Valvomax Installed on the Toyota GR Supra MKV

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I recently made a video talking about the Valvomax oil drain valve and a viewer left a comment asking if the Valvomax would work on the MKV Toyota Supras.

Well, I actually planned on doing an oil change on my Supra and knew that I was going to attempt an install of the Valvomax. In this post, I want to share with you guys some of the things that I noticed during the process.

First things first, for those who have no idea what I’m talking about and have no idea what the Valvomax is, I highly advise you to watch the dedicated video that I made on the topic. That’ll get you up to speed for this post. For those who aren’t going to do that, a quick summary would be that the Valvomax is a valve that lets you control the stream of oil that comes out during an oil change. By the way, this is definitely something that I can recommend after doing an oil change on the Supra because she is a splatterer. The way the oil drains on this car is just a bit wild and a bit messy. Being able to control the stream is just a bonus.

Particular to the MKV Supra, you will need the Valvomax in size M12-1.50. I will have the exact item linked in the below for those who are interested.

As far as installing this part, there are a few minor challenges that we have to address in order to get the job done.

The first challenge is the amount of space that we have to work with. For those unfamiliar with the MKV Supras, the entire bottom is pretty much covered by plates and shrouds. Even the oil drain plug has a plastic cover over it. This cover makes it difficult to install the Valvomax because the Valvomax is significantly bigger than the stock oil drain plug nut. The Valvomax adds about an inch and even a bit more when we have the cap attached.

On my initial install, I thought that there would be no way that the Valvomax with cap would fit under the cover so I just took the cap off. This worked perfectly as the drain plug cover was able to be reinstalled, no problem. I can actually see that there was still a small gap between the two surfaces.

So, the next question is whether or not the cap would also fit under there. Well, the plain answer is yes. The Valvomax will fit with the cap installed under the drain plug cover. Things are a bit tight and you have to push the cover in a bit but everything does fit. I ultimately opted to keep the cap installed because it keeps dirt and debris from getting in the valve and possibly cause some issues.

Ok, now that we know that the Valvomax will fit, we’ll have to face the challenge of actually getting it installed. With my other vehicles, I just used a 24mm combination wrench to tighten the Valvomax down with no issues. Again, there really is no working space in this region of the Supra so the combo wrench was out of the question. If you want, you can take all the plates under here off, which can possibly make the install easier but I’m going to tell you flat out that that’s a waste of time. After some trial and error, I found that a 1” socket actually fits around the threads of the Valvomax and lets you get to the flat portions of the lug. There’s not too much space because there’s a raised lip around the drain opening but there was enough space for my socket to bite and properly tighten the Valvomax into place.

Now as far as torque specs, Toyota lists that the OEM drain plug should to be torqued to 18 ft-lbs but Valvomax has no specifications for their product. Their official website just says to snug it down so take that as you will.

To sum things up, yes the Valvomax can be installed on the A90 Supras relatively easily if you know what you’re doing. Hopefully, this post has given you all the information that you need to get the install done.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Valvomax M12-1.50 (for Supra) https://amzn.to/32s857r

Valvomax (other sizes) https://amzn.to/3sbWkw5

Torin Big Red Jack Stands https://amzn.to/3uNACjN

Oil Drain Pan https://amzn.to/3e4psjQ

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ValvoMax Oil Drain Valve

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If you change your own oil, then I have an add-on that you’re going to love. This is the ValvoMax.

This post is going to be for those who are familiar with the oil change process. I’m not going to show you how to change a vehicle’s oil but will solely focus on the ValvoMax and how it can assist in the process.

To make it plain and simple, the ValvoMax is an oil drain valve. When changing the oil and after you’ve removed the oil drain plug to let the oil drain, instead of reinstalling the oil drain plug, you install the ValvoMax in its place.

So, what is the point of this?

Well, let’s take a look at the ValvoMax itself. This product consists of two main parts: the quick twist valve and the drain tube assembly. The quick twist valve is the part that takes the place of the oil drain plug and stays installed on the vehicle. The quick twist valve consists of the valve itself and a cap to protect the valve. The cap even has its own rubber seal and is held in place by the cap tether. When it comes time to do an oil change, we take the drain tube and screw it on to the quick twist valve. This opens the valve and oil begins to flow from the engine, through the drain tube, and into an oil collector.

