Truck Detailing Kit
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Washing a truck is not washing a car with more soap. The difference lives in the lower third: rocker panels, wheel wells, mud flaps, step bars and the back of the bumper, all of which collect a baked on mix of road film, grease and dried mud that body shampoo will not shift. So this kit runs a gallon shampoo for the body, a clinging cleaner for the wells, a citrus degreaser for the greasy metal, and a floor hammock for the cab that carries the dog and the gear. More kits built for one situation are on the bundle guides hub.
Start at the bottom
Look at where the dirt actually is on a work truck. The hood and roof are dusty. The rockers behind the front wheels are brown and textured, the wheel wells have a crust in them, and the step bars carry a gray film of road grime and whatever came off your boots. That bottom band is most of the job, and doing it last means dragging it up the truck with a dirty mitt.
A crew cab also has a cabin that gets used like a workspace. Boots, tools, dogs and wet gear all end up in the rear footwells, which is a different problem from a car interior and wants a physical answer rather than a chemical one. If you want the packing side of traveling with a dog rather than the cleaning side, our guide on packing the car for a weekend with the dog covers it, and the wider shelf is on the Wash Bay hub.
Body soap, wheel wells, grease, cab floor
IRS is the body soap and a gallon is not an indulgence on a crew cab. P&S says to dilute at the rated 128 to 1 into your wash bucket or into a machine feed, and describes the soap as producing a thick long lasting lather with good rinsing qualities that does not leave streaks behind. The maker positions it as strong enough to lift heavy dirt while staying mild enough for everyday washing. On a truck the practical value of a thick lather is dwell: suds that stay on a vertical rocker panel while you work the other side.
Mud Buster is the pint that handles the wells and the arches. P&S describes it as an all around cleaner for the dirt and grime that collects on the undercarriage, the frame and the wheels, as well as the exterior of ATVs, dirt bikes and off road trucks. The maker says it clings to the surface it lands on so it can penetrate the deposits instead of running straight off. P&S notes it also prepares tires for dressing and leaves behind a thin layer of corrosion inhibitors. It can be used as it comes or diluted, including through a foam cannon for a pre treatment pass. Surface compatibility beyond the maker's own list is not published, so keep it off polished trim until you have tried a hidden spot.
Orange Degreaser is the gallon for grease rather than dirt, and the distinction matters. 3D says it uses limonene oils, the terpenes extracted from orange, lime and grapefruit peel, in a water base rather than a petroleum solvent base. The maker lists it as dissolving oily films, traffic film, grease and sludge, along with bug splatter, tree sap and road tar. 3D also notes the slow to medium evaporation rate, which is what gives you working time on a hot step bar instead of a dry panel thirty seconds later. Bed rails, door jambs and the tailgate hinge are where it earns its place.
The floor hammock is the cab half of the kit. This is the passenger side version for full size crew cabs with fold up rear seats. With the seat folded, 4Knines runs the cover down the back of the front seat, across the floor and up the folded seat bottom, so a dog rides on fabric rather than on carpet. 4Knines lists heavy duty colorfast 600D polyester, UV protected straps and nylon clips, with no azo dyes. 4Knines also states the covers are not chew proof and asks that you never leave a dog in a parked vehicle unsupervised. Order the driver side as well if both footwells get used.
The chemistry and the cover come from two different makers in two different states, and they will not land on the same day. Pal Automotive items are sold and shipped by Pal Automotive through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift. 4Knines® items are sold and shipped by 4Knines® through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift. If you are planning a wash weekend, order the gallons first and treat the cab cover as a separate job whenever it turns up.
What a truck kit like this leaves out
No pressure washer and no undercarriage lance, which is what a competing list would put at the top. Both are worth owning on a truck that sees mud, and neither belongs in a chemistry order: you buy a washer once, for years, after deciding between gas and electric and sorting out your water supply.
No bed liner treatment or wax either. A spray in liner does not want the same products as paint, and a truck that works does not usually get waxed, so putting either in the kit would be selling a step most owners will skip. Add a dressing for the tires if the sidewalls matter to you.
The order on a dirty truck
Rinse everything first, hard, starting at the wheel wells and working forward. Spray Mud Buster into the wells and along the rockers and let it cling while you rinse the rest of the truck, then agitate with a stiff brush and rinse it out. Degrease the step bars, the jambs and the bed rails next, one section at a time so the citrus oils are still wet when you wipe.
Only then do the body wash, top down, two buckets, with a separate mitt kept for the lower band. Rinse and dry. The cab is the last job: pull the mats, vacuum, fit the hammock with the rear seat folded, and check the clips sit clear of the seat belt buckles. The cover is the part that means next month's version of this is shorter, because wet paws and a tool bag land on fabric you can shake out instead of on carpet.
What it replaces
The truck wash on the way home from a job site, which is fast and does the lower third least well of all. It also replaces buying pints of everything, which on a vehicle with this much surface area is the definition of a false economy. What it does not replace is a pressure washer if you drive in real mud, and nothing in a bottle will.
Questions
Can I use the degreaser on the whole truck?
3D lists it as a general purpose cleaner for interior and exterior work, so it is not limited to the greasy parts. On paint it is far stronger than you need and it will take wax off, so keep it for the metal and plastic that actually carries grease.
Will the floor hammock fit a half ton with a bench that does not fold?
No. This one is cut for full size crew cabs with fold up rear seats, which is what lets the cover run up the folded seat bottom. A rear seat cover with a hammock is the right shape for a bench that stays down.
Do I need both Mud Buster and the degreaser?
If your truck is dusty rather than dirty, no, and Mud Buster alone will cover the wells. The degreaser earns its gallon on a truck that tows, hauls or parks on a site, where the grease on the jambs and bed rails is a separate problem from the mud.
Related guides
A bag of our freeze-dried dog treats is the one thing in this list we make ourselves, in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Everything else we sell is searchable on Explore.
The situational cluster holds the other kits built for a particular kind of vehicle or season.
