Plastics on Chevrolet Avalanche

[Sticks11]

I recently bought a 2003 Chevy Avalanche from my father that he had for a couple of years. As you know there is alot of plastic on the vehicles, mine though does not have the lower body plastics just the back/top of the truck. The plastic was very faded do to the previous owners lack of maintenance. My dad tried several products that never did very well and then he found Mothers Back to Black. It did ok but just didn't last long and protect like I would have thought. Well when I bought the vehicle from him I was determined to get it looking good again. I got to thinking about why the shine never really held for very long and just thought that maybe the Back to Black just really couldn't penetrate into the plastic because of all the dirt in the porous nature of the plastic. So, I pressure washed the plastic. Man did a lot of grimy dirt run down the side of the truck. I then put on a coat of the Mothers Back to Black and man did it make a difference. It's been a couple months now and it's still holding it's shine. I couldn't believe how well it work. I'll try to post som pics. Just thought I would share this with everyone as I was very impressed. The key though was to pressure wash the plastic first.

[Sticks11]

Pics of the results.

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/re...=8EauGrlw3cMOM

[admin]

Welcome to Wax Forum, and thank you very much for sharing your experience -- that's impressive!

The Avalanche body cladding has been problematic for many owners, and it is complicated by different years having different protective finishes, all of which seem to age differently and respond to restorative products differently.

One thing that can get in the way of Back-to-Black working properly is that in your model year there is a coating that oxidizes, and likely pressure washing got rid of it and allowed the Back-to-Black to do its job.

In general, dirt in the textured coating of any surface can also prevent Back-to-Black (or any trim restoration product for that matter) from doing its job.

We'll certainly agree that it sounds like your idea of pressure washing was the key to optimal results in this case.

Thanks again!

[Golliger]

Very nice. Thanks for posting.

[Larry A]

Ive always just use spray wax on the plastic cladding. Thats just for maintainence not restoring. Fx spray will work fine.

[admin]

What works for one person may not always work for another.

GM used a variety of composites and finishes on the avalanche -- and likewise with other automakers on their trim -- and they all fade differently and often respond differently.

Generally speaking, faded trim should be maintained with Back-to-Black or Protectant, but FX Spray Wax to maintain is an interesting idea -- thanks for the tip.