Now if you’ve changed your own oil, then you’ve probably already figured out why something like this so great. If not, let me break with down for you. This product almost completely removes the possibility of making a mess. With this system, the oil drains in a much more controllable fashion. No more loosening the oil drain plug then quickly pulling it out as you try to dodge the stream of oncoming oil. No more worrying if you’ve positioned the oil catch pan in the right place. With the ValvoMax, the oil flows when you want it to and it can be controlled and repositioned.

If you watch the video above, you’ll notice that the larger oil pan that I was using to hold my used oil was actually half full. Midway through the oil drain, the pan started to overflow. Because I had the Valvomax installed, I was able to stop the oil drain and position a new oil pan. Had this had happened without the Valvomax, this oil change would’ve been a complete disaster for my driveway.

This is a pretty great system but I would say that there are some potential drawbacks. First, it’s pretty much guaranteed that it’ll take longer to drain the oil with the ValvoMax than if it were to just flow normally. The manufacturer advertises that oil will drain in 10 minutes or less and I assume that just depends on the amount of oil that needs to be drained. In any case, because the ValvoMax channels the oil into a smaller stream, it’ll flow slower and take more time to drain. I personally don’t mind this but it just depends on your needs. For reference, it took about 5 minutes to drain the 4-ish quarts of oil from the Corolla in the video.

Another potential drawback is the size of the ValvoMax. With the cap on, this thing sticks about an inch from the oil pan. The drain tube assembly also takes a bit of space when installed on the quick twist valve. Depending on your vehicle’s setup, you may not be able to fit the quick twist valve or it with the drain tube. This is not likely to be a problem for many people but a select few.

Lastly, the price of the Valvomax is also a pretty big turn-off. At $35 to $40, the ValvoMax is pretty pricey. If it were half that, this would almost be a no-brainer. But at the end of the day, only you can determine if this product is worth it for yourself. For me, because I keep my vehicles for a long time and do my own maintenance, it’s worth it in the long run.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Valvomax https://amzn.to/3sbWkw5

Torin Big Red Jack Stands https://amzn.to/3uNACjN

Oil Drain Pan https://amzn.to/3e4psjQ

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One Bucket Car Wash

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If you dabble in auto detailing for any amount of time, you’ve no doubt heard of washing a car with the two bucket method. All this means is that you use two buckets of water to wash a car. One bucket holds the mixed soap water and the other holds plain rinse water. The idea is that after you’ve scrubbed the car with a sponge or whatever from the soap bucket, you first work it out in the rinse bucket before reintroducing it back into the soap bucket. This removes the contaminants that the sponge picked up from scrubbing the car and doesn’t introduce them into the soap bucket, which will reduce your chance of scrubbing the car with the previously removed contaminants.

The ideology behind this method is sound in principle but in practice, it’s the best of a worst-case scenario. In reality, there’s always some amount of contaminant that will transfer from the rinse bucket to the wash bucket. To eliminate this problem, you’re going to need a bunch of rinse buckets to further minimize the cross-contamination with every bucket. That’ll work better in reducing scratches, but it’s completely not practical. Many of us are used to using 5-gallon buckets for a car wash. Just imagine the amount of water used as you fill up bucket after bucket just to transfer fewer contaminants. It’s a complete waste. So, what can we do that’s better. How about taking away the rinse bucket altogether?

Now, this may seem completely counterproductive considering what I just laid out with the two or more bucket method but stick with me. What we can do, is reduce the number of buckets but increase the amount of wash media. We can have just one bucket but use multiple sponges, clothes, or whatever. The idea is that we only use the wash media once. After each use as the media picks up those contaminants, we put it aside and just move on to the next one. This way, we for sure are not cross-contaminating and bringing dirt and debris into our clean soap bucket.

So then the question becomes, how many sponges do I need? Well, that’s going to be dependent on the vehicle and the user. Larger vehicles are naturally going to need more sponges than smaller vehicles. You can’t expect to be able to wash an F450 with the same number of sponges as a Smart car. Well, you can but then that would be counterproductive and you’ll end up unnecessarily dragging a dirty sponge around the surface of your vehicle. With this method, the more the better. I understand that it can be expensive so buy a bunch of sponges but it is what it is. If you’re serious about reducing those car wash-induced scratches, you got to put your money where your mouth is, at least with this method.

