Keeping Cybertruck clean w/ Bar Keepers Friend + Windex...

[Mini2nut]

Familiar with FL love bugs. They can be heard striking the front end and mirrors.

I read somewhere that dryer sheets help ease bug removal.

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[DMC-81]

This thread is comical. The truck is made of hard stainless steel!

It doesn’t need to be wrapped, unless you don’t care for the appearance of the first bare stainless steel vehicle in 40 years.

When you strip away the passive layer with a product like Bar Keepers Friend, the metal will re-form a new passive layer by re-oxidizing. That’s why it’s called Stainless Steel.

The Florida DeLorean club found Windex leaves a film. As I posted a few times before, the best product is no product for regular maintenance.

If you want more details, just search “cleaning” on this forum.

 

[scottf200]

Barkeepers Friend, Invisible Glass and Hydrosilex Marine...it'll last for a year or so of regular washes.

Re: HydroSilex Marine is a ceramic based coating meant to replace waxes and other sealants you may have previously used on your boat.

I'm pretty sure he tried multiple ceramic based coatings but left a brownish or oranglish tint that looked awful when he changed the camera angle various ways.

Good thing is that plenty of people will be trying things and we'll find out the answers.

Many may be the same as the Delorean folks already have tried for many years tho.

 

[Cyberman]

• Mild acids will "passivate" stainless by dissolving the iron near the surface, thus increasing the proportion of chromium. I've never actually used an acid on the DeLorean, though.
• The black residue is from oxidized steel particles removed from the surface. I always see this when cleaning abrasively, although I use a 3M Scotchbrite pad. This pad would likely be too course for the Cybertruck finish.
• An abrasive cleaning nets a very shiny result, which slowly dulls over time. I typically scrub the whole vehicle and then just wash it with soap to remove the residue instead of trying to soak it up with towels.
• Cleaning a stainless vehicle outside gets me a sunburn. Sitting next to one at a campsite or auto show will, also.

*Cleaning a vehicle outside gives my kids a sunburn, usually.

 

[geoffgeoff]

I got lucky in that

Re: HydroSilex Marine is a ceramic based coating meant to replace waxes and other sealants you may have previously used on your boat.

I'm pretty sure he tried multiple ceramic based coatings but left a brownish or oranglish tint that looked awful when he changed the camera angle various ways.

Good thing is that plenty of people will be trying things and we'll find out the answers.

Many may be the same as the Delorean folks already have tried for many years tho.

I got lucky in that I found HydroSilex right after I took possession of my white 2020 MY. It was before HS came out with Marine which seems to have similar easy application, but better wear properties. That and their Ceramic Soap are great products. I have no affiliation with HS other than being a grateful customer who passes along the good news to others.

 

[REM]

For those that aren't familiar with Love Bugs. The Florida season is about 6 weeks of this.

They can often feel like pea size hail hitting the vehicle when driving through a swarm.

I would just file an insurance claim for total loss of the bumper at that point lol.

 

[PerfectFlaw]

I would just file an insurance claim for total loss of the bumper at that point lol.

Lol seriously, imo the car is totalled and id just buy a new one after that..

 

[csphili]

Familiar with FL love bugs. They can be heard striking the front end and mirrors.

I read somewhere that dryer sheets help ease bug removal.

Can confirm, I have used dryer sheets to remove bug residue from a black model 3

 

[HaulingAss]

This thing is meant to be wrapped, or preferably, PPFd. The bare stainless is going to look like trash in a few months if you don't take care of it. I predict a ton of bad condition Cybertrucks running around with people who just leave finger prints and bird turds on them.

That's another thing, bird droppings are going to etch the surface and leave permanent marks.

Bird droppings can ruin a clearcoat. With stainless you can just use an abrasive pad and polish to a fresh surface. And I think you will find that the stainless is not all that susceptible to problems that can't be easily fixed.

 

[anionic1]

Tesla used some type of random orbital mild abrasive finish to reduce visible natural graining of the body panels and to make the finish more uniform appearing and, my guess would be, to give buyers a finish that could be sort of reproducible at home to fix minor scratches. Using barkeepers friend is going to remove that factory finish. Maybe not fully remove it on the first pass but it won’t take many. Barkeepers friend has feldspar in it as a polishing agent which is harder than stainless steel. And you will likely not be able to fully reproduce the factory finish at home.

 

[Friday]

Bird droppings can ruin a clearcoat. With stainless you can just use an abrasive pad and polish to a fresh surface. And I think you will find that the stainless is not all that susceptible to problems that can't be easily fixed.

