Paint Protection?

[woodsman]

Hey Everyone, I am new here, really enjoy the pictures of trucks doing truck things. My new Truck is Star White. Wasn't my first choice but in this hot weather, kinda liking it. Washed her up good and she is beautiful. I am wondering about paint protection? I am not familiar with the ceramic products. Don't want to do something I can't undo. Old school would be a good wax job. Also any advice on rust protection? Any areas underneath that should be undercoated or protected in any way. I live in Iowa and I cringe driving in the slop with my old junk. I plan on keeping the lightning in the garage during the winter, yeah, you know how that goes. Looking forward to doing all the fun things you guys are doing with yours. Thanks, Stephen.

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[DatOleMan]

Hey Everyone, I am new here, really enjoy the pictures of trucks doing truck things. My new Truck is Star White. Wasn't my first choice but in this hot weather, kinda liking it. Washed her up good and she is beautiful. I am wondering about paint protection? I am not familiar with the ceramic products. Don't want to do something I can't undo. Old school would be a good wax job. Also any advice on rust protection? Any areas underneath that should be undercoated or protected in any way. I live in Iowa and I cringe driving in the slop with my old junk. I plan on keeping the lightning in the garage during the winter, yeah, you know how that goes. Looking forward to doing all the fun things you guys are doing with yours. Thanks, Stephen.

I did PPF on the front along with ceramic coating. Easy to wash and protects from road debris.

 

[FreshDaddyE]

I have had full PPF (paint protective film) quoted. It is apparently THE way to go from a protection standpoint as it fully covers all paint and self heals with heat. Plus it can be replaced if damaged.

Plus you can change the color of your truck!

The problem for me is the $6500 price tag. This is my 3rd F150 and I’ve kept the last 2 for 10+ years each. When I traded them the paint was ‘fine’. As much as I’d love a matte grey Lightning, I’m not sure the ROI is there for PPF, but YMMV.

+3 acronym score!

 

[subseavet]

I have the Ceramic Pro Ultimate Armor package which guarantees your finish for life. It provides PPF+Ceramic on the front of the truck and ceramic coating on the rest of the truck+glass+wheels. I also had nano-ceramic window tint added to cut down on summer heating in the cab. This is my second vehicle I've had protected with PPF+Ceramic Pro and I have to say I love it. It's not cheap but then neither is a $75K truck. When I traded in my last coated vehicle, they gave me an extra $4000 on trade for it being coated which covered the cost. I love how easy it is to wash and keep clean. I recommend it.

 

[flrsb62]

I I just covered the entire front, mirrors and A pillars. Basically where rock would hit while driving. I ceramic coated the rest using System-X.

 

[Firn]

My take on coatings

Ceramic is a great product but is on a bit of a hype right now. It's better to think of ceramic as a really good wax rather than some miracle coating. It still deteriorates, it still scuffs, it still collects road junk or other crap. What it does it very similar to what a good and regular coat of wax does, it just does so for a VERY long time.

Personally I think ceramic is great for low maintenance daily drivers. Tough, long lasting, minimal fuss. Just jump in and drive. It is VERY expensive to do so however. That said there are some very good diy ceramic products out there and contrary to internet lore you do NOT have to spend hundreds in multi-stage paint correction before putting a ceramic coat on. Ceramic has a snowball effect, the product itself is fairly spendy (that has come down) so why put it over "bad" paint. Except an $100 bottle of C-Quartz is still a LOT less than $1000 in detailing to apply that $100 product.

If you like maintaining your own vehicles then quality waxes and LSPs achieve the same results, you just have to keep at it. If you like detailing then $400-$500 into a harbor freight DA buffer (the angle grinder looking one), some pads, and a selection of products will let you keep a finish that is as good or better than ceramic. This takes time and work however. You don't need to go that far though, even just careful washing and some good home products will do a good job and every few years drop it off for a buff to get the "wow" back. Heck, every few years you have to buff ceramic off and reapply anyways...

Ppf is interesting to me. I can see the desire for the matte look, but glossy I just don't understand. It is SOOO expensive that if anything did happen to the paint you could get it repaired and still be money ahead. Add to that it's plastic and does not look as good as paint. It still needs toppings if you want it to "pop". I don't think it offers dirt shedding like ceramic or waxes. And eventually deteriorates and is a NIGHTMARE to remove. To me the cure is worse than the disease here.

As far as undercoating go there are a ton of great products. Thankfully the body is aluminum so it is LESS sensitive, but salt and slop can still cause issues. The rest underneath is standard truck materials and needs a coating as much as any other truck. As far as that goes IMO it's go with a product like wool wax and know occasional touch up is required and it will collect dirt, but it self heals and creeps into all the crevices and corners. Or go with a thicker drying product like cosmoline or CRC. Undercoating is an often debated topic so lots of threads on it, that said my opinion is fluid film, wool wax, crc, krown, or coamoline all work great, just choose if you want a wet or dry product and then look at price and vender.

 

[Bwanapete]

I have a different view. When I sold my 10 year old F150 I think the reason it looked so good is that I didn’t wash it, except once when birds bombed it. I just park outdoors and once in a while it rains. Washing scratches. Ford does good paint jobs.

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