That being said this is what I do with my Supra. I break the entire car up into 5 sponges. The roof, front windshield, and rear windshield get one. The hood and front bumper get another. Then each side of the car from door to fender gets one. Then the rear end gets the final sponge. Now 5 sponges may not seem like a lot for all this area, but remember, the sponges have two large flat areas and some usable side space. It’s all about managing what you have.

Aside from reducing possible scratches, there are other benefits to the one bucket method. An easy one to see is the reduction of wasted water. Right off the bat, we’re saving one bucket and potentially 5 gallons of water. This helps the environment and helps with the water bill. The next benefit would be that this saves us some time. Without needing to rinse the sponge after ever use, we can just clean one panel after another without wasting time in between. This leads to another benefit and that is the reduction of time spent playing in the water. If you wash cars during cold climates then I’m sure you can understand my want of spending as little time in the bucket with the cold water as possible. Detailing outdoors in the winter sucks enough already, no need in getting physical damage from long exposure to cold water.

Overall, I really think that the one bucket method is a better approach than the two bucket method. It’s a bit more costly upfront with the cost of all the sponges but in the long run, it’s a worthwhile endeavor.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Griot's Ultimate Wash Bucket https://amzn.to/3ncuj6k

The Rag Company (2-Pack Premium Cyclone Korean Microfiber Wash Mitt and 6" x 8" Cyclone Wash Pad Combo Kit https://amzn.to/36lcHiO

Griot's Car Wash Shampoo https://amzn.to/2IKd5gV

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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maglula UpLULA Mag Speed Loader

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I personally don’t like to load gun magazines too much. It’s fine at first but after a few hours on the range and a few hundred rounds, loading a mag gets tedious, to say the least. Depending on the gun that you buy, you may get a speed loaders but these are generally just designed to push the follower down at the back. When you load a round, it’ll hit the pin at the back of the loader that pushes the follower down. This causes a stop-and-go motion and I consider this to be an unnatural motion. It’s just one of those things that you have to try for yourself to understand. This type of speed loader helps to speed things up and lessen hand strain but I just think that things can be better.

After some research, I came across the maglula UpLULA, which seems to be one of the most recommended speed loaders on the market. This particular one is advertised to be universally compatible with all magazines that hold 9mm, .357, 10mm, .40, and .45 cal.

Looking at the UpLULA, the product itself is fairly simple. It is spring-loaded and the two sides can be squeezed together. At the top, there’s a lock that allows for the UpLULA to be stored at the compressed size. On one of the sides, there’s a small notch for use with unloading but we’ll get to that in a bit.

To use the UpLULA, we slip it over the top of a magazine with the prong or what maglula calls the steel beak, over the follower. From here, we squeeze the sides of the UpLULA together, then push the whole thing down. This will cause the steel beak to push the follower down, allowing us to load a round. The thing that’s really nice about this speed loader is that it’s the loading motion is very streamline. There’s none of that stop and go as with the manufacturer provided loader. After loading just a few roads, the motion became second nature and I got pretty fast at it. I was actually loading faster with my right hand than my left hand can grab the next round. I would say that this is pretty good.

On my first few attempts at using this product, it seemed like I wasn’t able to fully load a mag with the UpLULA. I have 15 round mags and it seemed like I could only load 14 rounds. It looked like the steel beak was taking too much space in the mag and didn’t allow for loading of the last round. But after some fiddling around, it turns out that I just needed to exert more force. Again, because that steel beak is taking up some real estate in the mag, you’ll have to push down harder than usual. Definitely harder than if you’re using the manufacturer’s speed loader.

Then if you want to unload the mag, you can use the notch that I mentioned earlier. You essentially use that to push the round out of the mag instead of using your thumb. To be honest, I think the thumb method is faster so I’ll likely not be using this feature.

I should also mention that a few different manufacturers make hard shell cases for the UpLULA so if you want to protect your investment, these are a good buy.

