My Cybertruck DIY Polishing Results After 3 Days

[HaulingAss]

Awesome! Thanks for the details. Which sander at which speed did you use for it? Did you practice on anything before starting the truck?

The Festool FEQ-Plus RO 150 (150mm = 6 inches). I use it on the highest speed with a light touch (heavy pressure will just cause the hard metal to dull your abrasives really fast) and I've experimented with going back and forth between the two modes, but I can't remember which one I found more effective. Any random orbit sander with a 5mm orbit should work as long as you have the right abrasives on it for what you are trying to achieve.

I didn't practice first, I just took it to the truck and started sanding. It's really hard metal so it would take some seriously negligent actions to do any real damage. Taking a grinding wheel to it would fall in that category.

Do keep in mind that you will be sanding the protective passivation layer off so you will want that to re-establish itself before exposing it to oily fingerprints, salts and other harsh chemicals. You can either wash it and let it self-passivate, or apply citric acid or CitraSurf 77 afterwards.

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[Jaye31987]

The Festool FEQ-Plus RO 150 (150mm = 6 inches). I use it on the highest speed with a light touch (heavy pressure will just cause the hard metal to dull your abrasives really fast) and I've experimented with going back and forth between the two modes, but I can't remember which one I found more effective. Any random orbit sander with a 5mm orbit should work as long as you have the right abrasives on it for what you are trying to achieve.

I didn't practice first, I just took it to the truck and started sanding. It's really hard metal so it would take some seriously negligent actions to do any real damage. Taking a grinding wheel to it would fall in that category.

Do keep in mind that you will be sanding the protective passivation layer off so you will want that to re-establish itself before exposing it to oily fingerprints, salts and other harsh chemicals. You can either wash it and let it self-passivate, or apply citric acid or CitraSurf 77 afterwards.

Can you link pictures with your cybertruck. Im curious on the look with your approach.

 

[HaulingAss]

Can you link pictures with your cybertruck. Im curious on the look with your approach.

In a photo it's difficult to tell apart from the factory finish, light is everything. I tried to take photos after I polished it last time but the scratch patterns in a freshly polished surface are too fine to really show in a photo very easily.

Here is one I took specifically to show the kind of fine scratches I get after driving a muddy/dirty CT through heavy brush. Branches and sapling trunks grinding mud into the finish, often for miles at a time. The light was really good and I optimized the angle of parking and camera angle to show the scratches. This is after I had polished previous scratches out and then bushwhacked for miles.

The following photo was taken on the same day, but with different lighting, and you can't even see the scratches that were in the previous photo.

The fact is, I spend about an hour or more off-road for every hour on road (1/3 of all my miles). So, my freshly polished CT has never made it more than a week or so without getting a new batch of tiger stripes. And most pictures I take are in the mountains where the truck is already muddy or covered in dust. But even the tiger stripes don't come through in photos unless I purposefully set up the lighting and camera angles to show them off (like I did in the first photo). Currently my CT is covered in tiger stripes.

The next photo show the soft glow that comes from a finer than OEM polishing, although I'm pretty sure it's also covered in tiger stripes (and some mud), they just aren't showing up:

I'm not sure if I'm going to polish before winter sets in, if I do I'll try to take some close-ups but I'm not sure they will be that helpful, it's still all about the light. Here are two closing shots, dirt, scratches and all:

 

[Jaye31987]

In a photo it's difficult to tell apart from the factory finish, light is everything. I tried to take photos after I polished it last time but the scratch patterns in a freshly polished surface are too fine to really show in a photo very easily.

Here is one I took specifically to show the kind of fine scratches I get after driving a muddy/dirty CT through heavy brush. Branches and sapling trunks grinding mud into the finish, often for miles at a time. The light was really good and I optimized the angle of parking and camera angle to show the scratches. This is after I had polished previous scratches out and then bushwhacked for miles.

The following photo was taken on the same day, but with different lighting, and you can't even see the scratches that were in the previous photo.

The fact is, I spend about an hour or more off-road for every hour on road (1/3 of all my miles). So, my freshly polished CT has never made it more than a week or so without getting a new batch of tiger stripes. And most pictures I take are in the mountains where the truck is already muddy or covered in dust. But even the tiger stripes don't come through in photos unless I purposefully set up the lighting and camera angles to show them off (like I did in the first photo). Currently my CT is covered in tiger stripes.

The next photo show the soft glow that comes from a finer than OEM polishing, although I'm pretty sure it's also covered in tiger stripes (and some mud), they just aren't showing up:

I'm not sure if I'm going to polish before winter sets in, if I do I'll try to take some close-ups but I'm not sure they will be that helpful, it's still all about the light. Here are two closing shots, dirt, scratches and all:

Thank you for the replied. Much appreciated. Definately post on your next polished! I think a video might help.

 

[Sousray]

I like it. I am about to do the same thing. I was able to get Tesla service to give me one of the Cantrails when they replaced mine so I could practice. I did a few strokes on a small piece using a Random Orbital Sander and a hose with wet sand 6 in discs. I started with 600 grit and went up to 1000, then 3000. finish was OK, but when I tried to polish with a buffing pad, it left swirls. So I am going to try 5ooo and then 6000 and use a foam pad to buff out. I did notice that the polished surface showed finger prints fast. I want to see what the 5000 and 6000 looks like before buffing. Maybe I will leave it that way if it looks good.

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