Badger62811

OK so I think one of my last posts before I headed off to SC went a little something like "if I even have a truck when I get back." My wife's 18 y/o cousin was borrowing my truck to get back and forth to college while I was gone for 2 months.

Well, the good news is, I do.

Somehow, she managed to rack up nearly 3,000 miles, my clutch is toast, added a few scratches, wrote on the windows with glass chalk (but also managed to turn my window trim red) was driving with just 2 quarts of oil.... and worst of all... she smoked in MY truck!!

I flew in from SC late Saturday (the 17th) stayed the night in Denver and came home Sunday. Everything was good until I went to get in my truck with my wife and daughter to go get our Christmas tree. And that's after my wife had done several treatments with Ozium (sp?) Yeah.. SOOOO not a happy camper.

I know the question has been asked a hundred times before, because I've seen it on here and always thought "thank God that will never be an issue I have." BUT... what's the best way to get cigarette smoke out? Other than removing allllllll the carpet and vinyl etc.







Scratches on the roof?




And I found all this crap under the seat. Which means she was smokin weed while in the truck, too. Explains some of the scratches I guess.


She burned me pretty good in other ways as well. But that belongs on a totally different forum. All I'm gonna say is she was living with us, and decided to move back to Oregon 3 days before I came home.

worshipmentor

iTrader: (3)

Why are we surprised when teenagers (yes, most 20 something's are STILL teens) act like teenagers????
IMHO it's mostly a welfare mentality. If they have never had anything they don't value it when others let the use it (can you say OCCUPY movement?)
It's a difference between helping and enabling:
Helpin is doing something for someone they CAN'T do for themselves.....
Enabling is doing something for someone they WON'T do for themselves.
Try Febreeze on the fabric!

tj884Rdlx

sorry to hear your generosity was taken advantage of.

to get that smell out, i recommend a 3 front attack.
first, soak everything vinyl with armor all. mist it all down, let it soak in for at least 5 mins. that will rehydrate all the vinyl and lift any oils including nicotine that's settled on it. make sure you do the headliner too. if there's heavy grease or burn marks, spot treat with a degreaser too. you'll probably need to degrease the whole steering wheel anyway.

then, "shampoo" the seats and carpets. mist them down with a spray upholstery cleaner. let it sit then scrub it lightly with a brush. then rinse and extract with a carpet cleaning machine. you can usually rent them at a grocery store if you dont have your own. don't forget the seatbacks!

finally, use ammonia-based window cleaner to soak all the glass and remove the nicotine layer that collects on the glass. you may have to clean them 3-4x before you get it all off.

if you want to be devious, you can tell your wife's cousin you saved the "stuff" she left behind in your truck and want to return it to her.

save all the crud you vacuumed out, save the dirty paper towels, etc. and tie it all in a small plastic trash bag. you can mail it up to her. someone so ignorant will probably dig through it twice before realizing her 'contraband' isn't in there.

fdp101452

Ive had real good luck with Bounce drier sheets under the seats and any place else you can put them.

Badger62811

LMAO I like that ^^^

Hey hey easy now worshipmentor.. I'll be 23 tomorrow.. lol

Um yeah... At first I was pissed... But after a while I couldn't stop laughing. She burned me good, AND got away with it. I still can't stop laughing. All of the talk... "I want to change. I'm going to quit smoking by July 1st. I will never smoke in your truck. I'm going to get a job (but we just found all of the job applications she filled out but never turned in)"

But anyway. Thanks for the tips. I'll have to try it out. There *used* to be a certain smell in the truck when running the defroster on a cold day... it was the same smell I smelled during every hunting season, riding around with my dad 8 years ago. I'll probably never get that back.

Badger62811

Unfortunately, we've switched to the dryer bar, so I don't have those sitting around.

I was thinking about lighting a candle and putting it in there since they say an open flame cures bathroom stench. It's just been a while since I've interacted with the fire department, and I'd like to keep it that way.

Badger62811

My wife has also heard about putting a cup of baking soda in there.

Anyone else use this method?

Leviticus6432

Oh I would flip! Turn it in to insurance... lol Those odor eater things at wmart in the car section work ok... That or the home odor eaters lol... those white cone things idk I don't smoke and I would throw someone out if they got in any of my vehicles with a cig

wii_tarded

Just to be safe, I'd contact the local police to see if they would let a dog search it. If she hid any somewhere, you don't want to be caught with it. Be pro-active. Anytime I have bought a used car in the past, I'd get the police to take the dog around because they would do surprise drug/DUI check points here, and I didn't want to have to try and explain myself then.

aviator

Good idea on the dog wil
first vehicle I ever bought myself [my 87 truck] had come from a Police auction so I had a friend go through it with a drug dog and it signaled on the seats... I pulled the seats out and found enough "seeds" and bits to start a respectable operation had I been inclined to do so...
It took forever to get the smoke stink out... I used fabric/carpet cleaner on the seats and engine degreaser on the vinyl floor... and lots of armour all...