Overall, I have to say that I really like the maglula UpLULA. It does exactly what I wanted it to and that is to help me load a magazine faster. I really have no complaints about it but I haven’t used it for very long. Only time will tell if it’ll hold up in terms of durability. Fingers crossed that it’ll last for years to come.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Hermitshell Hard Case for Maglula UpLULA https://amzn.to/2KrYPKN

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MJJC Foam Cannon Pro 2.0

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I previously made a video showcasing the MJJC Foam Cannon Pro. This cannon actually turned out to be my favorite foam cannon and I’ve been using it ever since getting it. Well, I was recently contacted by MJJC and they informed me that there is now a 2.0 version and wanted to see if I wanted to review it. I, of course, did and here we are.

So, what’s different with the MJJC Foam Cannon Pro 2.0?

According to what MJJC told me, there are four major differences.

V2.0:
1. black plastic part upgraded, looks better.

2. more brass parts inside, heavier and feels better.

3. thicker foam than V1.0.

4. rotates smoother than V1.0.

The first change is that the black plastic parts are supposed to be upgraded and look better. To be honest, I don’t see this. V1 and V2 look exactly identical to me. The black plastics do not look or feel any different and the color is seemingly the same.

Change number two is that there is more brass parts inside the head. It is heavier and supposed to feel better. I don’t have a scale that measures small weights so can’t tell you the weight difference but the 2.0 does feel a slight bit heavier in hand. In this case, I just have to take the manufacturer’s word that more brass is there and that’s better.

The third change is that Foam Cannon Pro 2.0 is supposed to produce more foam than 1.0. To test this, I added 3 ounces of Chemical Guys Watermelon Snow Foam in one of the water reservoirs and filled it up to the 800ml indicator line. I’m going to show you what the foam looks like back to back. Switching from one cannon head to the other while using the same mixed soap solution. Watch the video above to see how this goes.

The differences may be hard to discern since we’re just looking at soap bubbles but from what I see, Foam Cannon Pro 2.0 does seem to produce thicker foam than 1.0. 1.0’s foam goes on thick but it flattens out quicker and starts to roll off faster. But I do have to note that this test is by no means definitive. There’s a lot of user errors that could’ve occurred. I know for sure I didn’t do the same number of spray passes and didn’t spray for the same amount of time so there isn’t an even amount of foam. There was just no realistic way of doing that. All I can say is that I did this a few times and the results seem to always show the same thing. Foam Cannon Pro 2.0 always produced slighter thicker foam.

The final change is to the head as version 2.0 is supposed to be smoother in operation than 1.0. With this, I saw no real differences. The knobs turned and did what they’re supposed to so no complaints and no points towards one or the other.

Ok, 4 supposed changes from 1.0 to 2.0. I didn’t really see that the changes to the plastic and feel of the head were worth nothing but the inclusion of more brass internals and thicker foam is a plus. Those are likely the things that most customers are going to want and the 2.0 delivers. I already thought that the Foam Cannon Pro 1.0 was the best foam cannon under $60 so the upgrades with the 2.0 just made it all the better. If you don’t have a foam cannon and are in this price range, the MJJC Foam Cannon Pro 2.0 is definitely worth a look at. If you already have the 1.0, I personally don’t think that you should go out and spend another $60 on the 2.0 but if you really want that extra bit in foam thickness, then sure. Go for it!

Now, considering that I have the Foam Cannon Pro 2.0, I want to do a giveaway for the 1.0. I will be giving this foam cannon away to a Pro Card level YouTube member. All you have to do is hit the Join button next to the subscribe button. Sign up for the Pro Card level and you’ll be entered. The winner drawing will be held when there is a minimum of 5 Pro Card members and all members at this level and above will be entered for monthly giveaways going forward. If you prefer Patreon, you can also support me there and it’s the same deal. Sign up for Pro Card level or above and you’ll be entered. These are just ways for me to give back to those who support me and help me be able to monetarily sustain this channel.

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If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

MJJC Website https://www.mjjc.com/collections/foam-cannon/foam-cannon-pro/?ref=187

MJJC Foam Cannon Pro https://amzn.to/32fjyHG

Chemical Guys Watermelon Snow Foam https://amzn.to/3a5F18Y

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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