When I had my Pacifica, bird crap was really hard to remove from whatever paint clearcoat Chrysler put on it. Add the high heat season to turn the crap to cement. The roof could only be accessed to clean via step ladder so stuff would build up unnoticed. I started using an enzyme cleaner Poop Off. It works a treat but it's still a nasty action to clean bird crap (at the very least use gloves). I think the CT glass roof could get cooked on crap, so a cleaner like this may make some sense. Possibly on the HFS too. Bird crap is very acidic and could leave shadows. Curious to see how HFS responds.

I've always had the issue with Windex and a residue film on windshields. Especially with a microfiber, less so with fresh paper towels. The Sprayway is a foam, so it doesn't run like liquid Windex, the foam sits for a while to soak and when using paper towel (not microfiber) there is no haze and no need for a continued buffing to get to clear.

I only use Windex now to clean my white kitchen tile floor.

 

[HaulingAss]

Tesla used some type of random orbital mild abrasive finish to reduce visible natural graining of the body panels and to make the finish more uniform appearing and, my guess would be, to give buyers a finish that could be sort of reproducible at home to fix minor scratches. Using barkeepers friend is going to remove that factory finish. Maybe not fully remove it on the first pass but it won’t take many. Barkeepers friend has feldspar in it as a polishing agent which is harder than stainless steel. And you will likely not be able to fully reproduce the factory finish at home.

I don't think Tesla used any kind of random orbit finish on the body. In the video of Sandy Munro getting a tour of the Cybertruck production facility, Lars said the robots have like some kind of "Brillo" pad and they just do a couple of very light passes back and forth. Here's the time stamped link to the finishing process:



I suppose it's possible that Lars is referring to a couple of very light back and forth passes with a random orbit buffer, but my best guess is that its a drum polisher with fine enough abrasives that it doesn't leave a distinct linear pattern. Unless they are very huge random orbit pads, or an array of random orbit pads, it would take more than a couple of passes. That's why I think it's a drum polisher that is sized to the entire width of the panel. This could be determined definitively with a 50X microscopic look at the surface, using appropriate lighting.

Pro tip for Youtubers: Get a digital microscope video camera (they are not that expensive) and give us a close up look of the panels of various Cybertrucks you have access to.

The video link above is worth watching in its entireity by anyone interested in how the Cybertruck is manufactured, even if you have already watched the original. This one has some interesting bits of commentary by Hans and Nick that help explain what we are seeing.

My biggest take-away is that Tesla has some real revolutionary production techniques here that bring vehicle manufacturing into the 21st century (finally) and that Cybertruck manufacturing is set up as a manufacturing development platform with plenty of room to adjust processes as they learn. Cybertruck manufacturing volumes will gradually increase through 2024 to respectable levels (but perhaps not as high as some have forecast) and once the systems and processes are mature, a new line will be built, more compact and optimized for speed. I wouldn't expect huge volumes, high speeds and jaw-droppingly low prices until 2026.

 

[anionic1]

I don't think Tesla used any kind of random orbit finish on the body. In the video of Sandy Munro getting a tour of the Cybertruck production facility, Lars said the robots have like some kind of "Brillo" pad and they just do a couple of very light passes back and forth. Here's the time stamped link to the finishing process:



I suppose it's possible that Lars is referring to a couple of very light back and forth passes with a random orbit buffer, but my best guess is that its a drum polisher with fine enough abrasives that it doesn't leave a distinct linear pattern. Unless they are very huge random orbit pads, or an array of random orbit pads, it would take more than a couple of passes. That's why I think it's a drum polisher that is sized to the entire width of the panel. This could be determined definitively with a 50X microscopic look at the surface, using appropriate lighting.

Pro tip for Youtubers: Get a digital microscope video camera (they are not that expensive) and give us a close up look of the panels of various Cybertrucks you have access to.

The video link above is worth watching in its entireity by anyone interested in how the Cybertruck is manufactured, even if you have already watched the original. This one has some interesting bits of commentary by Hans and Nick that help explain what we are seeing.

My biggest take-away is that Tesla has some real revolutionary production techniques here that bring vehicle manufacturing into the 21st century (finally) and that Cybertruck manufacturing is set up as a manufacturing development platform with plenty of room to adjust processes as they learn. Cybertruck manufacturing volumes will gradually increase through 2024 to respectable levels (but perhaps not as high as some have forecast) and once the systems and processes are mature, a new line will be built, more compact and optimized for speed. I wouldn't expect huge volumes, high speeds and jaw-droppingly low prices until 2026.

I looked at it very closely in person. its orbital. and its random.

 

[HaulingAss]

I looked at it very closely in person. its orbital. and its random.

Nice! Is it huge, or do they use an array of smaller pads?

 

[anionic1]

Nice! Is it huge, or do they use an array of smaller pads?

It’s very small swirls. I have no idea how many pads

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