is oxidized then polishing the entire coach would be necessary.  Once polished, then wax the coach.  Once you have your paint job in good shape it will be very easy to keep in good shape.  The shine will be amazing!

I have a dark color, medium color and white on my coach.  About 75% of my time is dealing with the dark color portion of my coach.  Imperfections show up much more in the dark colors.   So a dark colored coach will take more time & effort to keep.

As a last resort remember that most people see your coach from more than 20 feet away, so don't focus on minor imperfections(known as Steve's 5 foot rule).  This job is well worth the effort.

[folivier]

I used WashWaxAll for the 2 years we had our coach. I remained outside the entire time. Occasionally when road grime was really bad on the bottom I'd wash it with water. WWA was very easy to use and I was really pleased with the result. Others like Firecoat, which I still have the samples but never tried. Yearly I waxed it using Nufinish. I found these 2 approaches over 2 years worked great. Now however for the Tahoe I pay $15.00/month for unlimited car washes at the locally owned drive through carwash.
On the basement skins I did similar to Steve but used System3 Gel Magic epoxy 2 part. Unfortunately some of the skins were starting to separate after a year. To be honest my skins were much more separated than Steves. If I would do it over I'd remove the frame and old 3M tape and retape it again like Magown did. Much more work but probably a longer term solution. But if Steve's solution works then I'd definitely try it before it gets worse.

[smagown]

For seven years now I have used Griot's products and Meguiar's carnuba on my coach. I've used the same on my cars for many more years.
For the delamination, I tried Steve and Forest's methods, I couldn't get a good bond, but in the end, took the one troublesome door off the frame, removed the 3M tape (difficult but was worth it for realignment). The key is accurately marking where the door is on the frame (I used a black marker, once the tape is removed, you don't have a reference point. If the door is not perfect on the frame, it will not align and may hit the adjoining bay doors). No problems so far one year in.

[lbrachfe]

I have never used soap on my coach, only pressure wash Deo water and the Imron paint looks as good as the day I bought it. I use Wizard products for bugs and waterless clean up. Can do the entire coach in a day by hand including roof. Newell uses Wizard products too and many of you I'm sure got a sample when at the factory.I like the aircraft product a lot that Rudy's friend gave us at Spearfish, but the cost is more than double the Wizard line, which is almost comparable....
I buy Wizard products by the gallon and save quite a bit. It takes exactly 1 qt to do my coach when sprayed as I go with a damp towel.