My 94 had been smoked in prior to my getting it... to get it clean I actually disassembled the entire dash/duct work and cleaned and scrubbed with degreaser, then dish soap, then contact cleaner allowing it to dry completely between each step... I was prepping for custom vinyl paint dye job though so you could omit the contact cleaner step if you are'nt doing that...

you be surprised the amt. of dust/dirt and crud stuck to the inside of the duct work... I found big leaves inside the ducts past the fan... how they got in there is anyone's guess... under the fan there was a mound of damp dirt and even some 'shrooms trying to sprout... crazy...
clean out your fans guys

If you do send all that stuff to your family member don't put a return address on it you can get in trouble for sending 'weed/paraphernalia through the mail... for extra fun address the pkg. to her parents with a note telling them she forgot it in your truck...
might cause some family fights though...

as for the hunting season smell just spray a little of that doe piss into the ducts and your good... or are you looking for a piney/woodsy smell... spritz a little cedar oil into the vents... if your drive is stressful or you have car sick sensitive passengers use lavender oil, a few drops top of the seat backs or back of the fabric headrests will calm you down/settle their stomachs...

TNRabbit

The heavy duty Febreeze is fantastic. Spray on all porous surfaces.

Yes, a BOX of baking soda under the seat for a couple of weeks will soak up a tremendous amount of odor.

Good luck! I'd be in a @$$-kicking mood if that happened to my truck...I like the idea of mailing all the garbage to her~

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

I'd pass along her reputation to all other family members to prevent someone else from getting the shaft.

:wabbit2:

TNRabbit

EXCELLENT idea.

john4wd

I totally know how you all feel about cig smoking, I used to be a cig smoker and I know how awefull it is on the interiors, my current toy was never smoked in and had a clean ashtray (no melting) and it's a change drawer now and a totally clean cig lighter, so I got lucky :}

cred92

At the industrial store I work at we sell a smoke odor eliminator by zap it really doesn't smell like anything we bought a brand new 1 ton delivery truck n we shared it with my uncles other company next door and this guy smoked in it threw the butts in the floor burned the headliner and everything else I was pissed I had to go pick that truck up!!! The other delivery guy soaked the headliner n everything else wiped it down cracked the windows a week n it aired out no smell at all. But now I see that burn in the headliner n can't help but anger lol

Discombobulated

I have seen some posts about what comes out of the fan, leaves critters etc. how hard is it to pull the fan and compress the ducts ???? Pull dash to get to it ?? I have seen the foam filter but is is behind that assembly?

drmix

Im sure a buffer could clean up most of those scratches

aviator

You'd need to pull the whole dash to get the duct work but it comes apart very easily mostly just compression snaps and a few screws/clips.
The fan assembly should come out with a few screws.

Badger62811

Thanks guys.. Especially the drug dog thing. I've already ran the plate to make sure there weren't any outstanding parking/ red light tickets. I'm good to go in that department. Thank God. The hiding places are pretty limited... I've already thoroughly checked everywhere... except one.. hmmm.. but I haven't found any indication of residue. Doesn't mean she didn't have it in the truck, just means she was careful not to waste any.

I love the idea of mailing everything back to her.

So here's what I did today...

*Vacuumed everything
*Washed the windows with ammonia based window cleaner
*Wiped ALL surfaces down with pure undiluted Pine Sol
*Emptied a bottle of Pure Romance Island Breeze Between the Sheets.. http://www.amazon.com/Pure-Romance-B...ref=pd_sxp_f_i Smells a little girlie.. I sprayed the guest bed with it 2 days ago and when I walked into the room today it still smelled like it. Instant inspiration! I turned on the heater and set it to recirculating air so that it would pull it into the vents and filter and make it smell good. When I turned it on after letting it sit, powder flew out of the vents into my face. It was painful. But it smelled good
*Immediately following I emptied an entire bottle of Ozium
*Once that was empty I followed it with about half a bottle of Febreze
*Closed the doors and am letting everything do their thing. The windows are completely covered in powder (from the Between the Sheets) on the inside so I know I got a good amount everywhere.

I'll open it up this weekend when I take the Christmas tree to the recyclers and see how it smells

Another little fun fact...

My wife was in Oregon visiting her folks for 2 months while I was gone, leaving her cousin home alone. I guess she threw parties.. a lot... Well, they were going to play beer pong, but didn't have a table. So, in her infinite wisdom, she took her bedroom door off the hinges and used the door for a table. I never would have found out, but she didn't tighten the screws all the way down and the door wouldn't close.

More to come later.

MP's4R

big downer you found yourself in. Like your title says "Life Lesson" you've learned what not to do with this particular person. but does that mean your kindness and generocity (wheather it was yours or your wifes decision, you ultimately still did the huge favor/help), are damaged for every other good deed reciever that crosses your path?, i hope not. it is difficult to differentiate what "WorshipMentor" said, about help and enablement. Theres a fine line. And as you said she burned you, on to some one else that can truly use your help. she trashed your truck and probly didnt even fulfill the cardinal rule of truck borrowing...filling the tank (pun intended). on the positive side of things i noticed the hood didnt match anways so you could say that one day the whole truck needs new paint. blah blah, im sure youve tost it around enough. sorry to hear what happened.