I don't understand why DOT crews allow people to drive over wet tar when all it's going to do is get all over. I had to pass by a repaving crew on my way to work during the late night and just today i noticed my wheel well,flares,mudflaps and sides all had tar spatter,not the thicker kind but the really runny thin tar.
So,while I'm more aggravated than pissed I can be patient and see what you guys would use to remove tar over a large area. I have some 3M adhesive remover which will work but I'd like to find something a little more paint safe since the 3M stuff can dull the clear coat with little wiping. Maybe dilute the stuff or does Goo-Gone work well enough for a large area?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

I've used Turtle Wax Bug and Tar remover and it works decent--it takes a little more elbow grease to get the tar removed. The good thing is that it doesn't remove wax or paint, so it's safer to use than Goo Gone or other harsher stuff. You could also try WD-40. Good luck!

 

a friend of mine used to work for the highway department, on there trucks that had tar, they would grab a tub of Crisco, rub it on, and the grease would wipe away! I have never tried it, but several guys said it worked! and didn't hurt the paint

 

i would stay away from wd-40... the only thing wd-40 is good for is making a cool blow torch wit ha lighter... there are much better solvents on the market and much better penetrating fluids.... wd-40 is both, but excels at neither really

 

Hmm,I think I'll give the Crisco a try and tonight I'm going to talk to my friend who's paint and body guy plus I'm going over to his house tomorrow so I'm sure I'll have a solution. It's still goijng to be a job since I'm going to have to remove the flares and really clean them and the paint under them.

 

I second the Turtle Wax Bug and Tar remover .. stuff works good

 

try a little varsol on a rag, it should wipe off easily and not harm the paint at all.

lee

 

I tried some of the Stoner's Tarminator and that worked pretty well but my firend has a friend that has a detailing business and he offered to clean up my truck and detail the whole thing for $100 which is a deal. The only thing I have to do is remover the flares/mudflaps and clean them my self plus I'll use this opportunity to do the rubber trim between the flares and the body since SR5s don't have the rubber pieces.

 

Once you remove all the big stuff with crisco or whatever, i would use a claybar to do the sides of the truck, just to make sure you got everything off. They take off tar easily, but I wouldnt use it on the full amount of tar you are talking about.

 

Nail polish remover works but I have found that the creamy Go-Jo hand cleaner works the best. It takes tree sap off also. Just remember to wash and wax after.


WD-40 rocks when taking off stickers and the film left behind.

 

Well.I had a pro clean up the truck and IMO it was worth the $100 it cost for the detail part and the state is going to pay for the tar removal.
The truck is immaculate and the paint is as smooth as glass again. The guy removed my flares and did a full clay bar job and he said he while the previous owner looks like he kept the truck clean it didn't appear he waxed it much and the clay bar removed a ton of dirt within the paint and it just looks incredible now.
I know I could have done the job cheaper but I don't think I would have gotten it as truly clean plus it would have taken me definetly a full day but now that the truck is back to being very clean I'll just stay on top of the cleaning which should be much easier now.

Now maybe I can set up a profile now and show the truck off.

 

Glad you got it taken care of. I've often used kerosene to dissolve heavy tar on the inside painted surfaces of my tire wells. You just have to be sure to rinse it well and apply fresh wax to reprotect it, since the kerosene also strips the wax. A friend of mine was in the auto detailing business for years and would often wash tar spattered vehicles with a water/kerosene mixture before final waxing. Ok, ok... not environment friendly.

 

Thanks for the info,I'll try it on the underneath parts.

 

someone told me that a detailers secret to removing tar is using Rain-X on it....I dunno how true it is since I havent tried it or needed to try it....but if you have some handy its worth a shot...

 

The shop used an actual tar/sap remover,just sprayed it on and the tar came right off and then they buffed the whole truck really well and ity looks near new and I've had two strangers in parking lots comment on how well kept my runner was and it's got over 105k on it now.

 

Simple Green also works really well, I always use it to get tar off of my vehicles.
It is very environmentally friendly. http://consumer.simplegreen.com/cons_prod_ori.php

 

Glad you got it all off. Where are the pics?

George

 

An ex girl friends step dad called and complained about the tar on his truck and they paid to have a detail shop take care of it. I was really suprised they did it, but you never know untill you ask.

 

I just recieved my claim forms from the state so hopefully they'll pony up the $100 I paid for the removal;I also have pics and times I drive to work and when the incident occured so I actually feel confident I'll get reimbursed.

 

Glad to hear you got it taken care of!

Do most body shops do a claybar and polishing as part of their normal wax job?

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